Sand Verbena (Abronia maritima), growing in the sandy flats of Anza Borrego.

©Bert Gildart:  Another title I considered for this posting was “Rainy Day Details — From Anza Borrego Desert State Park”. The point, of course, is that all the rain of these past few months is creating a profusion of wildflowers not seen every year.

And now the rains of the past few days have added their artistic touch. Still, the desert is alive, and more alive, I believe, than I have seen it in a long time. Even Clark Dry Lake held rain this spring and those of you who follow this blog will recall the resulting water produced a hatch of fairy shrimp — making me wonder again: Is this really the desert?

But it is the desert and the rain has complemented the carpets of flowers by softening the light and by adding interesting patterns of moisture. In some cases, the moisture acts like a magnifying glass, accentuating details. Look, for instance, at the droplets that have come to lodge in the intersection of the lupine leaves.

What a spectacle we’re being treated to!

Flowers, then, are the headlines in this park and are appearing in many places and in many forms. Drive along the Henderson Canyon Road from Pegleg toward the DiGorgio Road and within half a mile you’ll see vast fields of sand verbena. Mixed into these fields are various other flowers to include the beautiful primrose with its delicate white flowers. As well, there is creosote, desert lily, chicory, desert dandelion, phacelia, brittle brush, and the brown-eyed evening primrose, among others.

AND NOW APPEARING…

One of the most abundant little flowers is the lupine, which has been blooming for the past few weeks. To see it here at Pegleg Campground, all we’ve had to do was step out of our trailer and walk a few feet. Unlike other species, it does not appear to be as site specific as does the sand verbena and the various species of cacti.

Cacti, incidentally, are also blooming, and one excellent place to see them is along the Cactus Loop Walk, adjacent to Tamarisk Campground, reached by driving over Yaqui Pass. The trail head is near the entrance to the campground.

Dune Evening Primrose; lupine, sand verbena

Over the weeks I’ve used a variety of techniques to photograph these plants, ranging from strobe lights to natural light. Strobe lights are the only choice when winds are blowing, as they arrest the motion. Strobes, however, were not necessary the other day, which was a calm one, enabling me to shoot at shutter speeds of ¼ a second or even less. For comparison, I’m including an image of the fish-hook cactus, which was taken with two strobes.

Fish-hook cactus (Mamilaria diocica) as seen along Cactus Loop Trail, Anaza Borrego

This is a small cacti and the image is almost 1/1, meaning its actual size is about equal to the image that appears in the camera’s view finder.

NATURAL LIGHT

Other than the image of the fish hook cacti I used natural light, an acceptable choice as pervading clouds reduced harsh shadows, though I sometimes used a small reflector to add detail in dark areas. As always when photographing such tiny subjects, I used a tripod, essential when the elements must be arranged exactly to create a pleasing composition. A tripod is also essential when using a macro lens as any movement at all is accentuated. Movement results from the slow shutter speeds you must use to stop down your aperture for increase depth of field, so that you can record all those desert details in the multitude of flowers now rearing their heads.

In fact, this year there are so many of them, and they are so abundant that once again I have to wonder: Is this REALLY the desert?

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Star Photography in Organ Pipe

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Young ram threading its way through cactus forest.

©Bert Gildart: The drama was high pitched, almost as exciting as watching two rams collide during mating season. But this contest was between a huge barrel cactus and a single ram, and if you’ve ever examined the sword-like thorns on the species, you’d understand the challenge.

According to Eric Hansen (a photographer friend I’ve mentioned often), who documented the entire episode, the ram trotted over to the barrel cactus, and then showing complete indifference to the species’s enormous thorns, it bashed the plant with the curve of its horns, partially splitting it in two.

Though Eric (also with us last year  in Death Valley) later saw thorns embedded in the lips and horns of the ram, the young ram seemed indifferent. These guys are tough, or the rewards are too great to bypass. Perhaps the later, for the ram continued its battle with the plant, slashing down with one of its sharp hooves to expose the center and the succulent pulp, which is apparently delicious, for the ram immediately began to feast.

ENDANGERED BIGHORN

The drama occurred several days ago, and when Eric asked if I like to return to the setting, I jumped at the chance. The probability of seeing such a sight again, we both knew, was slim, but that was OK. Much rain has been falling and various plants are putting forth incredible displays in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, so there was that. And, then, who knows? Perhaps we’d run across more desert bighorn sheep, and that’s always special, for the subspecies (cremnobates) — the one inhabiting this portion of the desert — is endangered.

L to R: Ram completely relaxed; ram, showing growth patterns in horns; Phacelia; barrel cactus now in bloom.

Cremnobates has horns that vary enough from the other desert bighorns to warrant designation as a separate subspecies. Current estimates are that less than 600 remain in the US, with some estimates as low as 335. Approximately 200 of the remaining sheep are located in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Others range north to Palm Desert and south into the Baja Pennisula.

A LAMB CALLED “HOPE”

Once the subspecies was common throughout this entire region, but when you have a region that values golf courses more than it does wildlife, animals such as the magnificent bighorn don’t stand a chance. Right now there are over 100 golf courses in — or immediately surrounding — the Palm Desert area alone, and that is ridiculous. Bob Hope once lived near the area and just before he died, he was told by research biologists that because of his involvement in trying to perpetuate the species, they wanted to name one of the rescued Cremnobates after him. “What shall we call it?” they asked. Without hesitation, the famous comedian said “Hope, and for all the obvious reason.”

Fortunately there are areas such as Anza Borrego that safeguard the species and shortly after starting on our hike up Palm Canyon, Eric and I saw two rams thudding down the flanks of Indian Head Mountain. As they scurried down they exhibited all the sure-footed traits characteristic of the species, quickly crossing the trail in front of us and then scampering up the opposite hill — another rocky slope.

Profusion of brittle brush

Though our progress was considerably slower, we followed them, and eventually their route took us back to the exact area in which Eric had watched the battle of the ram and the barrel cactus. On this day, they ignored the other barrel cacti, but apparently found the area satisfied their other needs, meaning it was safe. We stayed with them for several hours and they tolerated us, alternating their activities between wending through cactus groves and  perching on the huge boulders that enabled them to survey all that surrounded them. Occasionally one would rise and nibble on a creosote bush, somehow avoiding the thorns that seem to occupy everything that grows out here.

FLOWERS ARE EXQUISITE

Though most of our day was spent photographing the sheep, it was impossible to bypass the many wild flowers. Species that predominated included the brittle brush, phacilia, brown-eyed evening primrose, and the desert chicory. As well, a number of cacti were blooming to include the fishhook cactus and the barrel cacti. One is small the other large, but both produce flowers that are extraordinarily colorful.

This is a wonderful season to be in the desert and we count our blessings for the good fortune to be here when the sheep sightings are still common and the flowers are so gorgeous. Our only hope is that Hope – or most likely, now, its descendants – continues to flourish.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Sands That Sing

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Could the soft soothing music from Tony Feathers' guitar be luring in our new friends?

©Bert Gildart:  Whether it was the superb guitar playing, the warmth from our night fire, or the small pieces of peanuts we had apparently dropped on the ground I can’t say for sure, but one of the factors must have been responsible for the stealthy appearance of one of the desert’s most secretive creatures.

Though Janie and I have seen kangaroo rats as we’ve hiked the various deserts environs, we’ve never seen them at our feet – crawling over our boots, scampering across our hands. But that’s the way it has been the past several times we’ve sat around one of our cheery fires. Curiously song writer and guitar player Tony Feathers has joined us on each of the nights, so maybe it has been the soft sounds of his instrument and voice that have coaxed in these mysterious creatures. He plays frequently on Public Radio and at coffee houses in his home state of Tennessee, so I’m not going to sell this possibility short. He’s good, and the rats could have been mesmerized.

