Borrego springs, my favorite hike
It was the last Monday of our trip and we had to take an afternoon hike to pass some time. With anticipation for a short hike(after the past week being full of six-mile hikes every day) and the chance to spot a bighorn sheep, we took a short drive from the biological station to Borrego Springs. Being a botanist in training the lack of flowers spotted on the trip thus far was starting to bum me out. But, as we were driving into the park I screamed " A SAND VERBENA", the perfect Nyctinginaceae specimen just along the road, to say I was excited would be an understatement. Pulling into a parking spot I saw tons of desert lavender and I knew today's hike was going to be a gorgeous one. It was about 3:30 pm and the sun was still beaming as it got ready to set. We began our march up the trail knowing this was not going to be a short hike at all but the hope for wildflowers kept my spirits high. we came upon the perfect photo op with tons of Encelia farinosa and a gorgeous backdrop of mountains in the distance (i definitely got a good Instagram post) and I could hear Pedro and Cory screaming in excitement about new birds and lizards being found. After the photo op, we continued to the stream determined to find some bighorn sheep appreciating the water. We may have not found any sheep but we sure did enjoy the stream views and even got to see the first frog of our trip! The sun was starting to set and the sky was lit with purple, orange, and pink hues. Our hiking group decided to take the alternate trail back to the car and we eventually caught up to the legend: Norm Douglas. How could we be worried about not getting to the bottom before sundown when we had a beautiful sunset and a winding rocky path that took our breath away in front of us? I enjoyed every minute of this hike and the whole class managed to get to the car before it became pitch black outside..... just perfect.
Comentarios
Agregar un comentario