Desert blooms are not as profuse in some places of the Anza-Borrego Desert this spring due to three straight nights of freezing temperatures in February, but magnificent points of color can still be treasured.  Avoiding nails, I carefully backed our Airstream Safari into our Agua Caliente County Park campsite, right up to two spectacular ocotillo plants lush with small green leaves and profuse crimson flowers.

Every morning we opened our door to wonderful displays of color.

Nearby our two ocotillo plants is a creosote bush in full bloom.

The Creosote bush, Larrea tridentata, is an evergreen shrub with dark green leaves and yellow flowers.  According to Wikipedia, this plant was used by Native Americans in the Southwest as a treatment for a variety of illnesses and it is still used as a medicine in Mexico (the species is named after J.A. Hernandez de Larrea, a Spanish clergyman).

Another medicinal, the ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens, has bright crimson flowers that often appear after a rainfall.  According to Wikipedia, the fresh flowers are used in salads and the dried flowers are used for herbal tea.

Marshal South and family’s spirits rose when spring came to their desert home, Yaquitepec, on Ghost Mountain.  He wrote in his Desert Diary 4 (May 1940) April at Yaquitepec article:

 All the desert is awake and rejoicing in Spring. Fountains of wax-like white flowers tower above the green, bristling bayonets of the yuccas and the emerald wands of the newly-leafed ocotillos are tipped with points of flame. Color! Sharp, vivid color! That is the keynote of the wasteland’s awakening. And the knowledge that the vanished Children of the Desert found in many of these gorgeous blossoms a source of nourishing food takes nothing from their charm. Both the flowers of the yucca and the ocotillo are good to eat.

(All 102 articles and poems written by Marshal South for Desert Magazine from 1939 to 1948 can be read in Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles: An Experiment in Primitive Living, 2005, Edited and with a Foreword by Diana Lindsay and Introduction by Rider and Lucile South, Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA.)

After a cold, rainy winter, my spirits rose while hiking the Moonlight Canyon Trail in full sunlight and rising temperatures.  I spotted a lizard basking on granite surrounded by a sea of Bigelow Monkeyflowers, Mimulus bigelovii.

Barbed cholla spines pierced my lower pant leg and shoes as I maneuvered to take the photo of the barrel cactus below.

I returned to camp, removed the cholla spines, and enjoyed my daily noontime shower followed by savoring a cotto salami sandwich made by Larry.  Slices of cotto salami are placed in a toasted bun with finely shredded cabbage, horseradish mustard, mayonnaise, cream cheese, and onion with a side of chips and pepperoncini, Asian pickled garlic & ginger, olives and Deglet Noor dates.  This was complimented by a cold bottle of Heineken.

Then came afternoon reading, writing, walking the dogs and dining and photographing under the stars… and listening to a French song.

As we meandered our way through the campground, we discussed our usual plan upon arrival at our site.  We approached our campsite and Larry got out and walked ahead and into the site, especially looking for nails, screws and any other potential hazards.  I saw him reach down and pick up an object.  “Found a nail,” he said over the two-way radio, “OK, you can back in now.”

As Rich mentioned in “Something screwy in campgrounds” in his Tour of America blog, “… all the flats we’ve gotten, all of them have been from debris we ran over in campgrounds.  We’ve never had a blowout or flat on the road.  This is because campgrounds are often full of debris left by previous campers, hidden in the gravel.”

I carefully backed the trailer into the site, unhitched and set up camp.

I have written about the importance of having TPMS, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, and recently, why I have two TPMS systems.  Another benefit of having TPMS is that tire pressures can be quickly and easily checked even though the tires are covered and have folding chairs and coolers in front of them.  It is reassuring to check the tires a day or two after pulling in to make sure they are maintaining the proper pressure.  I could also see how the pressure fluctuated depending on the air temperature.  Here in the desert the tire pressures increased 2-3 pounds per square inch from morning to noon.

This week at Agua Caliente County Park the wildflowers were blooming and the nails were proliferating, especially in our fire ring.

Nails!  So that’s why there are so many nails and screws at campsites.  Campers bring in lumber with nails and screws and use it as firewood!  And as this lumber is cut or broken to fit the fire ring, nails and screws are set adrift.  Those nails and screws that make it into the fire ring don’t always stay there.  The base of our ring did not make continuous contact with the ground and I could see nails escaping, some seemed to be actively crawling toward our truck’s bare tires!

One nail came close… and met its master… the heavy duty tire equipped with TPMS.

