Anza Borrego Flowers and Skies

[gon2srf]

Kim and I drove out to Anza Borrego on Friday afternoon with no real plan except to possibly meet John, Steve and Steve on Saturday to run Sandstone. It rained on and off as we drove, the cloud formations and lighting were fantastic and I knew we were in for a special weekend. We knew by the weather reports it would be cold but beautiful on Pinyon Mountain so we headed up set up camp in a small valley. It was in the low 40's so I worked on a fire immediately and after a healthy dinner we set down and enjoyed a bottle of Chardonnay and worked on our celestial knowledge while viewing wide open crystal clear skies. The wind was blowing 10-15 kts. and it was becoming increasingly cold so after spending an hour by the fire I used our catalytic heater to preheat the tent for the little woman and we tucked in for the night. We woke up in the morning to near freezing temps, 33 degrees! After breaking camp we headed down to "the squeeze" only to run into 18 Jeeps, bummer. So drove around the mountain to Fish Creek where we met a great group of kids partying at the Fish Creek Primitive Camp. The sun was out and they said it never got below 50 there. We headed for the Wind Caves and had a relaxing lunch before running the Loop Wash and Fish Creek out to Sandstone Canyon. Later that afternoon we walked the Elephant Trees loop and then headed into Borrego Springs where we visited some of the sculptures and then head out to Coyote Canyon. All and all a spectacular weekend in ABDSP.

 

[gon2srf]

more pics of ABDSP

 

[gon2srf]

more pics of ABDSP

 

[nwoods]

Awesome trip report (nice tent also!)

 

[teotwaki]

Thanks for sharing!

My favorite picture of yours for colors

 

[silvElise]

Great pics I love ones witht he clouds!

 

[gon2srf]

Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback. Our camera is old (original D100) and my wife is not too careful with the lens as you can tell in some of the photos. Great weekend out there.

Btw can anyone tell me what this orange colored plant life is? I was out there 3 weeks ago and did not notice it. Is it living on other plants or is it the plant itself?

 

[BorregoWrangler]

Well fancy meeting you here, Scott.

As usual, great pictures. Hopefully we can get out there together again sometime. Sandstone Canyon was a blast!

All my pictures can be viewed here.

 

[gon2srf]

Well fancy meeting you here, Scott.

As usual, great pictures. Hopefully we can get out there together again sometime. Sandstone Canyon was a blast!

All my pictures can be viewed here.

Hi John, Good times for sure, see ya soon.

 

[goalie39]

Thanks for the feedback. Our camera is old (original D100) and my wife is not too careful with the lens as you can tell in some of the photos. Great weekend out there.

Btw can anyone tell me what this orange colored plant life is? I was out there 3 weeks ago and did not notice it. Is it living on other plants or is it the plant itself?

]

Nice pics. The plant is a parasite, called "dodder"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuscuta

 

[haven]

Nice slide collection!

Not all of the photos downloaded for me, but I bet the orange plant is Dodder. It's a network of orange filaments that supports itself on another plant. While Dodder may look like a lichen, it's a true flowering plant. Dodder does have tiny leaves that can perform some photosynthesis, and grows flowers that produce seeds. Dodder is parasitic on its host, drawing water and nutrients from it. Species of Dodder can be found around the world.

 

[gon2srf]

Nice pics. The plant is a parasite, called "dodder"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuscuta

Thank you! Very interesting.

Nice slide collection!

Not all of the photos downloaded for me, but I bet the orange plant is Dodder. It's a network of orange filaments that supports itself on another plant. While Dodder may look like a lichen, it's a true flowering plant. Dodder does have tiny leaves that can perform some photosynthesis, and grows flowers that produce seeds. Dodder is parasitic on its host, drawing water and nutrients from it. Species of Dodder can be found around the world.

Thank you for the compliments and the information on Dodder. All of the links for the photos are good, I don't know why some of the photos are not working for you, sorry.

 

[inelle]

This one ^^ is definitely my favorite picture. I love the colors and the atmosphere. Besides this the photos of the flowers look fantastic too. I love flowers and I always try to shoot beautiful pictures but unfortunately I am not as talented as you are. I once sent flowers in UK and they were so beautiful and I tried to shoot a photo but I failed.