FLOWERS IN COYOTE CANYON & A HIKE UP ALCOHOLIC PASS

THE TRAIL LEADING BACK FROM THE SUMMIT OF ALCOHOLIC PASS

I was surprised how much our landscape had changed this morning when I stepped out of the rig.  A lot of neighboring RV's were gone with more packing up & pulling out.  There were probably 40 rigs scattered about the desert landscape over the week-end but I only counted 19 left.  The neighborhood was looking very empty.  Ya know, we never met any of those folks but I kinda miss seeing their rigs in place.  Strange huh.

BEAVER TAIL CACTUS BLOOMS

Winds were brisk & cool when the sun went behind the clouds.  Well actually it's the clouds moving in front of the sun, right.  Short morning walk but we came across some vehicle tracks not far away that I was very familiar with.  They have been there over 2 years now & mark the spot where a Canadian couple from Alberta tried to take a short cut though the desert with their pick-up truck & travel trailer a couple years ago.  I was sitting at the computer that day when Kelly said, "hey, I think those people are stuck."  Well, they sure were!!  Had the four wheel drive truck buried to it's axles.  I hopped on my bicycle & zipped over to Butch's & we hopped in his truck & went to see what we could do for the hapless couple.  Well, turns out.......not much:((  Here are the STUCK PHOTOS from that day.

                            

2 YEAR OLD RUTS STILL REMAIN IN THE DESERT

We had some errands to run in Borrego Springs this morning & then we drove out to Coyote Canyon east of Borrego Springs.  Figured the flowers would be blooming out there & they sure were.  Took a bumpy jeep road back along the base of Coyote Mountain for a couple miles until we came to the trailhead of Alcoholic Pass.

  

Quote: "For centuries, Cahuilla Indians used Alcoholic Pass as a convenient shortcut between Coyote Canyon and Clark Valley. In time, a well-beaten trail was worn across the precipitous slopes west of the pass. Around the year 1900, the Clark brothers, early cattlemen who homesteaded in Coyote Canyon, used this trail to transport some primitive well-drilling equipment to the site now known as Clark Well in Clark Valley. Near the top of the pass, the old Cahuilla trail squeezed between two boulders so closely spaced that the burros’ loads had to be unpacked to fit through. Today, you can still follow the obvious trace of this historic pathway."  Unquote

 

FILLING WATER JUGS IN BORREGO - OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY - AND THE TILE ROOF GROCERY STORE

The 'Hiking in Anza-Borrego Desert' book by Robin Halford said this was a strenuous hike.  Well, she was right!!  The section along the wash was alive with large Ocotillo plants in bloom.  Beaver tail cactus & varieties  of flowers competed for space among the many rocks.  The wash started off smooth enough but soon the wide sandy trail led us to a narrow path veering off to the right & up!!  From that point we climbed 600 feet up a long winding foot path with every footstep higher than the one before.  The trail reminded me of the steep Ghost Mountain trail over in the Blair Valley.

THE DESERT IS BLOOMING

Took us the best part of 45 minutes to reach the top with stops for pictures & breathers.  It is on trails like this that I am reminded of the excess baggage I carry.  I make promises to myself while puffing along that I will never eat another peanut butter sandwich or hamburger with fries.  Not ever not never.  I'm not so good at keeping promises like that though & we just kept on trudging onwards & forever upwards.

COYOTE CANYON

The views out over Coyote Canyon to the San Ysidro mountains was beautiful with cloud shadows moving across the mountain faces & into the canyons.  Far below on the valley floor lay countless acres of neatly spaced & trimmed orange orchards.  Beyond that another 5 miles or so lay the sweet little town of Borrego Springs.  The sky was alive with personality as the lumbering clouds increased in size & density.  Stopped to take some nice photos & I have already uploaded today's hike photos into album entitled, COYOTE CANYON & ALCOHOLIC PASS 

THE OCOTILLO'S ARE IN BLOOM

The trail actually leads over the summit pass & down the east side of Coyote Mountain to the Clark Dry Lake Bed area where our motorhome is but we just went as far as the summit.  There was a post along the trail with a box affair on it with a plastic zip lock bag containing a trail log for people to sign.  Lots of names, dates, & comments, in the book.  We left a couple Bayfield Bunch cards in the bag too.  Because this is called Alcoholic Pass some people had left comments regarding their affiliation with alcohol so of course I had to add my sobriety date of October 19th 1979 beside my name:))  Am I proud of that........you bet!!