Snow had fallen on all of San Diego’s mountain ranges just the day before we departed on our spring wildflower trip and I was tempted to engage the trailer’s flux capacitor once again to facilitate passage over the mountains, but I thought it would be more scenic to carefully weave our way around the mountains to our destination, Palm Canyon Campground in the Southern California desert. This amount of winter snow does not happen often here and when it does, people pour out of the city in bumper-to-bumper traffic just to romp in the snow and throw snowballs.  Indeed, traffic slowed enough for Larry to take this snowy winter scene as we slowly approached Santa Ysabel.

(This is as close as our trailer ever gets to snow.)

Sun, warmth and colorful wildflowers greeted us at our campsite in the Anza-Borrego Desert.  See the current wildflower report for this area here.

(Wild Heliotrope is seen in foreground.)

We camped during part of the festive season of Mardi Gras.  Seen on our camp table are Mardi Gras beads in the three symbolic colors of Mardi Gras, purple (justice), gold (power), and green (faith).  Also seen on the table are freshly cut flowers from our home garden and Larry’s delicious, homemade Craisin oatmeal cookies (my favorite breakfast treat with coffee).

Larry turned them into Mardi Gras cookies by carefully topping them with crystallized sugar in the appropriate colors and adding silver dragées.  Also seen below is the Commedia dell’arte mask of Arlecchino.

Mardi Gras is also celebrated by wearing masks.

According to the Wikipedia article, “New Orleans Mardi Gras“, processions and wearing of masks in the streets took place in the 1700s.

Larry is seen here wearing the Commedia dell’arte mask of Il Capitano, a character that Larry once portrayed at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.  Wearing this mask, he surprised the rangers at the Ranger Station as he delivered these cookies!

This year the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, Ca is open Sundays and Saturdays, April 9 – May 22, 2011.

The Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival & Artisan Marketplace is currently open every Saturday and Sunday through April 3, 2011.

Although it was sunny and springtime-warm during our five days of camping, it had recently been on the chilly side and the wildflowers had yet to peak.  But due to recent rains here, the vegetation was green and lush.

When we were there, there were more flowers near the campground and along the .6 mile cement sidewalk to the Visitors Center than on the Borrego Palm Canyon Nature Trail, including:

Sand Verbena (above) and Barrel Cactus (below).

For many, it has been a thorny winter.  But now that the snow is melting and the weather is warming and the trees are budding and the flowers are blooming and the bees are buzzing and the birds are singing and nesting we are grateful to be here and happy to be moving gently from winter into spring.

The Spring 2011 issue of Airstream Life magazine arrived just in time before we departed with our Airstream Safari for a trip to celebrate the festive season of Mardi Gras and see the beginning of the spring wildflowers in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  Seen on the cover of this issue are Tim and Margaret Frazier with their dog Lucy and their Airstream Westfalia.  Zach Woods writes in the cover story, “Big Fans of the Small (Airstream) Westfalia”, “By most estimates, there were 192 Airstream Sprinter Westfalias imported into the United States [for only two years, 2005-2006], all based on the Mercedes Sprinter diesel van… The number of owners is small, but their passion for these very efficient and effectively designed campers is huge.”

Passion also runs high for owners of the Airstream Interstate Sprinter,  first produced in 2003, a Class B van based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis and inline-five cylinder diesel engine.  While we were camping at Borrego Palm Canyon, we spotted an Airstream Interstate and had an opportunity to chat with its avid owners, David and Ann, from Oregon.  They are very private people, but are passionate about their 2007 Airstream Interstate and graciously shared information about it, even though they had just got back from a long hike up Palm Canyon.

According to David and Ann, ever since they bought it in May 2008, it’s been a head-turner.  Some have followed them down highways and into gas stations just to see it up close and to chat with them.  Streams of people have visited them while in campgrounds.  Indeed, while I was interviewing them, another couple in an RV stopped nearby and walked over to ask questions such as, “Is this really an Airstream?”

David laughs when he says, “It’s like a VW bus on steroids!”  Their 2007 Airstream Interstate is similar to the one shown here on Airstream Forums with specs detailed by Colonial Airstream here.  It features a Buff Ultraleather sofa bed that opens in the rear dinette area.  “It’s more comfortable than the one we sleep on at home,” David says.

The galley area features a flush-mounted round stainless steel sink with folding faucet and a 2-burner recessed cook-top with covers.

David loves to cook and has brought the Wolfgang Puck Induction Burner into their galley.  David says that induction cooking is a faster and more efficient method of cooking.

According to Wikipedia, “An induction cooker uses induction heating for cooking. Unlike other forms of cooking, heat is generated directly in the pot or pan (cooking vessel), as opposed to being generated in the stovetop by electrical coils or burning gas. To be used on an induction cooker, a cooking vessel must be made of a ferromagnetic metal.”