CHANCE FOR FREE FOOD

Another factor, of course, is the warmth from the fire. Perhaps the light from the fire has helped drawn them in. Possible, I suppose, but with their large, light-gathering eyes I doubt the fire improved their vision, so more than likely because the fire has lured us out, it is something about our presence that has drawn them in.

From our presence there is the possibility of food, and perhaps they’ve learned that. We chow on peanuts as we sip our wine, and when we chow on the peanuts, we inadvertently drop hulls. Still, it’s amazing that these timid creatures will forsake their desert ways — even for the chance of some free food.

DESERT ADAPTATIONS

Kangaroo rats are extraordinarily well adapted to this life in which they’ve been placed. Look again at their eyes, which are huge and excellent for gathering light. Then look at their huge hind legs, the source of the name. With these powerful legs, they spring long distances, soaring in huge arcs from one life-saving hole to another, chased sometimes by a coyote – and, yes damn it! — sometimes by the cats that some RVers allow to wander free from their campers. But back to these charismatic desert denizens… look at their extraordinarily long tail, which enables them to adjust their trajectory in mid air with a powerful flick.

With their huge hind legs Kangaroo rats can leap long distances and then, with their long tails, even change the trajectory of their flights.

There are yet other adaptations, and most have to do with the conservation of water. Scientists say their kidneys are extraordinarily efficient, capable of extracting life-giving moisture from tiny seeds. That’s just for starters, for scientists have tabulated many features that go on for pages.

KEEPING “KANGIE” WILD

Those, at any rate, are some of the characteristics of the visitors we’ve been enjoying the past couple of nights as we sit around our warm campfire listening to Tony Feathers play his guitar. So fearless have these creatures become that I actually had one crawling over the palm of my hand. They’re fastidious little creatures and because of the trait some people have actually tamed them as pets.

Tug of War

We, however, like them where they are and will try and do our part to keep them wild, not always easy to do. The other evening I saw one of our new friends creeping toward the hull of a peanut. Trying to reach it before the small rodent did, I succeeded only in tying with the tiny animal, which resulted in a small tug of war.

Large eyes placed on the sides of its head provide these tiny rodents with ample light-gathering capability.

“Kangie” won, and we all watched as the animal bounded off into the night. Several nights later, it returned again, but this time with several of its friends, all of whom we tried to ignore. That, at any rate, is a summary of another of our evenings here in Pegleg, America.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

Organ Pipe

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©Bert Gildart: Throughout the years, Goodyear Tires have probably been used in many ways, but perhaps the most unique is the use an abandoned tractor tire is seeing just outside California’s  Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge. Right now, just a few miles from the refuge located near the Salton Sea, a pair of burrowing owls has laid eggs, incubated their young and seen them to the fledgling stage.

IN WAKE OF HABITAT LOSS, BURROWING OWLS FACE UNUSUAL NESTING CHOICES, IN THIS CASE A GOODYEAR TRACTOR TIRE

Eric Hansen, an RV photographer friend whose acquaintance I made years ago through the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America, spotted them several days ago with his wife Sue. Happily they shared the finding with me and yesterday, Eric and I departed Pegleg and made the hour drive to the Salton Sea, where the owls were still surveying their world from beneath the side of the tire.

GOODYEAR TRACTOR TIRE

The choice of nesting sites is not one burrowing owls would naturally choose, but was made essentially because farmers have eliminated all species of mammals that create burrows, such as prairie dogs and the various ground squirrels.

Anthony & Marguerite Breda, full time RVers and wildlife refuge volunteers.

Burrowing owls need burrows, but when they cannot find appropriate holes have to rely on something else, in the case the recess created by a discarded Goodyear tractor tire.

In some places wildlife managers are increasing the nesting habitat of burrowing owls by inserting plastic piping into the ground.

This, according to Anthony and Marguerite Breda, a couple who has been volunteering at wildlife refuges for about eight years, is helping.

Of course, they point out that natural habitat is best, and that is what the Sonny Bono Wildlife refuge still offers burrowing owls, something Marguerite knows about. Each morning she sees several pair nesting in the old fashion way — in the burrows created by the various ground squirrels.

ONE OF THE SMALLEST OF OWLS

Burrowing owls are one of the smallest species of owls, standing but nine inches-tall. It has a short tail, very long legs, and weighs but 4 oz.  When the owl sees something approaching its home, it bobs up and down a few times, and then dives into its burrow. Here, the owls breed in late winter, and the females lay around 6-8 eggs. Eggs take one month to hatch, and young owls remain in the nest for about 42 days before leaving.

Burrowing owls on Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge, in natural habitat -- a burrow abandoned by a ground squirrel.

Burrowing owls are found in many places in the West and I’ve photographed them on the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge in Montana where they still find nesting opportunities from the holes which prairie dogs have abandoned. The ones shown here were photographed with Nikon Camera equipment and in several cases, an 800mm lens, which placed me well away from these two nests, that is the natural nest and the abandoned Good Year tire.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Desert Five Spot & Function of Beauty

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©Bert Gildart: Here’s a technique I learned yesterday from Rich Charpentier, a good friend who provides informative photo seminars from his base in Prescott, Arizona. As well Rich has a print shop located not far from the town’s historic courtyard center.

Right now Rich’s class to Vulture Ghost Town is full, but you can still get into his next class, one which will center on an incredible area known as White Pockets. Rich, as I’ve discovered before (and from his blog), not only knows the areas around which he centers his class, but can convey this knowledge. He is a born communicator, a patient and persistent teacher.

HIGH PASS FILTER

The technique Rich shared with me by phone is intended to increase the definition of an image in a way no other technique can equal. You must have PhotoShop. To duplicate the technique create a new layer (Ctrl J), then use a High Pass filter on the layer, which will create a faint “etching” that seems foreign to the original.

THOUGH NOT PARTICULARLY DRAMATIC IN THESE SMALLER IMAGES, TRY “HIGH PASS FILTRATION” FOR ENHANCED DETAILED THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND WHEN ENLARGED. BEFORE ON L.

You’ll have to experiment with the pixel change, but I set mine to 9. Then blend the two layers (original and new) using Hard Light or Vivid Light, and behold, you’ve created an image whose impact has just been increased dramatically, particularly apparent with larger images.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY MANY

The technique really helps to amplify the floral structures of wildflowers (as they’re now appearing in Anza Borrego!), and if your goal is to generate an appreciation of the natural world – or just the world around you –through the art of photography, Rich can help!

To learn more about PhotoShop, Lightroom and photography, and do so in unique settings, I join many others in recommending his photo seminars.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*Anhinga Trail

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One of Anza Borrego's most celebrated wildflowers now emerging and is abundant.

©Bert Gildart: One of the desert’s most celebrated wildflowers is now emerging in areas surrounding us here at Pegleg, a campground within the sprawling Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

Known as Desert Lily various people from our campground have surrounded sprouting leaves with circles of rocks to protect them from the many footfalls of local hikers. Their efforts have been rewarded for now emerging are undamaged specimens of what many describe as one of the desert’s most beautiful wildflowers.

Appropriately the generic name of the plant is Hesperocallis and it roughly translates from Greek as “west beauty.” (Greek hesperos, “west,” and kallos, “beauty.”) Indeed the flowers are beautiful and though I photographed one the other morning and posted it on a previous blog, the images here show more fully developed specimens and their most conspicuous features, and that is the fully opened large, cream-colored sepals and petals. Usually sepals are a different color but in the case of many lilies, sepals have become more like petals, and that’s true of the desert lily.

Though the plant is now abundant, individual specimens do not always bloom, requiring a sufficient amount of rain to activate the bulb, which can be buried several feet in the soil. Spanish called the desert Lily “Ajo (garlic) Lily” because of the bulb’s flavor.