 

SIGNING THE LOG AT THE SUMMIT

We marked the spot with our GPS & the co-ordinates for the summit are...N 33* 21.5544 x W 116* 22.5640  Elevation 1,546 & the time was 1:23 on March 8/10

TIME TO PUT THE SWEATER BACK ON BEFORE WE BEGIN OUR WINDY DESCENT

The climb up had us sweating but the trek back down the west south side of the mountain was much cooler as the winds picked up & the cloud cover increased.  Took us 35 minutes to gingerly pick our way down the grade that had our toes trying their darndest to poke holes through the front of our hiking boots.  A lot of ankle twisting loose rocks so we couldn't hurry.  Always glad to reach the car for sure.

ACRES & ACRES OF ORANGE TREE ORCHARDS WITH BORREGO SPRINGS IN THE BACKGROUND

We just had to drive back out coyote canyon & around the south end of Coyote mountain & we were back at the rig.  A big flop in the chair & it wasn't long & I had some zzzzzzzzzzz's floating around my head.

A few more rigs had left while we were away & a few more had arrived.  With probably 50 to a hundred square miles of space here we were lucky nobody pulled up right beside us!!  Our friends Jim & Rene weren't so lucky as they had a Class A practically park on top of them late Saturday.  Remember yesterday's picture of that white fifth wheel......well, that's Jim & Rene.

DESERT BARREL CACTUS BLOOMS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Did you hear about the man who avoided funerals because he was not a mourning person.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

WENT LOOKING FOR SOME DESERT FLOWERS

This is Monday's post,  Having all kinds of Verizon connection problems tonight.  If it isn't one frustration with this blog lately it's another!!

We were up and out the door shortly after 7 this morning with our destination being Glorietta Canyon just up the road from us.  Kelly had read on a Borrego Springs Facebook page there were Ghost Flowers growing near the trail head but look as we did we could not find them despite clambering around on some rocks and walking a nearby trail.  No matter, it was just a beautiful morning to be out and about at the foot of the San Ysidro mountains.

GLORIETTA CANYON IS UP THERE TO THE LEFT SOMEWHERE

DON'T HAVE AN RV?? NO PROBLEM, JUST BRING A TENT

WE SEARCHED FOR GHOST FLOWERS HERE BUT NO LUCK

EVEN PHEEBS WAS ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR GHOST FLOWERS

KELLY CAREFULLY MAKES HERE WAY THROUGH SOME BOULDERS

ALMOST BACK TO THE JEEP

NO THESE ARE NOT GHOST FLOWERS

AND NO THIS IS NOT AN AUSTRALIAN KANGEROO

ROLLING OUT OF GLORIETTA CANYON

Our second destination was Coyote Canyon where we knew for sure we would find wildflowers, and we did.  Up until late last week Coyote Canyon had been closed due to severe flooding a few weeks ago.  With it open now to 4 wheel drive vehicles we headed ourselves out and right away began snapping a few flower pics.  We followed the Jeep road for a few miles to a place called the Desert Garden where we knew the road to be closed due to more flood damage.  Too bad because we've been out there before and it gets very scenic with a few shallow creek crossings.  

In another week or two this will be a very popular spot as people flock to this area when flower blooms reach their peak.  Borrego Springs is well known for it's sometimes massive blooming desert flowers.  We saw a lot more flowers in this area a few years ago.  I remember the ground being covered in purple Verbena blooms.

