Another Trip to Anza Borrego (We told you we loved the place!)

On Thursday we realized we had only seen pictographs yesterday, and surely there were more spring wild flowers farther in to Anza Borrego. So we took off on Thursday morning for another search for wild flowers in Anza Borrego. Of course we headed North on California S-2 from I-8 again (still loving every mile of the road). And to make sure we would select the best place to see the flowers, we drove up to the Main Headquarters.

When told we enjoyed the hike to the Pictographs yesterday, a friendly volunteer at the desk suggested a hike close to the headquarters. “Drive over to the campground and go all the way to the end where there is a parking lot. From this parking lot you will see the start of a wonderful hike to the ‘Oasis in Palm Canyon’” she directed, ‘You will have to climb over some rocks.’

That was good enough for us. We found the parking lot (already nearly full of vehicles), parked our car, packed some fresh pineapple, a banana, some rice cakes, water and took off.

This hike led to the canyon ahead, and we climbed over many a boulder, rocks, logs and even criss-crossed the stream once or twice. The path is well marked in places, and very confusing in others. As we trudged over the obstacles nature had deposited, we met families with young children. “Huh, if those little kids can make it, we sure can,” we boasted. (Pride cometh before the fall….)

Actually, we did “make it” – we stopped several times to cool off, to fortify ourselves with banana and pineapple, and we hydrated frequently. But it was a strenuous hike for these two old codgers. Kathleen wasn’t sure Paul should continue, but he rested often and did not start up until he was ready.

We had a Nature Trail Guide for the three-mile round trip. Along the trail were 15 marker posts that corresponded with the Trail Guide. The information from the Trail Guide was interesting and provided encouragement to go on. It was well written, and we were happy the volunteer had provided us with the Guide. We learned a lot about this desert and the history of the places we passed along the trail.It was hard to imagine that the Cahuilla Indians lived in this Canyon so many years ago. It looks so inhospitable! Of course the water close by was one of the reasons they settled there. Even the canyon walls brought shade from the sun, as well as shelter from the winds. Flash floods are common in the summer, and I wonder how many lives were lost in such floods. Yesterday we enjoyed a cooling and welcome breeze the entire hike. Today the sun was bright and hot, and only once-in-a-while did we feel the breeze (for which we were always grateful). Paul knew from the start this hike would be much more demanding for him than yesterday’s. We left the parking lot and began our hike at 2pm. The 1.5 miles to the oasis took nearly two hours!

Seeing the palm trees gave us encouragement to continue on, even though the path was less clear now, and wound back and forth and up and down, stopping at boulders, but commencing again once the boulders were conquered. This particular boulder shows the “painting” of the rock that mother nature has wrought.

Success at last! What a great sight! We were able to see the oasis in the distance – not too far now! Though we realized we still had boulders and rocks to scramble over and around, and a few more criss-crossings of the river. Kathleen suggested that Paul remove his shirt and wet it in the water. Putting it back on ought to cool him down appreciably. He decided to go on without stopping. We were able then to keep the fan palm trees in view, and eventually we were rewarded with actually reaching the oasis!

And there it was! We gained a real appreciation of what an oasis is in the desert! Lots of other hikers were

enjoying the cooling relief of the shade provided by all the fan palms and the refreshing stream that flowed past.A large group of adults and children were enjoying themselves. We noticed that many of the hikers there wore tee-shirts that were all alike. It appeared that a group of 5 or so children were well tended by several adults. Curious to find out about this attractive group, Kathleen asked one of the adults about them. The group hails from the Sequoia School in Pasadena. There were 75 children (from grades one to three) and the school is a little like the Montesorri schools. The young people surely were having a great time. We noticed that most of the young hikers had camel backs. (These are back packs that hold water, and the camel backs were being well used!) As we relaxed

in the shade of the palms, we noticed that one of the adults sported several band aids. Apparently she was no worse for wear.

We figured the way back to the car would be much easier. In a way it was, but we elected to take the “alternate route” back and soon decided that it was less clearly marked than the path on which we traveled to reach the oasis. We did a lot more sliding and climbing over rocks and boulders, and several times seemed to have no place to go. Paul is a pretty good guide, though, and eventually we worked our way over to the original path and were soon counting down the marker signs toward the parking lot. It was a happy sight – to see the parking lot in the distance before us. And eventually our hike came to an end. We were tired, but happy. It had been much more difficult than we imagined, but we were proud to have been able to complete the 3.5 hour hike!

The next day we went to San Diego for Paul’s sixth and last (in this ‘induction’ session) of chemotherapy. Kathleen was able to get her PT/INR blood draw (don’t know the results yet). When we returned to Sunbeam Lake, Kathleen drove into El Centro to pick up some things for dinner. Since this was such a special day (end of Chemo) she purchased Paul’s favorite spicy catfish, polenta, and a lemon merigne pie (Paul’s absolute favorite dessert!) We figured it was an auspicious day, and needed something special for dinner!

Paul will have a window of 4 to 6 weeks until he has to report back to the doctor. The doctor will call early next week to let us know the size of our “window of freedom.”

On Tuesday next we’ll leave Sunbeam RV Park (with plans to return in October). We will drive the motor home over to El Centro to have its oil changed, and one for the Element, too. Then we’ll head off and escape!

We plan to spend a couple of days just south of Anza Borrego at a place called “Agua Caliente” – there’s an indoor thermal pool there, and we mean to try it. It is also way out in no man’s land, and we hope to be able to view the stars at night. There are NO towns or cities close by to light up the sky! From there we have tentative plans to camp (you guessed it!) at Anza Borrego before heading up to the Bay Area by mid-April.

Today the winds really kicked up, even so, the motor home received a little clean-up on the outside, and the Element got a lick and a promise – and the RV was rocking and rolling all evening in the wind – even during ‘Earth Hour’ when we darkened the entire RV. The table tops inside the rig are covered in a fine powder – the winds blow in such a fine powder – one can feel it, but not see it very well. So we’ll do some vacuum cleaning on Monday so that we will be pretty ship-shape and ready for travel on Tuesday!