Like the glacier lily of Glacier National Park (where I worked as a seasonal ranger), Native Americans sometimes harvested the bulb as a food source. In Glacier, grizzly bears still seek out the succulent bulbs and I have to speculate that when the California grizzly roamed this great area, it might have once sought out bulbs of this or a similar California lily, for bulbs of Montana’s glacier lilies and Anza Borrego’s desert lilies are similar. Certainly local tribes made use of the bulb, just as they made use of the agave plant, a species to which the desert lily is closely related.

FAMILY CONFUSION

Though called a lily, I find from the literature that there is much dispute as to whether the species really should be placed in the family Liliaceae. From botany courses I know that members of the lily family have the floral formula of 3-3-6-3, meaning they have three sepals, three petals, six stamen and three pistils. Our desert lilies conform to this formula, but with the advent of molecular science, taxonomists are finding molecular differences they now believe are more important than morphological features.

Desert Lilies now heralding what should be a colorful spring desert.

Now they say these features reveal that the Desert Lily is more akin to the agave and relegate it to the family Agavaceae. Adding to the confusion, yet others relegate it to the family Hesperocallidaceae, and that’s interesting as this family contains no other species but Hesperocallis undulate, our desert lily. And, yes, yet others leave it right where it’s been, and that’s in the lily family.

PHOTOGRAPHY & SPECIES IDENTIFICATION

Books on taxonomy say that to identify the desert lily, you should look for characteristic long, thin, narrow leaves that appear wavy or undulating, as suggested by the specific name undulate. You can see that feature in my photographs, but literature also says individual specimen might sometimes display thicker leaves with straight edges.

Look, too, for a flower which at times sports a stem one- to three-feet in height. At times, these structures may contain as many as 20 buds, though only a few may be open at any one time.

Some say the flower is similar to that of an Easter lily, and after spending time photographing it, must concur that the two appear somewhat similar. Photos incidentally were made during a strong wind, but my two strobes arrested leaf and flower motion. For depth of field, natural light setting had to be f-32 dropping shutter speed to 1/8^th of a second.

Look for long narrow leaves that often appear wavy.

That, however, would not have worked and resulting images would have been horribly blurred. With strobes and the camera set to manual, I was able to change the shutter speed to 1/250 of a second; aperture remained f-32.

NOW’S THE TIME TO EXPLORE

Most people, of course, probably care little about the technicalities imposed by taxonomist and by camera buffs such as myself, and are probably looking for a plant that simply adds beauty to a desert setting that can sometimes appear drab. If you fit that category, now is the time to explore Anza Borrego’s spectacular desert. Wildflowers are beginning to emerge and that news is presaged by the desert lily, one of the most beautiful of all desert flowers.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*Badwater, Where An Entire River Disappears

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©Bert Gildart: For Eric Hansen and me the day could not have started out better! About a half hour after departing our camp at Pegleg, we found ourselves driving through a rugged portion of Anza Borrego Desert Park on our way to Indian Hill (also a rugged). Though the sun was just barely peeping over the horizon, as we rounded a  steep curve not far from one of the park’s major passes,  Eric, who is always on the lookout for bighorn sheep, hollered: “Bert! Up there on that cliff.  A ewe and a lamb.”

Distant sighting of young lamb topped day of superlatives at Anza Borrego.

For my Montana friends familiar with sheep biology, mark down February 17. Here ewes give birth in mid February, not early June as they do in Glacier National Park. But the conditions are similar. Both desert bighorns and Rocky Mountain bighorns seek out the most rugged terrain they can find, and this ewe was no different, for the high pass was about as rugged as you can find. Similarly, young seem born with protective camouflage, blending as they do almost perfectly in color with the surrounding rocks.

How do the ewes known to find terrain that so perfectly matches their young? And how did we know this lamb was just born?

Though I can’t answer the first question, the fact that the lamb still retained a shriveling umbilical cord was proof positive. More than likely this tiny lamb was no more than four- to five-days old – if that.

Click to see expanded caption and for larger image.

The photographs I made were all taken from the road and from a distance as well. The pair showed no concern responding to our presence simply by moving behind a creosote bush. We drove on to our day’s objective, which was Indian Hill, a remote section of the park.

CENTURY PLANTS

Our goal was to find a unique set of pictographs, and though we were unsuccessful, we were highly successful in other ways. Several agave plants were in bloom, meaning that a long life is about to end. Though also called “Century Plants,” most likely they grow but 35 to 50 years, finally, putting forth flowers at life’s end. Several had completed their life span and were now – at long last — flowering. Not only were the yellow blossoms gorgeous, but they were attracting bees and hummingbirds, and, so, were serving another function.

Rocks in the Indian Hills area also created interesting patterns, which I photographed. As well a railroad track reminded us that the rocks were once an impediment for those constructing the Carrizo George Railway. Evidence of past construction was manifest and we found a now deteriorating wall that had been built, in part, with explosive cans.

Click to see expanded caption and for larger image.

But the rocks were not an impediment to all, and once served as ancient Indian shelters and as sites for the creation of pictographs. And though we couldn’t find any that’s not all bad for the country was gorgeous, meaning that we have an excuse to return.

And then, of course, there was our rare sighting of the new-born desert bighorn lamb, which really topped the day.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

Gator Drama in Shark Valley

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Native Americans once gathered fairy shrimp in tightly woven baskets.

©Bert Gildart: Since my posting about fairy shrimp, I have learned more about this tiny crustacean by visiting with several of the volunteer naturalists at Anza Borrego Desert State Park. As I explained recently, rains dissolved the cyst that protects the species from the fiery sun and the desiccating winds. But what naturalists explained is that that all life-perpetuating functions are performed in a period of just two weeks.

Another interesting fact is that Native Americans once gathered fairy shrimp by the thousands collecting them in baskets woven so tightly that these half-inch long creatures could not escape.

Fairy shrimp then served as a source of food. Obviously the food source was marginal as rains sufficient to bring forth the large numbers Janie and I saw at Clark Lake several days ago only occur once every five or six years. This is one of those years.

SPRING FLOWERS

Rains in this park are also beginning to bring forth spring flowers, and there are two particularly showy species now blooming. One is a species of cacti known as the Fishhook Cactus, which can now be seen along the trail to the old Marshal South homestead in Blair Valley.

The other is a Gold Poppy and Eric Hansen and I photographed it yesterday while looking for sheep along the Palm Canyon trail. Eric and Sue are a husband wife writer/photographer team, also members of the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America, and Janie and I have known them for years. They’ll be here for a week or so.

To photograph the two species I used two different techniques. I photographed the cactus using two strobes lights, a technique described in other postings. I photographed the Gold Poppy by asking Eric to create a shadow over the plant, so reducing shadows that tend to be excessively contrast-y in the harsh desert light.

Eric and I are both interested in photographing the desert bighorn and, yesterday, we had some success, but it wasn’t easy. We departed our campground about six in the morning and were at the trailhead shortly thereafter. By sunrise we were a long way up the canyon when Eric spotted a ewe-lamb group on the side of Indian Head Mountain.

Bighorn sheep scurry along side of Indian Head Mountain; fishhook cactus now blooming along trail to Marshal South’s old homestead.

SHEEP WERE NONCHALANT

The sheep demonstrated but little concern and drifted toward us. Half an hour later we were close enough to perch on the side of a rock and allow them to acclimate further to our presence, which they did. Several minutes later several moved even closer toward us. Then, they began scampering around as though in play. Two of the young rams began a mock battle of head butting, but all that occurred behind a patch of creosote.

Gold poppies now in bloom along Palm Canyon trail.