AN OCOTILLO BLOOM

ANOTHER DESERT PATHWAY LEADING WHO KNOWS WHERE

WE COULD SEE THE ROAD WAS CLOSED AHEAD SO THIS IS WHERE WE TURNED AROUND

HEADING BACK OUT OF COYOTE CANYON

We were here a number of years ago in March and I did take a bunch of desert flower photos at that time.  But I also remember it as being hot and I think it was the only time in our RV travels out here in the Southwest we ever had to fire up our A/C for a couple days.

NO THAT IS NOT A BLUE BIRD OUT THERE IT'S SOMEBODY TAKING A FEW FLOWER PHOTOS

NINETY FIVE PER CENT OF THESE FLOWEER PHOTOS WERE TAKEN FROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT SO ONE REALLY DOESN'T HAVE TO GO SEARCHING FOR THE FLOWERS....JUST BRING YOUR WHEELS AND YOU WILL SEE THEM

I TOLD KELLY NOT TO PICK ANY OF THOSE LEMONS OR IT MIGHT SET OFF ANOTHER 'LEMONGATE........OLDER READERS WILL HAVE THE INSIDE TRACK ON MY REFERANCE TO LEMONGATE:))

From Coyote Canyon we beatled back to Borrego Springs first taking us for a drive through the beautiful Springs At Borrego RV Resort and Golf Course where they have a high end RV Park and a beautifully scenic golf course.  If ya got the bucks this would be a nice place to hang out for a few weeks and especially if your a golfer.  It seems no matter where you are on the golf course there is a majestic mountain view in the background somewhere.

A GOLF COURSE WITH A MOUNTAIN VIEW...….CAN IT GET ANY BETTER

'HEY DAD THERE'S THE PROPANE FILL UP PLACE'

With the day warming up nicely we were back to our rig before 11 and as is so often the case with us nowadays that was the end of our running around for the day.  We have always been morning people ever since we met back in the summer of 1993.  Get out, go fast, get everything done in the morning then just cruise through the afternoon.  Works for us:))

On a short walk with Pheebs this afternoon I felt the first pangs of sadness knowing we would be leaving Borrego Springs shortly.  We haven't done as much this year or last year as previous years but it's been great to simply be here one more time and touch base with so many great memories.  For me Borrego Springs will probably go down as my all time favorite place to visit.  The big mountains, the picturesque desert, the quaint little town, and the abundance of things to see and do will remain in my mind forever.  It was my nearly dozen hikes up and down Ghost Mountain to visit the Marshall South homestead over the years that really bonded me with Borrego Springs.  I always felt something very special there at the Marshall South homestead standing high on a rock overlooking the sweeping Vallecito Valley.  Early one morning I was even there on Christmas Day standing in the ruins of what was once the South's kitchen remembering how the once happy little family celebrated their own early Christmas mornings.  You can find my Marshall South postings by typing 'Marshall South' into our Search bar at the top of our right hand column and you can find the captivating story of the Marshal South family on the internet.  I have the book Marshall South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles.

Now that we are back out at the Borrego Springs Legion I have to drive back into town each night to download all my post's photos.  Library is closed today so I will park on Christmas Circle and use the town's free Wifi.  Tuesday and Wednesday night I will likely be back to their nice new Library to finish off my posts.

No plans for the next couple days so we'll just wake up and see what happens:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Earl and Bubba are quietly sitting in a boat fishing, chewing tobacco and drinking beer when suddenly Bubba says, "Think I'm gonna divorce the wife... she ain't spoke to me in over 2 months." Earl spits overboard, takes a long, slow sip of beer and says, "Better think it over... women like that are hard to find."
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Many years ago, in the south pacific, there was a small island kingdom that was ruled by a kind and benevolent King. Each year, on the King's birthday, the residents of the island gave the King a new throne as token of their love and respect for him.  And each year, the King would put last years gift up in the attic of his small grass house. After many years of ruling the island, the weight of the large number of birthday presents stored up in the attic became too heavy and caused the house to collapse down on the King.  Moral to the story is: He who lives in grass house, shouldn't stow thrones.
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