Thursday, March 8, 2007
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, CA - March 1-7
At over 600,000 acres, Anza-Borrego DSP is the second largest state park in the country. It was set aside to preserve the fragile Sonoran desert landscape that holds vital habitat for thousands of species of native plants & animals, including the endangered Peninsular Bighorn Sheep (borrego). We picked a delightful spot to boondock, near a dry lake, with enough rigs in the area to feel safe, but not so many to feel crowded.
We took advantage of two ranger-suggested hikes: Plum Canyon & The Slot. Plum Canyon starts at the end of a 2-mile sandy 4WD dirt road. The trail follows a dry river bed up a gentle meandering slope, getting more scenic the further up as the vistas broaden. We hiked in about 3 miles before turning around. The Slot is a true slot canyon, carved out of caliche, and therefore lacking the dramatic colors that are present in the sandstone slot canyons of southern Utah. Still, it was well worth the effort of climbing down into the canyon.
Another day we drove to the Salton Sea. This peanut-shaped lake was accidentally created in 1905 when heavy rainfall & snowmelt caused the Colorado River to overflow its banks and pour into the Salton Sink, which, like nearby Death Valley, is below sea level. It was two years before the flow was finally cut off; by that time, enough water had poured through to cover over 350 square miles to a maximum depth of 51 feet (the lake's surface is about 220 feet below sea level). 
The Colorado has actually completely filled the Salton Sink two times in the last 10,000 years, both times the water eventually evaporated away. Now the Sea is sustained by runoff from irrigation, and pollution and salinity are threatening the already unstable ecosystem. The Sea is a major resting stop on the Pacific Flyway, and the water has already been responsible for at least two major bird die-offs, and algal blooms have led to massive fish die-offs due to oxygen starvation.This was Doug's second trip to the area -- the first was in the mid-60s when his family was passing through and listened to a sales pitch for the Salton Bay Yacht Club and community. We got a couple of cheap walkie-talkies for our time, and drove off without investing any more time or money in a venture that eventually folded. For years, empty streets led to deserted lots that an occasional RVer would park on, but now Salton City is being redeveloped. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Salton City and the Salton Sea -- currently a foul odor is noticeable at least 20 feet from water's edge.
We stopped at the Sonny Bono NWR on the south end of the Sea and saw quite a few water & shorebirds, plus a burrowing owl sitting atop a bale of hay out in the noon-day sun. We also watched the Blue Angels practicing their formations. We ate lunch at the NWR Visitor Center, then drove out to east side of the lake where there is a small field of mud volcanoes -- fascinating cone-shaped formations caused by escaping low-temperature gases, rather than the more famous boiling-hot mud pots of Yellowstone. 
We continued on to "Slab City" -- remnants of a WWII training camp near Niland, CA that has been completely taken over by RVers, who camp there free for months at a time. Our friend Bill Garmire was there, and we visited him briefly before having to head back home.We did find a bridge game at the Borrego Springs Senior Center. It's the type where you play a few hands and then trade off partners. Doug came in 2nd, and would have been 1st except for misplaying one card on one hand.
This was an area that we definitely plan to return to in the future. There is much to explore, and the climate is good for those cold winter months.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 10:33 AM 
