Saturday, March 1, 2014

Four Hour Tour of Anza Borrego





Canon 5D, natural light and hand metered.
Orange County Photographer Greg Garcia Hunts Wildflowers in Anza Borrego
Every few years when conditions are right, the Anza Borrego desert will get a nice bloom of wildflowers in the spring. I love the Anza Borrego desert and I seem to miss this spectacle every time I hear about it... "it's blooming... it's blooming!" Before I can arrange a trip, weather heats up and all the wildflowers are gone.

This year with all the recent rain, I figured this would be the year to catch it. Well, as scheduling would have it, once again, my trip kept getting bumped back. I didn't want to miss it again so knowing that I had a shoot scheduled on Saturday afternoon, I called a couple buddies that were game, grabbed my dog Paige and we headed out friday evening.

We arrived in Ocotillo Wells 10 or 11pm on Friday night after a bad KFC experience and witnessing an overturned vehicle on the winding road outside Banner. (My last three trips down this road held witness to incident. Be cautious folks.) Obviously too late and too dark to see any kind of flora, we built a fire and set up for the night. The weather was comfortably warm with a slight breeze which cleared the skies for an awesome view of the stars. It was a peaceful desert night. Only the sound of the fire and jokes cracking could be heard until a lone rider on a dirt bike seemed to be lost and circling our camp for hours well past 2am.... which lead to more jokes, but eventually, we crashed out for the night.

7am. Up and at 'em! We packed up camp and headed over to the Blu Inn for breakfast. This place has been there for as long as I can remember. It's probably changed hand a few times since I've visited but this is by far the nicest "version" of the Blu Inn. It's got an Old School Diner motif with all the typical fixin's and pretty bad ass Breakfast Burrito from what I witnessed. They have added a nice patio for outdoor seating and service as well. I didn't inquire but it looks like they are expanding to an RV Park and Quad Rentals too.

After we grubbed it was time to hit the trail. The Wildflower Report claimed the bloom had moved to the upper desert around Culp Valley and Hell Hole Canyon. I'm not to familiar with that area and being on a limited schedule, we chose some familiar trails and hoped for the best.

We headed out to Split Mountain and started up Fish Wash. I could see scattered color from flowers on the side of the road as we drove up Split Mountain Road. We stopped at Split Mountain, the Wind Caves and Fossil Reef to view the "Elephant Knees" but didn't hike to the Wind Caves due to time. We continued all the way down Fish Wash and entered Sand Stone Canyon. We were able to get passed the Narrows but we were not able to get much farther on the trail. Apparently from the recent earthquake on Easter, quite sizeable boulders had fallen and blocked the path. (To see images, follow the link below or click here.) At that point we turned around and headed back up Fish Wash and turn on to Arroyo Seco del Diablo Trail. We negotiated the small rock field and climbed to the plateau above Diablo Drop Off. That's when we viewed the Ocotillo and Cholla in bloom and took most of the days pictures you see above.

Next, we raced to the Tapiado Mud Caves for some quick exploration. The day was starting to heat up and coolness of the Mud Caves were inviting. (There are pictures from the Mud Caves in my online gallery as well.) Running short on time, we rushed out Arroyo Tapiado to Vallecito Wash and headed for pavement through Canyon Sin Nombre. Here, we stopped for a minute or two and captured some more images of purple and yellow flora before hitting pavement.

This was a fun and interesting short trip. I titled this blog a Four Hour Tour because, rubber hit the dirt for only about four hours and we were able to cover a lot of ground and see a lot. It was very rushed and I almost felt like Chevy Chase in National Lampoons Vacation..." there it is... OK, Let's go..." but it was well worth it. Even with traffic backed up on the 5FWY because of a van on fire, I made it home with enough time to shower before my shoot. I love it when a plan comes together. I'm going to try and sneak in another trip before all the flowers are gone... That'll be my excuse any way... I love it out there.

To see more images from this trip, please follow this link:
http://greggarciaphotography.com/online/borrego/

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I have never seen this beauty in a desert before this beautiful gallery! And wow- a four hour tour- I sure miss the days of when I could be so spontaneous! Nice work Greg- and cool story. You made me feel as though I was there with you! Maybe someday:) thanks for sharing!

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  2. I especially like the sandstone pics. So you decided to do alot of light on these huh?

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  3. Michelle,
    I shot the Sandstone for texture sandwiching. I want to experiment with that.
    I've been in this kick where I like everything back lit so I'm exposing for the shadow side which shifts the key.

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  4. Hi Beth,
    Thank you! When you get back to California we'll definitely make a trip out of it.

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  5. Awesome! Your shots are always sharp and perfectly lit. You get all the colors that are there without compromise. Rad man..just rad!

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  6. Hi Greg,

    Thanks for sharing your incredible photos! I envy your ability to capture the essence of your subjects - whether people or landscapes.

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  7. You are amazing Greg. You write in ways that make the reader feel as if they were right there with you! I love these. Keep on keepin' on, but be careful along the way!
    Love you!!!

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  8. I agree with Deborah...not the "Love you" part (that would be pretty gay sounding) but the part about how well written this post is. Great job and beautiful photos. Wish I could have been there.

    Rob

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  9. Nice shots, Greg. I still have to upload a bunch I took on our recent trip to Nevada (Vegas, Red Rock, etc.).

    I shot mine with an aim-and-shoot Kodak C1013 camera since Ann was using her DSLR. Will post them soon.

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