Though the images I did obtain were not exceptional, I was delighted that I could document these magnificent animals in the rugged setting which has been their home for centuries. It is my hope to amass a portfolio of desert bighorn and with ones taken here several years ago, believe I am beginning to achieve that objective.  Borrego, of course, means sheep, so while here the effort as a photographer seems appropriate.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*The Dry Tortugas

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©Bert Gildart: Once every five to six years, California’s Anza Borrego Desert State Park is deluged with rain water and if it pools, a miracle occurs. Embedded in the playa of Ancient Lake Borrego, the lake from which Clark Lake (also dry) eventually derived, tiny crustaceans break free of their cysts. Specifically, the cysts have enabled early stages of the tiny fairy shrimp to survive desiccating winds and the summer temperatures that often exceed 120 degree Fahrenheit.

Here in Anza Borrego, tiny shrimp are now finding their place in the comos

That’s what’s has recently happened at this 50,000 year old lake bed. Rains have been exceptional, particularly in recent months. And now, with yet another downpour last week, the shriveled and dried up surface that until recently comprised Lake Clark, has soaked up enough moisture so that the phenomena has occurred. Rains have  softened the cysts; and they have erupted; and you can now see the half-inch-long fairy shrimp powering along the edge of this ancient lake now slightly watered.

ADAPTATIONS TO LIFE

Though difficult to see, fairy shrimp perform all the functions of life we consider normal, they but do so with structures that are certainly different from those with which we are familiar. They have a thorax which consists of 11 segments, and leaflike legs. And here is where you find the breathing organs as well as  lobes for paddling. You’ll see the shrimp if you take the time to study the water’s edge, and though they won’t be seting records for speed, they sure can move.

Look even closer and if one of these tiny creatures stops you might even see the animal’s two sets of antennae. One is extra long and it is used for grasping females during mating. Later, eggs fall to the surface mud where they might sink slightly and then develop to an early embryo stage, remaining dormant then until the next wet season. Here at Clark Lake that could be another five years down the road when heavy rains fall once again. At that time, eggs will hatch about 30 hours after rains fill the pools.

ENDANGERED CREATURES

Though the United States hosts a number of different species of fairy shrimp, five species are endangered. Declines are the result of habitat loss from agricultural and urban development, alteration of wetland by draining – and from off-road vehicle activity.

CLICK TO SEE ENLARGED IMAGE AND FOR EXTENDED CAPTION. L to R: Ancient Clark Lake, fairy shrimp, bicycling  to Clark Lake, proof that fines are not sufficient to curtail activities of a certain segment of society.

In Anza Borrego off-road use is tolerated in specific areas, but a certain segment of the group flagrantly ignore signs. Their actions serve to give all in the group a bad name, which is unfortunate, as most in  are law abiding. Sadly there was much evidence this past week of such activity immediately adjacent to a posted sign at Clark Lake. (See photos of JUST ONE example.)

Fairy shrimp serve as an important cog in the food chain, providing sustenance for a variety of shore birds. Photographing the species requires specialized equipment and much patience, but I  enjoy looking at them as they remind me of the extraordinary adaptations life has made to endure under the most capricious of circumstances.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Spring Awakening Death Valley

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Daria Aquiar of Baja California and a member of the Paipai nation demonstrates basket making techniques.

©Bert Gildart: This past weekend Anza Borrego Desert State Park in southern California presented its annual Archaeoastronomy weekend, opening its museums for visitor tours – and hosting a tribe of Native Americans.

The group is known as the Paipai and they hale from the Santa Catarina area of the Baja Pennisula, which is located about a four hour drive south of Anza Borrego. As many who follow our blog know, Janie and I have a particular interest in Native Americans and have, in fact, devoted an entire page of our website to the Gwich’in Indians of Alaska.

Over the years, my stories and photographs of Native Americans have appeared in dozens of publications to include Christian Science Monitor, Native Peoples Magazine, National Wildlife and Time/Life.

PAIPAI INDIANS  PRESERVE THEIR PAST

The presence of the Paipai at the Visitor Center this past weekend provided us with an opportunity to meet a group of people who are actively attempting to preserve their indigenous ways, specifically, by the continued creation of baskets, bows and arrows, and pottery.

But the weekend was also about the area’s ancient past, and not to gloss over the work of all the volunteer archaeologists, the weekend also provided insights into a time when mammoths, zebras, llamas, camels, and ancient horses roamed the shores of ancient inland seas that once spread north from the Sea of Cortez. Indeed, the archaeological weekend provided not only a number of photographic opportunities, but also an excellent time to learn about the area’s incredible past.

MADE FROM PINE NEEDLES

Because most of the Native artists spoke Spanish, Horacio Moncada served as a translator for artists Enriqueta Castro, Melina Zazueta and Adan Arenivar. He said the baskets were made from Jeffrey pine needles and palm leaves to create the intricately coiled pine leaves. They are proud that their use does not harm the trees as leaves and needles are gathered from those that have fallen to the ground. Horacio said that techniques for making the items were handed down over a period of almost 1,000 years.

Adan Arenivar created the bows and arrows and the sling shot, and with the exception of the rubber for the sling shot, all materials were derived from the land.

Click for enlarged version and to see extended caption.

Our visits with members of the Paipai Tribe occurred immediately in front of the Visitor Center, but not so tours of the museum. Normally, the area is off limits, but during this special weekend tours were conducted into actual working labs. Judy Smith, an RVer and also a volunteer who has undergone intense training, explained that zebras, sloths, and camels once occupied what is now the badlands terrain. From this area, the park has amassed a rich collection of bones.

HORSES DIED OUT

Archaeologists have then identified the bones and the results are amazing. Zebras and camels once occupied the area, but so, too, did horses and llamas. Interesting, these latter two species then migrated, horse to Asia and llamas to South America. Then, several million years ago those in North America all died out.

Click for enlarged version and to see extended caption.

In other words, though horses and llamas evolved here and later populated other portions of the world, it was up to the Spanish explorers to reintroduce horses, and up to the Mexicans to reintroduce llamas by bringing them across the isthmus of Panama.

During the weekend, the park also offered a number of seminars, many of which we attended. All were interesting, but for us, the opportunity to meet another group of Native Americans and some of the actual field people now serving as volunteers was the highlight.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*A Letter To Save The Everglades

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Bert Gildart: Two years ago I wrote a major story for magazine produced by The Wilderness Society about global warming. At the time I quoted Dr. Erik Beever, one of the premier scientists working on the subject. He was concerned about the effect rising temperatures would have on pika, a tiny member of the rabbit family and one I have posted on previously. Much of his work has been centered on pika in wilderness areas of the Great Basin. Because pika can not tolerate the increasing temperatures associated with global warming he said that the species is like the canary in the coal mine, telling us world temperatures are too high.

A member of the rabbit family whose survival depends on the cold temperatures previously associated with high altitudes.

Beever says that archaeological evidence proves pika have inhabited the Great Basin for the past 40,000 years and that in 1940, scientists cataloged 25 distinct populations in the region. In 1992 Beever began his investigations but found only 19 pika populations. In 2004 subsequent research indicated his 19 had dropped to 17 and that all pika had migrated up about 130 vertical yards.

Despite the fact that he believes pika will most likely be gone from the Great Basin,” the US Fish and Wildlife Service released findings today saying the pika need not be placed on the endangered species list. Though their findings contradict those of some scientists, here is what they had to say.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

“Although the American pika is potentially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in portions of its range, the best available scientific information indicates that pikas will be able to survive despite higher temperatures. Pikas will have enough suitable high elevation habitat to prevent them from becoming threatened or endangered. As a result, the pika does not meet the criteria for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

“We have completed an exhaustive review of the scientific information currently available regarding the status of the American pika and have analyzed the potential threats to the species,” said Steve Guertin, the Service’s Director of the Mountain-Prairie Region. “Based on this information, we have determined that the species as a whole will be able to survive despite increased temperatures in a majority of its range and is not in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future…

TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY

“A key characteristic of the American pika is its temperature sensitivity. Pikas cannot tolerate much higher body temperatures than their norm of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, the species is found at progressively higher elevations, where cooler temperatures are found, as one moves south through the range of the species.  In Canada, populations occur from sea level to 9,842 feet, but in New Mexico, Nevada, and southern California, populations rarely exist below 8,202 feet.