The galley area also features a 3-cubic foot refrigerator and microwave oven.

David says that fuel economy and affordability were two big selling points for them.  He says that he averages 21.8 mpg, which is important to them in light of the rising fuel prices and the fact that they live in Oregon and have to travel long distances to get to warmer climes when doing winter camping.  David says that they only had a few minor problems with their rig and says, “George M. Sutton RV provided excellent service, just as if we had purchased the Airstream Interstate from him.”

The 2011 Airstream Interstate 3500 is now available and is based on the Mercedes Sprinter Van Unibody Construction with a Mercedes 3.0 liter BlueEfficiency V-6 diesel engine.  According to Airstreamer (Official News and Articles from Airstream), “The partnership between Airstream and Mercedes-Benz has yielded a Touring Coach that fuses the legendary quality and design of the Airstream brand with the comfort, control, and luxury of Mercedes-Benz.”

And that makes this fan just want to whistle… while his heart races!

Last week we hopped back out to one of our favorite desert camping spots, Agua Caliente, where I previously photographed up-close Bighorn Sheep.  We docked our Airstream Safari at the foot of the Tierra Blanca Mountains and put out a red (auspicious Chinese color for life and prosperity) tablecloth as we made preparations to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2011, The Year of the Rabbit.

According to Wikipedia, Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after winter solstice and in China it is known as “Spring Festival“.  This year Chinese New Year’s Eve fell on Groundhog Day and even Punxsutawney Phil gave his nod that spring is near!  Although we had chilly weather at night, we did have beautifully sunny days and saw beginnings of spring wildflowers, such as the Ghost Flower.

The Ghost Flower, Mohavea confertiflora, is a native annual with beautiful, delicate, translucent cream flowers.  This one wilted the following day after our lowest night temperature of 29°.

For our Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner, Larry pulled out our rolling dinette table from under the credenza and made Chinese dumplings.

Seen next to the tray of dumplings is a round tray of Chinese sweets.

Seen on the dumplings tray are chunky peanut butter dumplings (with a pleated edge) and pork-Shiitake mushroom dumplings (with a smooth, flat edge).  These were cooked on our Volcano stove.  First the peanut butter dumplings were deep-fried.

These dumplings look like small gold ingots and seen nearby are two rabbits holding a gold coin, symbol for wealth and prosperity.

The pork-Shiitake mushroom dumplings were browned on one side with a small amount of oil.  Then a quarter cup of broth or water is added and the dumplings are covered with a lid and steamed for 3 minutes.

This results in dumplings that are crispy and chewy.

The peanut butter dumplings were then sprinkled with powdered sugar.

As you can tell by Larry’s Russian rabbit fur hat and layers of clothing, the weather got chilly in the late afternoons, especially when the sun dipped behind the nearby mountain ridge.

Gusty winds increased the chill factor.

Our outside dog water bowl had an inch of ice the next morning.

Our friends in Tucson had temperatures dip to 17° that night and considered winterizing their trailers for the first time.

The Arizona Daily Star reported that Tucson’s freezing weather caused ‘astronomical’ frozen-water-pipe damage.

Larry served hot soup (made with asparagus, ham, onion, cilantro, and chicken broth along with the dumplings, which warmed us as we welcomed the Year of the Rabbit 2011 and Punxsutawney Phil’s indication that an early spring it will be!

Agua Caliente lies in the Anza-Borrego Desert at the eastern end of Vallecito Valley at the foot of the Tierra Blanca Mountains in Southern California where seismic activity created a spur of the Elsinore fault enabling water to come to the surface, which supports lush plant life and a wide variety of wildlife including the Bighorn Sheep.  Minerals come up in the hot springs forming mounds of natural salt licks.

Bighorn sheep are on the federal list of endangered species and seem to be making a comeback in this area.  An Agua Caliente County Park Ranger said there are about 13 of them here, so I was excited to have my first close encounter when I took a hike during our last camping trip and spotted four of them,

or more accurately, they spotted me.  They prefer to graze on rocky ridges and slopes where they can spot and escape from predators.

I stopped in my tracks and quietly prepared my camera and spent the next forty minutes in their world.  We saw eye to eye.

As long as I moved slowly and peacefully, they seemed comfortable in my presence.

They came down to feed,

and smile.

