Anza-Borrego March 30th

Tuesday morning and our last day in the park. Miraculously, no chairs took flight and flew across the desert during the gale force gusts. Somehow they were neatly folded up in the sand right below where they previously stood.

The small wall behind our camp was covered in all kinds of wildflowers.

Apricot mallows...
This area also had more spiny dangers than any other place we'd visited thus far. Just look at all of those jumping chollas! Other cactus plants were plentiful as well.
King of the hill! I was too afraid to go up there. It was literally a maze of hazards, so I just walked around the wall to find beautiful ocotillos....Dozens of buds soon to open....Hedgehog cactus near and far...After breakfast, we packed up and decided to check out a short Narrows Earth loop followed by a longer hike up to the Maidenhair Falls before starting the long drive back home. I was so relieved to have survived another camping trip. One of my best friends joked that I had better remember what to do this time because I could no longer fall back on being a newbie. I still couldn't remember what to do, but luckily I didn't get in trouble for it.

Before we left the Mine Wash area, we stopped at a Kumeyaay Village. A couple RVs had camped there the night before, letting off fireworks which we could see and hear from our camp up the road. Probably not the smartest thing to do in the desert. Luckily all this took place before the winds kicked up. They were fast asleep while we explored the village area.

In addition to the wildflowers, there were lots of morteros to find and caves to explore, but we didn't actually go in.
This little area was a great place to photograph the different varieties of cactus because the path was well worn and relatively wide. The worst thing you can do is back into one cactus while trying to photograph another.
Check out this round monster:
Lots of cactus in bloom:
Our next stop was just a little east of the Mine Wash area for a short geological walk named Narrows Earth. Here you can see a fault.......and here are some of the oldest rocks in the area...Wildflowers were abound here as well.
Our next stop took us back up north in the park to the visitor center for a quick stop to pack our lunches and then on to the trailhead for Hellhole Canyon. With a name like that, you wouldn't expect anything inviting, but the reward of the 20 foot Maidenhair Waterfall brings lots of visitors to this area.

The first part of the hike climbs gently up a gradual incline passing blooming barrels, beaver tails, and hedgehogs, along with various other wildflowers like apricot mallows, brittle bush, chia, fiddlenecks, chickory, and several others. The final stretch of the hike to the waterfall includes several creek crossings and bolder hopping to get around various sections. After passing a few smaller waterfalls, Maidenhair Falls comes into view and can be recognized by it's size and adjacent wall of maidenhair fern. I would guess that the falls are more like 15 feet tall, but all guide books suggest 20 feet. The extra water up here supports a few palm oasis and trees that seem giant after spending so much time with low growing cacti. Not too far from the start of the trail, we came across three piles of rocks without any markers. I took a few photos on our way out.

A mystery I'd like to find information about:I took very few photos on the way up to the falls because the trail was hot and exposed for most of the way, but for wildflower viewing, this was a great hike. I love the apricot mallows and we came across several big bushes in full bloom. Luckily it was a bit windy providing some relief from the heat, while at the same time requiring more effort to make it up the canyon. Coming down was a breeze, no pun intended.

After one last stop at the visitor center to throw out some trash and rinse off under an available spigot, it was time to head home. It seemed like the longest drive ever, but we did pass some Happy Holsteins hanging out in fields of yellow flowers.After a stop at REI and BJ's for dinner in Arcadia, we finally made it home late Tuesday night. Hooray for a hot shower! Between the two of us, I'm sure there were over 1,000 photographs taken. I took nearly 500 myself. If you're thinking about checking out the desert wildflowers, now is definitely the time to go!