Hiking with Dad in Anza Borrego Desert State Park

My dad and I joined some fellow Borrego-ans today for a hike in Anza Borrego State Park.

This is the biggest state park in the United States, with 600,000 acres of wildly rugged mountains (highest elevation 6,000 feet) and desert (elevation 40 feet), along with flora, fauna, and fossils dating back 540 million years. You will see mesquite, yucca, and smoke trees; cacti; and thousands of native plants and flowers.

Circa third or fourth grade my dad volunteered to come along on a Girl Scout camping trip in Anza Borrego. We have memories of wind storms that were so swift that the tent kept falling down (on top of us) requiring my dad to keep hammering stakes into the ground in an attempt to secure our abode. We took a nature hike one afternoon and came across some "free spirits" who were topless. My dad his best to distract us but my fellow scouts and I were all giggles at seeing the site of boobies!

And now we're heading for our "second" nature hike, 21 years later!

This is Dr. McCloskey. He is now a "snowbird" like my parents and splits his time between Central Oregon and Borrego Springs, CA. (My parents aren't the only ones with this idea, apparently.) I was a patient at his office in Bend, Oregon (near my hometown) when I was in High School and had bunions on my feet. He left an impression and I never forgot how he took off his shoes and socks to show me his bunions. He told me to rest assured that they were not problematic and that doing any type of surgery would open Pandora's box. (He was right, my feet are just fine... and after I stopped dancing on pointe, they returned to almost normal :O) )

The first part of our hike was on Pictograph Trail to see the Pictographs. While this area was used by Indians as far back as 3000 BC, the pictographs themselves are a relatively recent addition of the last 300 to 400 years. They are said to be a way for Indians to tell their story through drawings.

Our hike continued up to the Panoramic Overview trail.

The weather could not have been more perfect ~ a cloudless bright blue sky and just a hint of a breeze to keep us cool in the desert.

I

LOVE

MY DAD!

I enjoyed snapping some landscape shots while practicing shooting in Aperture mode.

I'm learning, slowly but surely.

Honestly, I never knew that Borrego had so much to offer! When my parents bought their house ten years ago, I thought they were crazy. Borrego is in the middle of nowhere, far from civilization appears boring, is too hot and takes forever to get to (reality: just over 2 and a half hours door to door, mainly on two lane roads and the last bit is SUPER twisty turn windy). BUT I'm learning that the landscape can be breathtaking, the simplicity relaxing and Borrego's remoteness makes it that much more of a sanctuary.

Wouldn't you agree?

My Goddaughter, Brittnee will be visiting me in April. I'm already mapping out our trails for hikes and photos. Stay tuned for more on Anza Borrego Desert State Park!