Desert Spring, Pt. 4 of 4

 

Carrizo Plain Panorama, View Toward Caliente Range

I wasn't expecting Carrizo Plain to look so good this early in the month. It's not one of those "superbloom" years where the Temblor Range is draped in wildflower hues of yellow, blue, purple, pink, and orange, but the drive through was still very satisfying. I even managed to spot a small herd of pronghorn.

Lacy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)

Phacelia & Fiddleneck

Sea of Fiddleneck & Temblor Range

I was most surprised by all the purple owl's clover (Castilleja exserta) blooming out there. I drove in from the south and wasn't sure if I should try to photograph it there since I had no idea what lay ahead to the north. I was glad I waited.

Every now and then I'd spot a white variant.

Layers of Color

Roadside View Toward Caliente Range

When I spotted the pronghorn I couldn't even make out what they were. Just whitish specks in the distant heat-shimmer. Only when I looked through the zoom lens could I tell for sure.

They appeared to be visiting a water tank, and I found and drove a ways down the "road" that led to it, then stopped at a respectful distance to get a closer view of these speedy, beautiful animals. Unable to turn around, I drove back to Soda Lake Road in reverse using the car's handy rear camera.

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Desert Spring, Pt. 3 of 4

 

Fossil Falls, Inyo County

I've been looking for a chance to check out Fossil Falls ever since a friend visited there a few years back. I had never even heard of it. 

The day's plan was to drive from Joshua Tree to California City to look for desert candles in bloom, then detour up to "the falls" before heading on to my next stop at Carrizo Plain. However, I got to California City just as the sun was going down and was unable to find any desert candles, a plant I have only seen in gorgeous pictures from the mountains bordering Carrizo Plain. Since my car can't really access those mountains, I hoped to see some elsewhere. 

When I couldn't find a motel or any real reason to stick around California City, I continued my drive up to Fossil Falls. The moon still hadn't come up, so it was pitch dark when I arrived, and I put on my headlamp to get some dinner out of the cooler in the back of the car. That's when I noticed two bright, silvery spots under a nearby picnic table (that I could only barely make out). As I stared at the spots I wondered if someone had left their child's toy behind. Then the spots disappeared, and I wondered if I had been seeing things -- and then the bright orbs reappeared! That's a critter hunkered down under the picnic table.

The critter eventually got tired of me shining a bright headlamp in its direction and got up to walk back into the brush, revealing itself to be a bobcat! The cat stopped and turned its head once more to check up on me, then disappeared. Another unphotographable highlight of the trip.

Although there is a nearby campground, I didn't want to try to find a site in the dark, so I just slept in the car at the trailhead parking area. Later in the morning, after I got back from the falls and was having a breakfast of overnight oats, a guy pulled up and parked his pick-up truck, got out with its engine still running and music playing, looked over the interpretive display signs for a few minutes, then got back in his truck and drove away. 

Despite the fact that I was laid out all night in the reclined passenger seat of my small car, I actually overslept a little bit. This was the landscape that greeted my eyes.

It's a very short walk to the falls, but I still couldn't get there in time to photograph the color that briefly lit the sparse morning clouds. This is another view back toward the Eastern Sierra.

Fossil Falls with First Light on the Mountains

The crazy geological formations here did not disappoint.

With water pooled in many of the depressions in the rocks, I wondered if there is ever a time when Fossil Falls actually has a waterfall. The glacier-fed Owens River that carved the volcanic canyon dried up 10,000 years ago.

River-polished Basalt

Spring Greenery

The sun is coming up over the Coso Range to the east. Note that red cinder cone in the distance....

There is a rock quarry operating at the base of that cinder cone.

Wild Barley

Views from the parking lot...

...with the descending Moon over the Eastern Sierra.

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Jerusalem Cricket

 

Jerusalem Cricket, North Lake, Golden Gate Park

I was surprised to see this creature roaming back and forth over the paved surface of the service road on the west side of North Lake today. This niña de la tierra seemed to be overwhelmed by a relatively huge expanse of very hard earth. It crossed back and forth a few times, coming close to the vegetated borders but not going quite far enough, until finally it made it into the grass. I was surprised none of the local birds, including the crows in the trees overhead, swooped down to make a meal of it.

Cricket's-eye View

Red-shouldered Hawk, Western Golden Gate Park
(from Wednesday; it's foggy down there today)

Cricket on the Move

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Desert Spring, Pt. 2 of 4

 

Desert Poppies & Joshua Trees

I left Anza-Borrego to check out the Desert Lily Sanctuary, retracing my steps from two years ago, but it turned out to be a detour to nowhere. Where countless lilies  grew back then was just barren-looking desert now, with invisible seeds hunkered down in the soil for another season -- or as many seasons as it takes before the rains come again.

Joshua Tree was another story. I stopped to explore around the same place I spent the night two years ago, and while the bloom wasn't quite as vibrant as back then, it was still pretty good. I believe I even found the same large Sand Blazing Star plant that was a highlight back then.

The highlight this time happened too suddenly to catch on camera. I was eating lunch at the Cottonwood Day Use picnic site when a cactus wren flew into a short joshua tree right next to the picnic table, giving me a fantastic view of this handsome bird -- for about five seconds. 

Desert Dandelion

Dandelion Visitor

It was nice to see globe mallow almost everywhere this year.

Many of the joshua trees were in flower.

These lupines were common along many roadsides, even back in Anza-Borrego, but it wasn't until I got to Joshua Tree that I found some in a more picturesque setting.

This guy appeared to be making the rounds of his hunting grounds, moving across the sand from bush to bush.

It was good to encounter some unfamiliar reptiles like this side-blotched lizard.

This zebra-tailed lizard was so well-camouflaged that it was difficult to find it through the camera lens. Thankfully it stayed put until I finally did find it.

The Mojave desert star that was so sparsely flowered in Anza-Borrego was a bit more filled out here in Joshua Tree.

Canterbury Bells (Phacelia campanularia)

Still a bit early for the beavertail and other cacti to be in full flower.

Painted Lady Butterfly

Imperial Checkerspot Butterfly

Sand Blazing Star with Xeralictus Bee

Phainopepla (Female)

Phainopepla (Male)

As I drove through this beautiful national park I thought that next time I come all the way down to the desert I'll probably make Joshua Tree my main destination. There were lots of other visitors driving through the park, and the campgrounds were full, but you could still park and hike a short ways to explore in peace.

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