Natural History Wanderings

Anza- Borrego Desert Natural History Association has the following new wildflower trip reports:

December 31, 2013  Fish Creek.  They say the driving is slow, once past the wind caves, lots of sand and rocks, close to the limit of their Subaru.  A 40 minutes one-way drive from the asphalt.  They saw some bighorn sheep along the way, the second time this week for them, having seen sheep in the upper part of Moonlight Canyon a couple of days earlier.  The hike, they say, is for the more adventurous, and a hiking stick is recommended. Flowers included Broom-Rape, Orobanche cooper  and Desert Plantain, Plantago ovate.

December 30, 2013 The upper part of Moonlight Canyon, to the Inner Pastures,   Very few people hike the Moonlight Pass, and althought they saw some hikes at the start there was little sign of hikers near the top.  There are some spectacular granite falls along the way, but they say that they look more difficult than they are.  On the return trip they encountered eight sheep. Species  included Desert lotus, Acmispon rigid us, Queen Butterfly  and Bighorn Sheep.

December 29, 2013 Mine Wash  drove to the end of the road and hiked from there.  And they continue to find flowers wherever they go.   Dog weed is hard to forget; when you come home you can still smell it. Flowers included Palmer\’s Locoweed, Astragalus palmeri, Peirson\’s Brown-eyed Evening Primrose, Camissonia claviformis ssp. peirsonii, and San Felipe Dogweed, Adenophyllum porophylloides.

See photos and full hike descriptions at:  Anza-Borrego Wildflowers Spring – Fall 2013.