Anza-Borrego

This is my second journal log, and picks up as we leave the Granite mountains. In leaving the Granite mountains, the original plan was to go through Joshua Tree, in hopes to see the aptly named Joshua trees in the area, however there was a torrential downpour where some of the locals expressed that this type of rain has not happened in the last 4 years. As a result, we had to change routes to avoid flooded roads and areas where landslides are particularly possible. After braving through the rolling rivers and the ebbs and flows of the valleys and mountainsides, we made it to Anza, with a couple spots to stand and check out a mountainside overlook where we were shoved by strong winds and were able to view a double rainbow!
Upon making it to Anza, I could feel that among the group a collective sigh of relief in having warm showers and private bathrooms with as much running water as we would want! The bar of Anza’s research station was also particularly neat! At the bar we were able to observe a coyote, hummingbirds, cottontails, and both mourning and white-wing doves.
The places we visited in Anza were also particularly cool to look at mainly because at Hellhole Canyon I was able to gain most of the data points in my project for the desert agave! I was able to find multiple with reproductive stalks and each one had pups! The organism that I wanted to see the most in our trip in Anza would be the Big-horn sheep found on the mountainside within Anza. I trailed a bit behind the group in hopes to be quieter to try and catch a quick glimpse of the sheep, but alas, I was unable to see one. On the bright side, some of my classmates were able to see a female before it frolicked away! From Hellhole Canyon, I was able to get more observations of Opuntia, Ocotillo, barrel cacti, some papilionoid legumes and a thick-leaf ground cherry which resembles a tomatillo in the family solanaceae! However, there were also plentiful amounts of damaging invasive plants of fountain grass and Saharan mustard that were choking the landscape.
The research station at Anza-Borrego with their touchy ceramic stovetops, wifi, beautiful sunrises, and rambunctious games of Uno, Spoons and Werewolf all culminated into an unforgettable experience! (Those morning on-the-spur breakfast potatoes are also going on my definite recipe list in my head!)

Publicado el marzo 19, 2020 12:06 MAÑANA por jaltoveros