The pika is like the canary in the coal mine telling us by its demise that world temperatures are critically high.

“Several climate change variables can affect pika populations, including extremely hot or cold days, average summer temperatures, and duration of snow cover.  In general, pika biologists agree that temperatures below the habitat surface, such as in loose rock area crevices, better approximate the conditions experienced by pikas because they rely on subsurface habitat to escape hotter summer daytime temperatures and obtain insulation during the colder winter months. Therefore, surface temperatures may not be as useful as subsurface temperatures for predicting the effects of climate change on pika populations…”

The paper continues, noting that their finding suggest pika will survive in the Great Basin as well as in areas such as Bodie, California and in the hot climates of Craters of the Moon (Idaho) and Lava Beds National Monuments (California). They say that pikas persist at these sites because they reduce activity during hot mid-day temperatures by retreating to significantly cooler conditions under the loose rock areas and perform daily activities during the cooler morning and evening periods. Despite altering their behavior in response to high temperatures, pikas can maintain high birth and low mortality rates.

Obviously there are different theories regarding the future of the pika and although I’m inclined to place more credence in the finding of Mr. Beever, I hope the USFW is correct. Pikas are diminishing in number from Glacier National Park (as well as the park’s glaciers!) as well as from the Great Basin. I also hope enough of these charismatic little creatures survive to ultimately replenish their kind.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Badwater, Where An Entire River Can Disappear

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©Bert Gildart: During the Saturday night dance at the Slabs in southwestern California, which is nestled between a half-submerged wasteland of derelict buses and vehicles known as Bombay Beach and an environmental catastrophe known as the Salton Sea, Janie and I were paid an immense compliment. “You all,” said Solar Mike, “are Slabbers.”

The compliment followed a rousing song played by a band that might have performed here when “Alexander Supertramp,” the young man featured in the book and movie Into the Wild… lived here. He was befriended by Leonard Knight, the man who has spent the last 20 years of his life building Salvation Mountain. Last year I wrote about him in one of my blogs and was glad to see that although the torrential rains of last week slowed him down it didn’t destroy him.

Leonard Wright, architect of Salvation Mountain whom I interviewed last year.

Solar Mike paid us the complement after his splendid accompaniment on his harmonica with a local band. Upward would go his head when the band struck high notes and then down — when the band launched in some blues. And while he played, Janie and I danced, and immediately after his last performance he came over. “Wow,” he said. “You all dance like Slabbers. You’d fit right in.”

WE WERE SLABBING

No question, we were having a ball, and Mike was laughing, but the fact of the matter is that Slab City caters to folks from virtually every conceivable style of life you can imagine. For some it is the end of the road. Here’s where a large number of people come to park their run-down RVs at absolutely no cost. They have no other place to go, and all they need here are a few solar panels and a shovel to scoop out a big “gopher” hole.

CLICK TO SEE LARGER VERSION AND EXTENDED CAPTIONS. L to R: Slab City library, Christopher, Saturday night dance, “Solar Mike,” Don examining library books.

When the “gopher hole” is filled “residents” cover it and then the sun bakes out the odor. Several of the occupants include two sisters (now 91 and 92), and for them this is certainly the end of the road.  Still  they seem to love their life as it is.   Many fit into a similar category and it even includes a few PhDs who must have taken a wrong turn somewhere in another life.

Not everyone, of course, is at wit’s end, and Solar Mike is certainly not one of them. About 20 years ago Mike departed the state of Washington where he’d been employed as a social worker. Recognizing a need, Mike settled in with his Motorhome, began adding solar panels (they now number about 40) to his own evolving structure and began accepting business. Today, that business has garnered him a reputation as the Guru of everything that can be operated by solar power.

ENERGY TO MEET OUR NEEDS

For us this is a repeat visit. Last year we made the two hour drive from Pegleg (where we’re still based) and had Mike install a single solar panel which wasn’t quite enough. This time we sat down with Mike and reviewed our actual usage, which we had not adequately described previously. Mike concluded that we needed a three stage charger rather than the factory installed one. We also needed another panel and yet another battery. Though Airstream builds a good unit, we believe they equip their units for those who primarily want to stay in RV parks. That’s not us. Essentially, we stay in national parks and in out-of-the-way places — places that offer but few amenities.

And, so, after one month with us at Pegleg, Don and Nancy depart, leaving after an exhilarating weekend in the Slabs. (Note our new solar panels.)

After assessing our needs, Mike then turned the work over to several of his employees. One was a man named Christopher who had become an astute observer on life. He believes that Janie and I are better off in our Airstream than fifty percent of the rest of the world, and as we thought about it concluded he is probably right. Here in the Slabs, the analogy was appropriate, as a number of the people here are destitute.

LIBRARY AT THE SLABS

Yet another person whose life has impacted this eclectic community was the librarian who passed away about seven years ago at age 57. Her name was Peggy Sadlik and if you visit the library you’ll see her grave marker on the north side of the library, buried beneath a slab of concrete. She preferred to be called Rosalie and she began the library about 1995 by adding a few books to a shack build by a local character known as Goldman. Originally she stipulated that if you took a book you left a book, but now, because the library has grown, if you see something you like you can simply take it. The library is open 24 hours a day, but you’ll need a flashlight if you visit at night.

We spent three days at the Slabs and have to say we enjoyed it once again. We enjoyed the notion that there are still some places in the U.S. where you can pretty much do as you will. Of course there’s a down side, but if you can handle the problems that must arise from time to time then you can carve out a respected niche, one so respected that when such a man tells you that you could be a Slabber… why you believe you’re among the chosen.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Lessons From Yaquitepec

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©Bert Gildart:  The torrential rains, which I mentioned in my last posting – and that lasted for five full days – have finally ceased. They stopped three days ago leaving the ground saturated in a way they’ve not been in years. Mike the mechanic at a local garage said he’d lived here for 20 years, emphasizing “I’ve never seen the equal!”

Trails lead directly from Pegleg into surrounding mountains.

Though the rains have forced most of inside we Pegleggers are an industrious crowd and have found things to do. Charging batteries in the rain has been a problem, forcing us to rely on our generators. To keep them dry we placed generators on elevated blocks of wood beneath the lowered the tailgates of our pickups. To keep the contents in the bed of our pickups dry, we spread tarps over the opening and then Bungeed them in placed so the winds wouldn’t whip them around.

Made comfortable in that manner we then went about our various activities, which wasn’t a problem for me as the seclusion allowed me to work on stories and photographs.

VERBAL INTERCOURSE THAT WAS PROFOUND

But you can’t work all the time, so Janie and I have played cards with Fireman Ted and his wife Carol. Ted and Carol are both great readers and had introduced us to a book called The Road. Authored by Cormac McCarthy the book is listed on Oprah’s Book Club. By the time the rains had arrived we’d all read the profoundly dark master piece, which has a post-apocalyptic setting. None of us could put the book down and the bleak rains seemed to provide the proper setting for much verbal intercourse. Might McCarthy portend the future of mankind?

The rains provided yet more. One dark and bleak night Bruce the lawyer invited us to the VFW for taco night. The club was packed and the mood was so festive that the rains of the evening were themselves drowned out by all the bon home.

Click on each image to see enlarged version and to see extended caption.  L to R: Driving through Slot Mountain, “Wind Caves,” Badlands as seen from Wind Caves.

But now, after enduring such extreme hardships we’re delighted to report that all here at Pegleg have survived – and that all but a few remained. And these people should take note that we no longer view them as true Pegleggers, for they couldn’t tolerate a little inconvenience .

