Anza Borrego Desert
April 18, 2006
Days off are great! Since we both had some free time, Nicole and I decided it would be a nice day to take a little road trip. Our first stop was Font's Point and the Borrego Badlands. Next we travelled to Palm Wash on the San Diego & Imperial County line. The midday lighting in the canyon was superb! After exploring the canyon, we headed back up the hill toward Mt. Palomar. It was still a bit too early in the year for great meadow shots up there, but we came across some really nice cows and wildflower displays along the way. Turned out to be a very pleasant day, and I was able to get those nice shots of Palm Wash Slot that I have been dreaming of getting since my first visit there over a year ago.
Nicole takes in the view at Font's Point in the Borrego Badlands.
Font's Point in the Borrego Badlands. We arrived at the view point around 10:00 am... early enough to avoid baking in the desert heat. Our goal was to get to the Palm Wash Slot Canyon around mid day in order to get the maximum lighting in the slot canyon and to avoid being out in the open during the mid day sun.
Watch your step! One false step here and it's a long way down!
Hold on to them hats n glasses.
A smile as bright as the desert sun.
One last view across the Borrego Badlands before heading for our next destination.
(Left) Nicole shows off a very tall, blooming Ocotillo Plant. (Right) The view straight up through the middle of the Ocotillo looks almost like the tentacles of an Octopus reaching for the sky.
(Left) Palm Wash Slot Canyon. (Right) Nicole and I gaze upwards through the walls of the twisting canyon.
This slot canyon is the only one in Southern California that I have found that is even comparible to the ones found in Utah and Arizona. There are others around the area, but none are as photogenic as this one.
This was my second trip to this canyon. The first time I visited this place, it was in the late afternoon. It's amazing how drastically the lighting changes within the canyon from one minute to the next!
Nicole catches a few rays as they filter down through the canyon walls.
Enjoying each others company in God's Country.
Nicole climbs down into a particularly contorted stretch of slot canyon.
No better place to shoot the breeze!
More shots of the twisted walls of the Palm Wash slot canyon.
And just as quickly as the sun shown down to the canyon floor, it was gone. Photography in slot canyon is both challenging and rewarding!
On our way back to Oceanside, we decided to cruise up to Mt. Palomar. While driving through the San Felipe Valley near Lake Henshaw, we came across this brilliant wildflower display.
View across the San Felipe Valley towards the San Diego Moutnains.
This same stretch of road was burried in mud by summer thunderstorms last year.
Life is good!
We stopped to greet some cows along 76 near Lake Henshaw.
The longer we sat there, the bigger the crowd grew. Eventually we were surrounded by curious cows, none of which wanted to get any closer than about 5 feet.
Finally one cow broke the mold and was rewarded with a hand full of roadside grass, which all cows know is much more delicious than the grass that can be find 10 feet away on their side of the fence!
Happy cows come from California!
More roadside wildflowers.
A street with no name.