Julian, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Salton Sea State Recreation Area: March 2011

    From our wandering souls’ point of view, it doesn’t get much better than a winter visit to the desert. But before heading to this year's destination, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, we visited friends in Carlsbad and sought out apple pie in Julian.

Ocotillo, a favorite cactus.

    Carlsbad: Our one-week early March trip began with a visit to friends in Carlsbad, a bit north of San Diego and home to Legoland. We skipped the latter and instead borrowed their double kayak and paddled the estuaries around Oceanside.
    Next was Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park. Once the home to actor Leo Carrillo, the trusty sidekick in the 1950s radio and TV western The Cisco Kid, Rancho de los Quiotes (“Ranch of the Spanish Daggers”) has gradually been renovated by the City of Carlsbad. When Carrillo was alive it was both a working ranch and a welcome destination to many of his Hollywood friends. Peacocks roam the grounds, strutting their stuff.
    Ramona: Monday morning, we fueled, fine-tuned supplies, and pointed our VW Vanagon up State Route 78. Just over the mountains, we descended into Ramona Valley, an agricultural area, from turkeys to eggs to dairies to, today, vineyards, with a Mediterranean climate. It's also know for the Salt Mine Training Camp, where champion boxer Archie Moore trained the likes of George Foreman and Muhammad Ali; the battle of the sexes tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Margaret Court; and the ACLU’s defense of a sixth-grade girl’s right to deliver a presentation on the assassination of gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk.
    Julian: We began the curvy ascent to Julian, at 4,200. Crotch rocketers wreeked a bit of havoc on the narrow road and we aren't surprised to later see two rockets on a tow truck trailer.
    Julian is named for a Confederate Veteran, who settled in the area's lush meadows in time for San Diego County's only gold rush from 1869-'79. But today it's known most for its spring daffodils and year-round apple pie. Before succumbing to the latter, we headed out to find a campground. 

    Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, which was 90% burned in 2003 when a lost hunter lit a fire to signal his location, didn't seem to be open. We ended up on I-8 before heading back north on county road S-1. Passing flag-marked barrels of water for immigrants crossing the nearby border, Doug commented, "We're humane."
    Though S-1 is known as the Sunrise Highway for its 360-degree views from 5,000 feet, we watched clouds of all shapes and varieties race across the sky. Despite snow, puddles, and saturated ground, we found a dry campsite on sparkling Laguna Lake in Cleveland National Forest.
    Before snuggling in for the night, we returned to Julian, where Doug had crumb-top apple pie and I lattice-topped caramel walnut apple pie à la mode in one of the numerous smaller restaurants, avoiding the line at Mom's. We departed with a whole crumb-top apple pie for breakfasts.
    After a cold, rainy, windy night, we returned to Julian for a warm breakfast before heading down the hill to the warmth of the desert.
    Anza-Borrego Desert State Park: We arrived shortly at the Visitors Center, a unique structure built into the hillside. 

Anza-Borrego Visitors Center.

    Anza-Borrego's Native Peoples, settlers, soldiers, gold miners, and stage coaches created its many trails. Among the most famous is the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. De Anza scouted a route from the frontier of Mexico to San Francisco, with the help of existing Indian trails, the goal to create a Spanish settlement in Alta (“Upper”) California. From the late 1850s until the beginning of the Civil War, the Butterfield Stage traveled through here on its way from St. Louis to San Francisco.

    We found a dry site at Borrego Palm Canyon Campground. A ramada at each site provides shade.

Our ramada.

    Nearby flush toilets have stone walls but are open above to the stars at night and ocotillo on the hillside during the day.

 

Open air flush toilet.

View of the hillside from the women's toilet.

    We were soon ready for a hike and walked to the nearby Borrego Palm Canyon Nature Trail trailhead. Signs along the way indicate various cacti, other desert plants, and animals; a desert wash and boulders created by flash flooding; and ancient peoples’ morteros (“grinding holes”) and metates (“stone grinding sticks”). 

Desert Mallow.

Doug on trail. Note ocotillo to his right.

    The trail ends at an oasis of California fan palms. 

1st view of Borrego Palm Oasis.

Oasis of desert fan palms.

Brittlebush.

Wash created by flooding.

Yellow Brittlebush & red Chuparosa (I think).

Doug dwarfed by boulders along trail.

    On the return of our 3-mile roundtrip hike, we spotted a bighorn sheep on a cliff.

Bighorn Sheep.

Desert Willow.

Brown-eyed primrose in our campsite.

Goodnight Desert Sunflower (I think)

Quiet morning.

    We are in a quiet, sleepy campground come morning, with the sound only of bees in the desert lavender and birds calling. A pair of cotton tails played nearby.

Desert Lavender.

    We drove to Galleta Meadows to tour the metal sculptures by Ricardo Breceda of prehistoric and modern animals and historic people.

Wooly Mammoths dwarf Doug & VW.

Doug communes with Wooly Mammoth.

    Before leaving, we did 2 more short trials, starting with the 1-mile Cactus Loop Trail.

Young ocotillo.

Cholla with buds.

Blooming Barrel Cactus.

Hedgehog Cactus (I think).

    Our final walk for the day was the half-mile Narrows Earth Trail in the Tamarisk Grove Area.

Narrows Earth Trail.

Ocotillo on Narrows Earth Trail.

Ocotillo bloom.

Doug prospecting for quartz.

    I love the way this church fits the Anza-Borrego surroundings.

Church near Anza-Borrego Park.

    We left Anza Borrego hoping to drop in on Doug's two wonderful aunts in El Centro, but a visit was not to be. Then we planned to head to Joshua Tree National Park, but since we were near the Salton Sea, it seemed like we should check out that area. 
    Salton Sea State Recreation Area: First was the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1930 by President Hoover and renamed the Sunny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in 1998 for the former pop singer and Congressman Bono after his untimely death in a skiing accident. 

    We spent a couple of hours walking along the levees, observing the birds in residence, and talking with the many birders, who went out of their way to explain the various birds and to share their binoculars. 

People levees for touring Salton Sea Wildlife Refuge.

Manmade bird islands.

White pelicans.

Chocolate Mountains viewed from wildlife refuge.

    Our next—impromptu—stop was near Niland, at Slab City, so-called for the concrete slabs remaining from the Marine buildings of the WWII base.  

Former Marine Base entry station.

Instead of the concrete city of RV snowbirds we expected, we found a sparsely populated area of people, animals, and habitations that have seen better days.

Slab City residences.

The “centerpiece” is one man’s vision of salvation, a garishly painted hillside surmounted by a large cross.

Mt Salvation.

    Our intended stop for the night was Joshua Tree National Park, but as we drove around the 200-feet-below-sea-level Salton Sea, we were intrigued by the uncrowded campgrounds and decided to stay at Mecca Beach.

    The Salton Sea formed in the early 20th century when Colorado River water, which had been tapped in recent years to irrigate the Imperial Valley, overran the ditches in a wet winter and sought the lowest point. Attempts to revive the highly saline inland sea and its short-lived resort status of the 1950s have not been overly successful, but we did see a couple of boaters on the water.

Camped at Mecca Beach on the Salton Sea.

    A gentle breeze blew through the quiet campground, and we were rewarded for staying by flocks of white pelicans skimming the sea’s surface throughout the evening.

White pelicans flying over the Salton Sea.

    The next morning, it was time to head home. Joshua Tree would have to wait for another day. But that’s the joy of meandering the blue highways.