On the other hand we have proven to be more than just fair-weather Pegleggers. We remained, and can report that our Airstream didn’t float away. We’re safe and sound and now out hiking local trails accessed from our RVs and admiring the distant peaks some of which are now covered with snow! (see image of Janie above.)

And now we’re exploring a little more of this incredible park.

CAVES ETCHED BY WINDS

One of the places we’ve long wanted to see is an area accessed through Split Mountain known as Wind Caves. We joined Don the forest economist and his wife Nancy and, using their vehicle, drove about 20 miles to an area of the highway known as the “Texas Dip,” (probably because it is so big) and then on along a dirt road which we soon accessed through a series of immensely slotted canyons. After about an hour, we reached our trailhead and then struck out.

The climb was steep, but the hike worth the effort for, indeed, the area is appropriately named. Below badlands spread out, and off in the distance I saw a couple threading their way through an austere landscape created by hundreds of completely eroded hills. At this point, we were not far from the Mexican border.

MURKY THOUGHTS

A little more hiking and we came to a series of hills that contained caves, arches and windows all of which demanded exploration.  We explored these features then we sat and soaked up the scenery and ate lunch.

Several hours later we retraced our steps, and as Don and Nancy were descending the light was such that it etched the gully washers in a way that dramatized the rains not only of the past few days but also of the eons. Cast against this immense landscape of time and breadth Don and Nancy looked incredibly insignificant, reminding me once again that the universe is big and that we’re small — but hopefully not irrelevant.

Good Lord, I hope we remain rain free for the remainder of our encampment, else how will we Pegleggers ever survive the accretion of such murky thoughts?

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Gators On My Mind

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©Bert Gildart:  Here at Pegleg (located in California’s Anza Borrego Desert State Park), Janie and I experienced another downpour of torrential rains, which  started yesterday about 3 in the afternoon. For over an hour, rain fell in buckets. When the rains did cease about an hour later, we went outside to survey the results, and they were impressive. Up on the hill, waters were literally streaming down the hill in what appeared to be genuine waterfalls. At the base of the hill, several “rivers” converged and then spread out over the campground. In places waters that were four- to six-inches deep engulfed our trailer and we joked about sandbagging and applying for relief funds.

Waters that were two to four inches deep engulfed our trailer.

We joked until we learned that just west of us heavy rains have created mudslides and are forcing people to evacuate their homes. According to a report I read in the Los Angles Times, the foothills to our west have received almost 5 inches of rain since Sunday. Another storm is predicated for today and that according to Department of Public Works Director Gail Farber who was interviewed by the L.A. Times,  will drop another 4 to 8 inches on the area.

MORE RAINS EXPECTED

The official went on to say that the ground is “really saturated right now from the two storms that came through the past two days.” Ms. Farber expressed concern for mountain residents about the storm that is predicted for today.  She said people in some places will be asked to evacuate.

Tentatively, Janie peers outside to watch the rising waters.

The storm is the result of a strong jet stream that is sending a line of storms ashore from the Pacific Ocean. Wet weather is apparently expected to continue through Thursday.

Though we’re obviously not escaping the torrential rains, here at Pegleg we’re about five miles from the mountains, where the brunt of the storm is being experienced. Nevertheless, we’re seeing several inches of water engulfing our trailer all of  which makes for interesting conversations and predictions that the desert will indeed be carpeted this spring with flowers. Several years ago the carpets of desert wildflowers were impressive, and with the rains this could provide an equal.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*The Eyes of the Canyon (about desert bighorn)

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©Bert Gildart:

Dateline Pegleg, America! Our friend Richard is the purveyor of all the news at Pegleg that is important. Making the rounds throughout camp on his well-used  bicycle, he informs everyone who is up: “It’s Monday, January 18,” he heralds.  “What more do you need to know?”

Richard’s news really is news for some out here in California’s Anza Borrego Desert State Park who don’t even seem to know what month it is. Or at least they’re confused, and that should not be as surprising as it might seem. Some of us are from the north, such as Montana and Canada. Others, all the way from Vermont, and to be sitting outside in shirt sleeves and shorts in weather that is actually warm in January (or is it May?) is, well, just different.

For us, campfires have added a new dimension to the Pegleg adventure, enabling us to share life experiences.

Pegleggers, we think, are an interesting group coming from all different walks of life. Right now there are about twenty of us, and we represent a variety of backgrounds, sharing in common several facts. All of us are a little on the cheap side, enjoying the fact that we’re saving about $600 a month by “boondocking,” meaning that we’re pretty much self-contained. We also share the fact that most of us are either self employed or retired. Here’s a quick breakdown:

DIVERSE GROUP

Bruce was a lawyer; Ted a fireman. Don has a PhD and worked as an economist for the Forest Service and served as a college professor. He’s now retired and he and Nancy travel in their Airstream to such places as Padre Island (Padre Island2, Padre Island3). Others we’ve met here at Pegleg include an airline mechanic, a plumber, a musician, and several teachers. As I say, Pegleg hosts people from all walks of life, and we’ve not met a single person whose company we don’t enjoy.

Over half in the group have been married more than once so some share pasts that require a little digging, but all eventually want to tell their story, and some are very spicy. We suspect some of the stories are edited for the audience. Others in Pegleg are widows or widowers, who acknowledge that at this stage of their lives they don’t want to be alone, and are very grateful they’ve found someone with whom they can bond.

But regardless of their past what all Pegleggers seems to share is a sense of curiosity and adventure – and some have lived exceedingly adventurous lives – and believe they’re still doing so.

Bruce once sailed the Pacific, and mostly by himself. Richard sailed, too, but generally as a member of a small crew on someone else’s boat. During those years, sailing adventures took them both throughout the Pacific, and in Richard’s case, to Australia and to New Zealand. Both have weathered “Perfect Storms.”

We enjoy hearing these stories and all seem to delight in hearing ours. We all believe that RVing as full-timers or as full-time part timers (nine twelfth-ers we like to say) continues the sense of curiosity and adventure and all of us can tally off remote parts of North America to which we’ve traveled. For instance, in the past few years we’ve been to such farflung places as Nova Scotia and the Dry Tortugas.

Speaking from a very personal point of view, photography remains a huge part of the adventures that Janie and I enjoy, and on that note, I’ll provide a few thoughts on the posted image.

PHOTO NOTES

Those who are not familiar with photography might think that the fire is providing the sum total of all the light used for lighting Don, Janie and Nancy, but that is not the case. Once again I’ve used my two SB-800s and have covered the face of the units with the red gel filter that came with each. So covered the strobes add a fire-like glow to the scene, and couldn’t be accomplished without the gel. Strobes were placed on tiny stands between the fire and the fire watchers.

All of us think the evening fire we’ve enjoyed this year helps to make Pegleg. Last year we had no fire and cold from the desert nights did little to encourage us to remain outside. Ted, the retired fireman from Canada, and I have been getting the wood, using his small portable chain saw and the back end of my truck for hauling. Now we’re warm and that encourages the sharing of life adventures in the evening.

STORM BREWING

Though we’re all self-contained, Janie and I weren’t so completely independent last year. That’s when we headed to the Slabs ( fascinating in itself) and had “Solar Mike” tie in another solar panel. It has served us and has continued to do so while we’ve been at Pegleg this year, but things are about to change. Heavy clouds are moving in and solar panels, of course, require sun. But that may not happen for the next few days, as several rain storms are forecast.

Rain in the desert? It happens every now and then, and when it happens, it paves the way for wonderful displays of flowers. That, of course, is weeks away, and in the meantime we’ll just bide our time, hoping Richard will continue to make his daily bike rides throughout Pegleg, keeping us informed of the day – and even the month.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

Year’s Favorite Photos

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Departing Smuggler's Canyon

©Bert Gildart: Smuggler’s Canyon overlook provides what many say is one of Anza Borrego’s most scenic vistas, which it certainly could be. It is reached following a hike of about a mile and a half, the last hundred yards of which threads through a maze of boulders and steep-sided walls. Historians caution, however, that Smuggler’s Canyon may be a misnomer, noting that smugglers could never use the area as there is simply no reasonable access.

