desert solitaire

( beavertail cactus in bloom)

" i hold no preference among flowers, so long as they are wild, free and spontaneous"

~desert solitaire~

edward abbey

(ocotillo blossoms)

we found very few wildflowers, beautiful, but few. it seems the daily reports we'd read

were not all that accurate.

(desert sunflower & lupine)



we weren't alone in that thinking either,
there were droves of people that came for the
predicted event. everyone asking "where are the flowers?"
the epic wildflower bloom, ah well, mother nature surely
decides these things, not us, doesn't she?








(cholla (choy-ya) cactus)


so we set about enjoying all the many other treasures the desert has to offer...

in the desert the best way to see is to get quiet...

get away from the crowds...

get down on your knees for a closer look...

find hearts and think of all your friends ♥

and take some hikes...we went from this to...

this! we hiked six miles to an oasis, you would not guess by looking at these photos

that this place is called

hell hole canyon!

can you see the small waterfall we cooled off in?

(blooming agave)

this photo shows the way we hiked to the palm covered oasis, it was over 80 degrees out!

i seem to have picked up a few stragglers. when chuck pointed out a blooming barrel cactus i got so excited i hurried off the trail to see it.

i forgot to look where i was stepping.

:)

we went on another hike to the breathtaking badlands...

in one day we did three hikes, and covered sixteen miles. i think i counted just as many blisters!

in anza - borrego desert it's okay to camp anywhere...we found a beautiful spot but it was so windy we couldn't put up our tent. instead we spread out our sleeping pads and bags in the truck bed and slept there! it was fun even if we didn't get much sleep. we listened to the wind and coyotes all night. and yes! there were stars, millions, i think we could see every single one.

we decided to go exploring more of this thousand square mile wilderness, we were looking for a place where we read you could see native american rock art, and an ancient village...
we drove and drove and and then hiked and hiked...

there it is!

incredible! i love this art form, pictographs, and especially love to imagine the native tribe that painted this. driving and hiking a little more we found the kumeyaay morteros...

here it is! we are at a native american village site. the kumeyaay (ku-may-eye) people used this site on a seasonal basis. they gathered pinon nuts, mesquite beans and desert agave. nuts and seeds were pounded into meal in "morteros", the large depressions in the granite boulders.

the informative sign said to sit quietly and imagine yourself working along side the kumeyaay women, pounding large rock pestles into the morteros, grinding seeds and talking over the news of the day. we did just that, grateful for the experience.

(desert lily)

on our third day in the desert i was feeling not quite as fresh as this flower . but roughing it is part of the fun. i do love to camp. while out on a drive we passed through the small town of borrego springs, chuck told me we needed gas. instead he drove up to one of the resorts and he told me we were getting a room for the night! he wanted to surprise me! for being a good sport he said. then we went out to a lovely dinner.
sometimes camping is overrated. :)

(sandverbena)

we may not have gotten to see an epic flower show, this may not be the year for anza-borrego after all. but we did have a wonderful time, we gazed at stars, splashed in a desert waterfall, talked long talks while taking long walks. we saw a coyote (and heard them every night) a roadrunner, quail, cactus wrens and hummingbirds. we saw jackrabbits, honeybee's and blister beetles. and on our way out of the park, in the high desert i saw a nest with a large bird.

i told chuck, i'd never seen a nest like this before. in a tree by the side of the road.

so he turned around to get a better look.it was an eagle!

we didn't want to stress the mama so we watched for just a moment and then left.
i loved this trip.

(buggy windscreen driveby photo of home)

and apparently so did owen. back at home where he and hannah spent the last few days together, he went to a surf contest, met lots of new friends (dogs and people), dug lots of holes, went to a barbeque and went for a beach run. i don't think he missed us very much. but we sure missed him.

tired sore happy lori ♥