Alt Takes

 

Ladybird Beetle Getting Around a Lupine Leaf

Just wanted to include alternative takes on some of the Anza-Borrego shots....

Also, I was surprised to log so many miles on this journey. My trip odometer rolled over 1,000 miles on the way to Dante's View in Death Valley, yet I still had another 715 miles to go. Although gas prices were high, they were well worth the cost. I calculated that my car averaged about 6.57 miles per dollar, which seems pretty good, even if the alternative would be riding a bike -- and especially if the alternative would be walking across a desert.

Chuparosa & Beavertail Cactus

Tightly packed amigos on a barrel cactus.

Unfurling cholla blossoms.

This lone verbena looks like it could have been seen out at Abbotts Lagoon at Pt. Reyes, or many other California beaches.

Here's a dark morph version of the white-lined sphynx moth caterpillars. It was rare to see one on the ground unless it was...

...like this. There was a black blister beetle feeding on this carcass when I first saw it, but I got too close too fast, and the beetle scuttled for cover beneath a nearby shrub. D'oh! Kind of funny, but I consider that scene with the beetle "the one that got away," the shot I most regret having missed.

Here's a more extreme close-up of a caterpillar feasting on flower parts. You can click on any image to make it bigger (900 pixels high).

This is similar to a shot I already posted, but it includes a desert trumpet (Eriogonum inflatum) sprouting through the evening primrose plant.

Downpours loom in the background, and low light keeps the yellow flowers from opening up all the way. For me, the stormy weather is what made the trip worthwhile. Many years ago I did a couple of hikes with a group called Desert Survivors. Their hike descriptions always included a caveat similar to the typical "Rain Cancels," except theirs was "Rain Enhances." On desert trips, I couldn't agree more.

Cinder Cone
(Somewhere between Anza-Borrego and Joshua Tree.)

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