Poet, artist, and author Marshal South, along with his family, lived on Ghost Mountain for years before they spotted a great ram while hiking near here.  Marshal reported this experience in his article, Desert Refuge 41, December, 1944 issue of Desert Magazine:

As the dark body broke from the fringe of brush and leaped upon the lower rocks of a precipitous hillside not 30 yards distant, we saw that it was a great ram… a monarch among sheep.  In that flash instant in which poised upon a boulder, he glanced back at us before starting upward; he was a sight to stop the heartbeat… he halted, appraising us.  Then he started up, bounding swiftly up the almost perpendicular ridge with a sure footed skill that gave a deceptive illusion of leisurely ease… he reached the crest.  Here, silhouetted against the hard blue of the sky, the tall sharp line of a dry mescal pole rising beside him like a lifted standard he paused again.  Silence held the desert – and us – as for perhaps 20 seconds he stood outlined against space: A creature of freedom, gazing out across the rocks and ranges of his homeland in whose beetling cliffs and hidden canyons still some trace of dwindling freedom lingers.  Then he was gone.  The skyline was empty, and our hearts came back slowly to normal beating.

(All 102 articles and poems written by Marshal South for Desert Magazine from 1939 to 1948 can be read in Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles: An Experiment in Primitive Living, 2005, Edited and with a Foreword by Diana Lindsay and Introduction by Rider and Lucile South, Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA.)

I was lucky to have my Nikon D40 camera on hand as I took a hike on one of Agua Caliente County Park’s many trails when I had my first glimpse and extended photo session with Peninsular Bighorn sheep during our last camping trip here.  Up until this trip, we have never seen firsthand the famous Bighorn sheep of the Anza-Borrego Desert.  (“Borrego” is Spanish for lamb or sheep.)  “Bighorn sheep tend to keep a safe distance from human activity, but sometimes seem possessed of a kind of curiosity about humans,” writes Jerry Schad in his Afoot & Afield in San Diego County, 3rd edition, Wilderness Press, 1998, page 13.

Peninsular Bighorn Sheep, Ovis canadensis cremnobates, live in the Peninsular Mountain Ranges of California and Baja California.  Wikipedia states that Bighorn sheep originally crossed to North America over the Bering land bridge from Siberia during the Pleistocene (about 750,00 years ago).  Bighorn sheep population once peaked in the millions, but decreased to several thousand by 1900.  Threats to this endangered species include drought, disease, mountain lions, coyotes, feral cattle, off-road vehicles, and reductions in their natural habitat by encroachments of “civilization” (golf courses and housing developments).  Bighorn sheep prefer steep rocky slopes where they can graze on plants while avoiding predators.

After I spotted the first one, I walked ahead very slowly, quietly, gently with camera ready and heard above me hoof-steps and rocks moving and saw an ewe gazing down at me.  It was love at first sight.

This pregnant ewe accepted my peaceful company and grazed on plants.  “Favorite food is jojoba, mesquite, white ratany, bee sage, desert agave, and barrel cactus,” writes Diana Lindsay in her book Anza-Borrego A to Z: People, Places, and Things, Sunbelt Publications, 2001.

She grazed and gazed.

Other sheep gradually accepted me, while this ram came down with a clattering noise of sliding rocks to investigate.

An older and larger ram kept watch as a younger ram and ewes grazed towards me.

These were very special, magical moments with the great ram…

and pregnant ewe…

After 40 minutes, we said our gentle goodbyes and I walked ahead with a warm glow and beautiful memories.

Such beautiful and precarious creatures… may we be good shepherds to all of nature.

While our friends 50 miles north of us in Borrego Springs were experiencing cold, cloudy weather with rain during the day and sleet at night, we were enjoying the sun and rainbows during our return to Agua Caliente County Park on our first trip of the new year.

Our Safari trailer also seemed to enjoy basking in the warm sun in preparation to brave the cool nights that required a small space heater that ran continuously throughout the night at this full hookup campsite.

It’s quite peaceful and relaxing here. People like to sit and take in the beautiful vista views.  I saw some people sitting on a vintage art deco cement bench on the side of a nearby desert road.  From a distance, it looked liked they were waiting for a bus.  But as I got closer, it looked like they were hitchhiking.  Perhaps their car had tire problems or maybe they were trying to thumb their way to warmer climes.

It turned out that our friends Rich, Eleanor and Emma came down to visit while sitting and hiking in the sun.

The sun brings out such happiness!

Eleanor and Larry decided to spend the afternoon in camp chatting and sharing notes, while I joined Rich and Emma on a hike near the primitive Mountain Palm Springs campground.  This pleasant hike up a rocky arroyo led to Palm Bowl, site of 100 or so palms.

Emma, Zoe the cat, and I looked on as Rich stood on the edge of a rocky precipice to take his photo of 100 palms seen in his “Last days in Anza-Borrego” post.

We took our time and savored the sights and the sun.  Emma stopped here and there to examine mica particles glistening in a small creek and gently caressed the spines of an ocotillo.  “I’m petting them,” she quietly said to me, “Sometimes I talk to plants.”

