Got Flowers?

It was a day for driving, listening to The Doors, and flowers. The forecast was for rain, and the skies certainly looked it. Yet, if you bet against rain in the desert, the house odds are with you. As a friend once said, “it rained two feet.” There were a few drops on the pavement, and if you walked two feet there were a few more drops.

So I got into the car and drove up to Anza Borrego Desert State Park. This place is like Harry Potter sorcery for Valleyites since they can’t seem to find it. Perhaps, it’s that the state park doesn’t permit off-roading. So the southern part of the park which is accessible by S2 just beyond the Lazy Lizard bar in Ocotillo is usually empty. When I need a quick retreat from the news, troubles, or city noise, I head up S2, weather permitting. It’s the area around the town of Borrego Springs that has experienced traffic jams due to all of the desert flower peepers visiting the area. The Anza Borrego Park headquarters is located in Borrego Springs. The southern stretch of the park beyond Ocotillo is usually peaceful.

The Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union have been announcing the amazing desert bloom due to the above average amount of rainfall, nine inches, during the winter and spring. Flowers that are barely remembered for existing in the desert have popped up to the joy of people who like to see these things. Count me in. I took a couple of dozen photos and wish I could include them in this column. You’ll have to go online and look at www.abdnha.org/pages/ 03flora/reports/current.htm

This website is from the Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association. I saw and photographed a bunch of these flowers including purple desert lupine, sand verbena and amazing indigo bushes. The Native Americans used indigo as a dye. The deep purple flowers decorate a dull looking bush that wouldn’t get a second look in a non-bloom year. This is the magic that the rain has brought.

A friend asked where do the flowers begin along S2? You’ll likely see wildflowers all along your drive. I like to make my first stop at the Carrizo Badlands Overlook. It’s not well marked, and if you pass a small sign on the right, “Canyon Sin Nombre,” try to turn around and go back. You just passed the Carrizo Overlook. S2 is narrow and lacks paved shoulders so exercise caution when turning and driving in general. I drive a Camry onto the rough dirt roads. These pullouts were designed for passenger cars. You don’t need a high clearance vehicle. Also, go online and print a park map before you go so you have a sense of distances — www.mappery. com/map-of/Anza-Borrego-DesertState-Park-Map

I was able to get close to blooming indigo bushes in a large, flattened area right off S2 almost across the road from the westerly turn for Bow Willow campground. I then continued north and stopped frequently as I saw yellow flowering brittlebush alongside bright red clumps of chuparosa (loved by hummingbirds) once with bluish-purple flowers growing between them. There were large clusters of fuchsia colored flowers springing from beavertail cactus. Tall ocotillo plants were just putting out their orange blooms. Wow. What a show! I finished my northerly drive at San Diego County’s Vallecitos Park. The day use fee is huge: $3. You can picnic, use the restrooms and even utilize WiFi if you need to break the spell of being away from all that. I used to take my mom there and we’d enjoy a picnic lunch while looking at the Laguna Mountains in the west. This is as pretty a spot as you’ll find in Southern California as the native Kumeyaay Indians knew. It was also a stop for the overland Butterfield stagecoach, and the adobe building servicing the stage route has been restored. Unfortunately, the rains have not been kind to the adobe so the building was closed when I stopped there.

If you can, don’t hesitate. Catch the flowers before they disappear.