In a round about way Bill and Polly Cunningham, friends of ours from Montana, explain as much in their their book Best Easy Day Hikes, Anza-Borrego.

They say that when you reach the overlook there is an abrupt drop-off above Smuggler’s Canyon, “so keep an eye,” they advise, “on overly adventurous members in your hiking party.”

The drop-off they’re referring to is also known as a “dryfall,” created by water, but which runs only following exceptional downpours. But they’re right, the drop off is substantial, descending about 150 feet. And because it does so abruptly people wonder how it could have ever been used successfully by smugglers?

From our readings of Marshall South’s various entries, we believe he was aware of the overlook as he spoke of other aspects of the vista, which includes the old Vallecito Stagecoach station all of which is back dropped by the rugged peaks of the Tierra Blanca, Jacumba, and Coyote mountains.

SPECTACULAR PICTOGRAPHS

Though the vista is worth a hike in itself initially we were drawn to this area because of the pictographs, which take you back hundreds of years. Pictographs differ from Petroglyphs in that the former are created from pigments while the latter by chipping and scraping. Both were, of course, created by Native Americans of the time, meaning these works of art date back hundreds of years.

According to Lowell and Diana Lindsay, in the informative book The Anza-Borrego Desert Region, the pictographs you’ll see along this trail are unusual for “their well executed red and yellow symbolic designs consisting of interlaced elements in a diamond-chain motif.”

Click on each image to see larger version and extended caption.

Janie and I have seen Petroglyphs and pictographs in many areas of the Southwest and concur that these images are extremely well preserved. No one has carved their name over them or destroyed them with bullet holes as have so many in other parts of country.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE

For photographers the images could represent a challenge, and I find most of the time they photograph best with strobe lights. Specifically, I use two, one of which Janie holds. The other is on my Nikon D300 and I set my SB-800s so the daylight exposure is about one stop less than the setting for my strobes.

View from dryfalls of Vallecito Stagecoach stop and Vallecito Mountains, all of which is spectacular.

But you may not be concerned about photography, and if simply seeing beautiful country is your goal, this hike is a winner. Simultaneously, it exposes you to Rock Art and so to a bit of America’s earliest history.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

Ranger Overboard

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©Bert Gildart: The trail over Alcoholic Pass is a good route to follow in early January, for it twists and turns, “like a drunk,” is the legendary association, so serving to remind some of New Years resolutions. (Are you keeping yours?)

Alcoholic Trail twists and turns, and is here seen dropping down on to Coyote Creek, explored by de Anza in 1774.

Diana Lindsay provides a springboard for yet other thoughts, writing in her book Anza Borrego A – Z that the trail might have been so named because of the drinking habits of several early settlers, specifically the Clark brothers and Cod Beaty. Apparently these men made extensive use of the trail (often inebriated) and so their names are historically linked with the trail, a reminder that we must continuously tread our trails through life with circumspect. That doesn’t mean, however, that I’m quite ready to give up cocktail hour around our evening campfire at Pegleg, for it’s now a tradition after a long day hiking, particularly following a rewarding but vigorous hike in California’s Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

With those thoughts in mind, yesterday, I joined Don and Nancy Dennis, our Airstream traveling companions, and made the short drive from our campsite here in Pegleg along the old Anza route to the Alcoholic Pass trailhead. The rocky path climbs through a forest of desert cacti to include various types of cholla, mesquite, and ocotillo.

Click on each image to see larger version and to see extended caption.

L to R: Don and Nancy, boulders at Alcoholic Pass, back lighting dramatizes ocotillo cacti.

The trail continues to climb until it reaches Alcoholic Pass, which is spectacular because it peers over several valleys and several mountain ranges. It also peers over one of the most spectacular boulder fields you’ll ever see.

SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS

From our vantage at the pass in the Coyote Mountains we could look east and see Clark Valley and the Santa Rosa Mountains. Looking the other direction we could see the San Ysidro Mountains, and then, between us and the mountains, Coyote Creek, the creek along which Juan Bautista de Anza rode in 1774. Indeed, this trail offers immense historical overviews.

There is a register at the saddle forming the pass, which Nancy signed. The trail continues and we followed it down, realizing that we didn’t have time to invest in a hike that would require about seven more miles, for the day was growing late – and so we turned around. But there were compensation for the light was casting lovely shadows along the aforementioned mountains.

To some the blossoms of the ocotillo look like tiny torches.

Equally as important for my photographic ventures were the ocotillo, which seemed so vibrant. Light on the flowers was soft, something I generally can create only with artificial strobe lighting. Over the past few years I’ve posted several blogs on lighting with multiple strobes, and on the ocotillo plant, and how it blooms only following rain storms. Obviously, there has been much rain in recent months as the blossoms are now radiant.

TINY TORCHES

According to Lindsay it is this very radiance that might have given rise to their name. She quotes Mark Jorgensen, the former superintendent of Anza Borrego and an expert on sheep and desert ecology. Years ago I met the man and quoted him extensively in my book on Mountain Sheep.

Referring, however, to the ocotillo blossoms, Jorgensen says the Spanish/Mexican word ocote is a type of pine, which when lit explodes into a torch. Sometimes when the ocotillo is loaded with blossoms and the species is backlit you can easily make the association, for it appears as though the branches of the towering cacti are laden with tiny torches.

Lindsay also says Indians harvested the blooms and that the seeds made a flavored bitter-tasting drink.

Referring to the trail, Lindsay also says that the trail saved settlers six miles of trudging around the Coyote Mountains. If you were a settler, such as the Clark brothers or Cod Beaty on a mission to the local tavern in Borrego Springs, that could have been important. And so, as I made the final decent from Alcoholic Pass I was reminded that we’d soon have to make the momentous decision of whether there will or will not be a cocktail hour.

But why shouldn’t there be? I’m not one to make resolutions I can’t keep.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*By Their Beaks Shall Ye Know Them

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©Bert Gildart: “It was probably a little something like this,” said Bill Doyle, who has become a student of the years Marshal South, Tanya, and their three children spent atop Ghost Mountain in what is now Anza Borrego Desert State Park.   “Marshal,” continued Bill, “would step outside Yaquitepec (name for their home),  and sit on this very rock. He was trying to live off the land while developing a literary following. He hoped for peace in a chaotic world and he would contemplate his place in the universe. Some say he never found it,  but he gave it a good try. ”

"Let my house be a house of Love and Understanding... Let its roof be the arch of the sky and its music the songs of the birds and of the wind and of the harps of the rain."

Because of their lifestyle (also see: Brokeback Mountain or Ghost Mountain…) those in the surrounding communities criticized them. Sometimes the Souths went naked or they dressed in animal skins.

They built their home by hand and lived there from 1932 to 1947. To survive, they collected water in cisterns, collected plants, such as agave for food – just as did the Indians – and they penned their stories and their poems from this remote setting. Marshal in particular, wrote about desert life and desert survival, though in what may have been a romanticized manner.

IT WILL BE A GOOD YEAR

Later, Marshal added painting and pottery to his artistic repertoire.

As always, we cheer when we find that manifestations of their life remain, enough so, at any rate, to build on what we know. “I think it symbolic that we’re here the first of January,” said Bill, “for one of Marshal’s very first stories for Desert Life Magazine was made in January, January of 1940. He said that “the desert is full of mystery and surprise. No two years are ever they same… He wrote in his story that “It will be a good year.”

Bill, pointing to mark on the sun dial representing north at Yaquitepec, home of Marshal and Tanya South for 17 years.