We returned to camp with warm memories of a wonderful hike and spotted Eleanor and Larry happily chatting away in camp chairs positioned to catch the last rays of the sun just before it disappeared behind a nearby mountain ridge, bringing quickly lowering temperatures.

In my next post I’ll share with you my very special, intimate 40 minutes spent taking close-up photos of four Bighorn sheep that I came across while hiking the next day in Agua Caliente County Park… such magnificence!

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park‘s Borrego Palm Canyon Campground is 2.5 miles from the Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs, California, and is a wonderful place to relax and soak in the sun while celebrating the winter holidays.  The snowbirds are arriving, but it is still relatively quiet and peaceful during the weekdays.  So we spent five wonderfully sunny, balmy days enjoying the ambiance of this special place.

I savored my hot cup of joe as our docked Safari and San Ysidro Mountains glowed in the early morning sun.

A Blue Palo Verde tree, Indigo bush, chollas, and Creosote bushes were seen through our Vista View windows.

We came ready to celebrate the holidays of Hanukkah and Christmas, while avoiding the frenzied crowds at shopping centers.

Our dogs came ready to enjoy walks (on a 6′ leash) about the campground and the 0.6 mile paved trail from the campground to the visitor center.

This ADA compliant (Americans with Disabilities Act) trail is handicapped accessible and bikes and dogs are permitted.

Along the trail are interpretive signs about the area’s plant and animal life.

We heard and spotted a nearby coyote as we took our mid-morning walk.

Along the way we saw ocotillo that have turned bronze from a recent frost.

Once we reached the visitor center, our dogs enjoyed drinking water and resting in the shade, while we each took turns visiting the center.  I usually can’t resist buying something here each year, so this time I bought Road Trip With Huell Howser #148 Anza Borrego DVD and San Diego County Native Plants, by James Lightner.

By midweek it was time to light the candles of the Menorah for the eighth day of Hanukkah, while the waxing crescent moon slowly passed overhead.

I continued to revel in the holiday spirits while reading about “Technomads”, a mobile technology article by RG Coleman in the Winter Issue of Airstream Life Magazine.

During our stay, we remained unshaken by a 3.9 magnitude earthquake 9 miles from Borrego Springs and braved Southern California’s wintry nights because sometimes “Baby It’s Cold Outside“.

Spikes of Ocotillo were silhouetted by glowing and changing pastel colors of red, orange and finally yellow under the deep blue sky as the sun began to rise on the southeastern horizon each morning during our stay at Agua Caliente County Park, 111 miles from San Diego in the Anza-Borrego Desert region.

Distant Vallecito Mountains to the north began to bask in the warmth of the sun while the trailer still rested in the chilly shade.

Finally, glorious rays of golden sunlight streamed into the trailer while I savored my first cup of freshly brewed joe, nice, hot refreshment perfect for waking up on a chilly morning… almost as good as hot, hot… hot chocolate!

We start the days by walking the dogs and taking turns hiking the trails.  Since dogs are not permitted on the trails, one of us stayed with the dogs while the other one hiked.  For safety, we have our two-way radios turned on.  Starting before it got too hot, I explored the Moonlight Canyon Trail.  I started at the eastern side of the park, where the trail heads east before looping southward below the campground and through a canyon.  I saw wonderful vista views and many ocotillo as I headed east.

This part of the trail is wide enough for a golf cart to travel on and gradually increases in elevation as it turns south.  The southern portion the trail narrows to a footpath as it leaves the warm sunlight and enters the shade where cool morning air pours down from the steep granite canyon walls.

Water seeps down into this canyon from the Tierra Blanca Mountains promoting lush growth of plants that need to be hacked back periodically by volunteers and park staff to keep the trail open.

I could hear water trickling and frogs at times, but a swarm of bees seemed to claim a portion of the trail ahead as I rounded a bend, convincing me to turn back.  I obliged and went back to the campground the way I came and explored this trail at its official beginning in the southern part of the campground, where it steeply and unpleasantly goes uphill and into the sun by mid-morning.

On other days, I explored more features of this campground area, including its water features, store, wildlife, and other trails.  But that is another story.  After a morning hike, I enjoyed the park’s hot showers that cost 1 quarter per 2 minutes.  Afternoons were spent reading and relaxing.  The sun disappeared behind a nearby mountain by 3:15 pm and the temperatures quickly dropped.

Coyotes, the children of the desert night, could be heard as the waxing moon rose and the bright stars reappeared as we enjoyed listening to classical music such as this while watching the moon traverse the sky through the Safari’s Vista View windows.