Dragons and Oases in Anza Borrego

Scattered all over the outskirts of Borrego Springs are over 100 metal sculptures of random creatures, mostly real animals and dinosaurs from times past, with a few humans and vehicles thrown in. They are the work of artist Ricardo Breceda, who started building them to satiate his daughter's enthusiasm for dinosaurs. Two years ago Maree and i saw some horses on a hillside as we were were leaving the area. They looked really cool just before sunset. This time i wanted to see more, but i was fixated on a dragon i'd seen pictures of on the internet. There are many others that are worth checking out.

A scorpion and grasshopper battle it out

The sculptures are scattered randomly across a large area with about a 10 mile radius, so you'll need a map if you want to find anything specific. The laminated ones in the Borrego Springs Historical Society are ridiculously overpriced, so get one off the internet or buy a book from the artist before you go.

I barely caught a picture of this Velociraptor as it chased down a jackrabbit.

The one i saw chasing the rabbit was similar to this one i saw in a nearby museum diorama.

The "Serpent" is really impressive. At 350 feet in length it stretches across the roadway. Here Jimmy and Maree were jogging around with some lightsticks. I have no idea why lightsticks were available for use, we didn't plan it. I tried to use my awesome Eagletac flashlight to illuminate the dragon without illuminating them. It was fun but it took some practice. It's the first time i've tried any "light painting".

Part II: Oasis in the Desert

The last time i went to Anza Borrego Maree and i had started on a trail in Borrego Springs called the Oasis trail. It wasn't supposed to be very long but we started late and had to turn around before we were even halfway done. It was a nice trail though, and while we were hiking all kinds of animals were coming out to enjoy the cool evening shade. The Ocotillos and many of the cacti were in bloom and after a while we heard water in the dry streambed we'd been walking next too. So i was disappointed that we had to turn back.

After a meandering walk along an large alluvial fan the trail becomes the dry wash and enters the canyon. The last time i visited this part of the stream had running water running through it. That was in April, i think.

The only point at which we had trouble was here, where the trail dead ended at a large boulder pile.

It was really weird. Normally you can almost always climb up a pile of boulders, but not this time. We sort of split up and i found a way over the rocks. It turned out the trail was on the other side of the streambed and somehow we hadn't seen the marker.

Above the boulders some water showed up and things got greener. The hike really became enjoyable at this point.

This year we returned with my friend Jimmy and stayed the night. Somehow, i don't know how, we STILL managed to start the trail late, so we had to rush. Again. I guess i underestimate how fast the sun sets outside of Alaska. We were there in November, so the days were short already, but in Alaska even though the sun sets very early in winter and very late in summer, it still takes a long time to go down. Sunset in winter seems to last for an hour, then twilight for another hour.

Finally i spotted what had to be the grove up ahead. The trees often grown along earthquake faults, where groundwater is able to move up towards the surface through cracks in the bedrock. Coyotes eat the seeds and help spread the trees from one place to another as they search out their own water sources to get a drink.

The Palm Canyon Trail starts at the Borrego Springs campground and follows a usually dry wash up to an oasis where there is a thick grove of Borrego Palms. It's a generally easy hike (only 3 miles round trip) and passes through a nice variety of desert plants.

Maree, right of center, has made it and prepares to enter the grove. What could be inside there?

Finally i made it. Borrego Palms are the only palm tree native to the United States. They look a lot different than the palms you grew up with. It looks like the type of place that might be hiding Mr. Snuffleupagus. I was impressed with the density.

Well, inside was a whole bunch of debris because a flash flood had wiped everything out.

The trail continued through the grove. The flood debris is piled up around 6 or 7 feet on the trees here. Flash floods are common in the area, especially in July and August. Clouds form over the Sea of Cortez and create a monsoon climate that moves up into Anza Borrego.

This second time along the hike we hardly saw any wildlife, and when we got to the grove of trees where i thought the oasis was supposed to be i saw only a stinking algae covered muddy area where the water was seeping out of the ground. I thought i had seen pictures of a rocky pool nice enough to swim in, so i was confused. The next day in the visitor center we were talking to a long time resident who told us that 6 months prior they had a great flash flood that remade the landscape. The guy told us the swimming hole he'd been enjoying ever since he was a kid had been filled with sediment by the flood, and about 1/3rd of the palm grove was wiped out and carried downstream. If only i had made the trip the first time! It was still a neat place to relax, and imagine that at some point in the future another flood, or series of floods may scour the pool back out.

Some of the plants around the grotto were desert lavender. It got it on my hands when i was climbing on a boulder and it was extremely fragrant. Smelled great and was as potent as perfume.

This is where the spring emerges from under some large boulders.

It already looked like it might be after sunset when we started heading back.

The campground in the distance; we made it back just in time.

Dusk at the pool. Time for a beer up on the balcony.

After the hike we cleaned up at our hotel, the Palms, had some dinner and relaxed a while. Then we headed out into the night to look for dragons. We had scouted them out earlier in the day so we could find them at night, and boy, it was a good thing we did because it was pitch black on the road at night. You couldn't see anything that wasn't right next to the road and there aren't really signs anywhere.