Bill and I (Janie and I too) have both visited the home many times, but on this outing we were doing so late in the evening, hoping to create images that would recall a life that is fading and may be all too soon forgotten. We both thought that the deteriorating homestead back dropped by a sky full of stars would create the ephemeral image we thought appropriate, but because of an unexpected cloud layer, that was not to be.

Still, the evening turned out to be a splendid one, essentially because of the thoughts we shared about this controversial family, and because of the images we did make.

ERODING STRUCTURE

We began by making images of the eroding home, lamenting the fact that so much had deteriorated. We found the cisterns they used to collect water. We found the bed they’d shared for 17 years but looking sadly a bit more dilapidated than when we saw it a year ago.

Their lives as a couple ended with sadness, but for awhile, they had mastered their environment and had apparently enjoyed domestic harmony, for they had three children, conceived at Yaquitepec.

As we cast around we found the sun dial Marshal had erected, and with close scrutiny Bill thought he found a mark that represented north. “I think,” said Bill, “I know where north is.” Then, with his index finger, he pointed to a fading scratch that seemed aligned with north. Bill went on to say that from his reading he believed Marshal and Tanya had constructed their home so that the door  would face the southern sky, probably to draw in more winter sun.

Bill continued to walk around returning a few minutes later saying he thought he’d found Marshal’s kiln, and wanted to show it to me. Though primitive, the piled rocks could easily have accommodated a pot about the size of one the Indians might have used, adding to our convictions. As well, we found burned wood that now appeared like so much charcoal .

We both felt it appropriate to be reminiscing about the Souths first week in January 1940, a time Marshal recalled in one of his many articles for Desert Magazine with much optimism.

Agave, one of the plants used by Native Americans -- and by the Souths -- as a staple.

“It will be a good year,” wrote Marshal, saying that he was quoting Tanya.

DEER MICE

In his January article he also spoke of the coyotes, owls, the agave, and the tiny deer mice, which we soon heard scurrying all around. In his January entry, he wrote about the tiny creatures in a way I could appreciate for once I lived with them too, and knew they had an interesting life history. Wrote Marshal: “And the white-footed mice are always with us. There is something amiable and companionable about a white-footed mouse. Long experience with us has given them confidence. They slip in and out in the evenings like cheery little grey gnomes; squatting on the edge of the great adobe stone and nibbling tidbits…”

That was something I could relate to from my days years ago at Glacier National Park’s Cut Bank Ranger Station (probably one of the reasons I empathize with the couple), and as Bill and I sat on a rock at the South’s and listened quietly, we could hear the tiny microtids scampering around. Later, when the moon rose it provided adequate light  for us to see them. Quietly, they’d move, stopping every now, “while their big, beady black eyes watch us attentively,” as Marshal concluded. It was a condition I knew a little something about.

Eroding ruins of Yaquitepec, home of Marshal and Tanya South for 17 years.

Before long the sun dipped low in the mountains creating an incredible sunset (above), which I photographed through the arch that once served as the entry to their home. Adobe walls still stood, but the bed had collapsed. Though we stayed until it was pitch dark, and though the clouds did diffuse a bit, the skies never cleared adequately to create the type of night I wanted and had so successfully experimented with in Death Valley. No matter, for time spent atop Ghost Mountain in January bodes well, and we agreed, that our successful night might bode for “a good year.”

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*Trailer Trash

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©Bert Gildart: Beneath a rare Blue Moon, we Peg Leggers celebrated a joyous New Year’s Eve. Blue moons as some may recall are so named when the second full moon occurs in the same month as the first full moon, which is, of course, rare; hence the expression “Once in a blue moon.”

From Peg Leg and beneath a Blue Moon, we Peg Leggers wish all a Happy New Year!

The fire is set between both Nancy and Don’s Airstream and ours, and the moon is unaltered. To create the shot I upped the ISO to 1200 to create a proper exposure for the moon. Then I entered setting for the strobe lights that would enable me to properly expose us Peg Leggers and our warm fire, which felt so very good setting as the temperatures dipped to the low 40s.

SO HAPPY NEW YEARS FROM US PEG LEGGERS TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY WIDE AND FAR. MAY THIS BE THE BEST YEAR EVER! LOVE TO ALL.

Bert & Janie

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*Tampa More Naturally

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Hellhole Canyon trail leads to a palm oasis

©Bert Gildart: The last few days have seen the arrival of a number of our Airstream friends from various parts of the country. The last couple to show up were Don and Nancy of Vermont, who arrived late yesterday afternoon in a howling wind storm. Just prior to their arrival were Bill and Larry of San Diego; Alex and Charon, who pretty much full time in their 1966 Airstream; and finally, Rich, Eleanor and Emma. You’ve heard me speak often of Rich Luhr, who publishes Airstream Life Magazine.

All of us have descended on Anza Borrego Desert State Park for the obvious reason that it is warm, and because there are so many activities in which to engage in the winter.

And, so, it was only logical that those of us who could spare the time would strike out for a long hike along one of the park’s more spectacular trails, in this case Hellhole Canyon.

Mountain lions had been reported but that didn’t motivate us, rather it was the notion of seeing palm trees and perhaps even the blossoming of some of the desert’s very first flowers.  The hike didn’t disappoint.

WHAT’S IN A NAME

Then, too, we wanted to recall a bit about this canyon, which has an interesting history, both from the human perspective and perhaps, too, from the perspective of etymology.

As we all know, words evolve, and that is perhaps the reason this canyon goes by the name Hellhole, rather than as two words. Originally, you imagine some cowboy saying, “That canyon is sure one ‘hell’ of a ‘hole.’”

That could be what happened here. Years ago ranchers used the canyon as a reprieve from roaring winds that whipped off the surrounding mountains. The mountains also provided a respite from the heat and all went well until they had to retrieve their cattle from amidst the cholla, ocotillo, fishhook cactus, and beavertail cactus. No doubt, their impression deteriorated–and can’t you just hear an hear an old cowboy saying, “Man, that hole is sure hell on me and my hoss’.”

HELLHOLE

With time someone would recall again the potential conditions and say, “Got to go to Hell-hole today, the cattle are still there.” Eventually, the hyphen was dropped until the concept became a single thought as in, “Drive the cattle into Hellhole for the spring. We’ll hope they stay in that God-forsaken canyon and don’t wander down into Mexico.”

Palm Oasis means water, even if just a trickle. That's Charon on the far right.

Last night we appreciated a bit of what they were saying as winds gusted up to 40 miles per hour.  Our hike, however, was ideal, leaving me an image of a kinder and much more gentle canyon. Along the way we saw several of the huge-eared desert hares as well as the sign of coyotes, and probably a bobcat.

And then there was the oasis of palms and maidenhair fern, with the stream that flowed quietly through them, and we all concluded that on a hot summer day, this could be anything but a hellhole.

WHAT PROMPTS OCOTILLO TO BLOOM

As well, we found several ocotillo bushes and one was producing flowers that were in full bloom. Ocotillo is an interesting species, one that produces leaves only following rain. If subsequent rains don’t follow the first, the leaves curl and become dormant. However, if more rains follow, the plant produces flowers, such as the ones we stopped to admire yesterday.

Two strobe lights work best for closeup details of flowers. Ocotillo blossoms suggest a recent rain storm.

To dramatize the flowers I needed two strobes, which I always carry. I then set the  camera to manual mode, enabling me to overpower the light from the sun. To do that I set the shutter speed to 250th of a second and the aperture to f-22 or less.  Look through the view finder of your camera and you’ll see the dial (at least on the Nikon D300) shows an under exposure of about three stops. Without the strobes your picture would be mighty black, but the strobes are set correctly, and they illuminate the subject. However, you’ll need an additional set of hands to hold one of the strobes, which Bill volunteered to provide. The results from this technique never fall to impress me.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

*Hey, It’s a Gator

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