Sneaking in that One Last Hike: A Taste of Box Canyon at Anza Borrego State Park

 

Date: January 6, 2023

Place: Anza Borrego State Park, Borrego Springs, California

Coordinates: 33.368826, -116.421378

Length: 2.4 miles

Level: moderate

Most of the second day of my January trip to Anza Borrego State Park was dedicated to finding the wildflower hotspots and enjoying the spectacular winter bloom that followed the monsoon rains of last August. After I drove around the desert most of the day and taking only short walks I decided it was time to do a slightly more serious hike. I parked my car on Coyote Canyon Road about a quarter mile before the third crossing of Indian Creek, put some water in my backpack and started walking. 

 

I started my hike without any solid idea of where I was going to. My original though was to simply go further on Coyote Creek Road until it was time to turn back. I saw no side trails, so that was where I was going. The road was following the path of Indian Creek and it was nice to see and hear the flowing water on my left. 

Coyote Canyon Road and Indian Creek

On my right I enjoyed the view of mild slopes with piles of large boulders. Shrubs, some of them were blooming, peeked between the boulders. 

Closer to me I saw some cholla cacti, a species I didn't identify and behind it a teddybear cholla. If I thought of approaching the boulders, the cholla made an excellent deterrent. 

Cholla, genus Cylindropuntia 

The road itself was sandy and flanked on the right by a wall of shoulder-high packed sand. Shrubs stabilized the sand with their roots and annual plants flourished in between them. It was nice to see some of these little annual wildflowers at eye level. 

Brown-eyed Primrose, Chaenactis claviformis var. peirsonii

The sand verbena that I saw carpets of in other places around Anza Borrego were present here at a much smaller scale - fewer and smaller plants. The verbena along this path seemed more delicate and shy in comparison with the unabashed splendor of the June Wash verbena fields. 

Hairy Sand Verbena, Abronia villosa ssp. villosa

I didn't see any butterflies on that hike but the bees were very active, humming around the wildflowers. Here too, they were completely indifferent to my presence, even at a very close distance.  

Spanish Needle, Parafoxia arida var. arida 

Brittle bushes in full bloom stood out in the desert background like the old burning bush of Sinai. The yellow was so intense that I could have imagined it radiating heat. 

Brittlebush, Encelia farinosa 

The datura I saw in June wash were already done blooming and bearing fruit. Here I got to see some datura flowers. These too, were closing already. 

Desert Thorn Apple, Datura discolor

I arrived at the third crossing of the Indian Creek and waded through the shallow water to the other side. 

Third Crossing

Past the third crossing the road departed from the creek and turned into the mountains. I wanted to stay near the creek where I expected to see more interesting things. My navigator showed a trail leading up Box Canyon and into the desert wilderness. The trail on the map had two leads, one starting on the west side of the creek where I just crossed. A small parking pullout suggested that the trail lead was a real one, and so I went down to the creek and looked for the path leading to the other side. 

Indian Creek

If there ever was a trail lead there, it was now overgrown with vegetation and no longer in use. I wasted a good 15 minutes trying to locate a walkable path through the gorgeous riparian vegetation, but to no avail. Eventually I gave up and climbed out back to the road. On the way up I spotted a fish hook cactus with flower buds. That was the only cactus that I saw getting ready to bloom on this trip. 

Common Fish Hook Cactus, Mammilaria tetrancistra 

Disappointed, I crossed back to the east side of the creek. Looking up the wash that led in the direction of Box Canyon I saw human footprints and decided to go up the wash too. After a short distance I spotted a trail - the actual trail that went up Box Canyon. With renewed enthusiasm I commenced my hike. 

The trail led me up a small hill and through a thicket of mesquite back down to the wash bed of Indian Creek. I was walking on the gravel on the dry, flood zone of the creek. The water flow was hidden from my sight, covered in riparian vegetation. 

Desert Lavender was very common on the dry side of the creek, and it was in full bloom, filling the air with sweet aroma. 

Desert Lavender, Condea emoryi

Here and there were red-blossomed chuparosa shrubs. A hummingbird hovered over the bush but wouldn't yield to the camera. 

Chuparosa, Justicia californica

Eventually the trail left Indian Creek and turned towards the mountains. I had time still, so I followed the trail in the direction of Box Canyon. 

A small barrel cactus nestled between the larger pebbles of the wash. Like the other cacti I saw on the trip, it looked healthy and thick with water. Barrel cacti can grow quite big, but they take many years. 

California Barrel Cactus, Ferrocactus cylidraceus 

I progressed slowly up the wash and the canyon walls started closing in on me, little by little. Ahead of me grew some nice looking smoke trees. These members of the legume family do look from a distance a bit like swirls of smoke. 

Smoke Tree, Psorothamnus spinosus 

I caught a glimpse of a small pink flower a few feet away and went over to check it out. It was a Biglow's monkeyflower - the only monkeyflower I saw on that entire trip, and the only individual of that species that I saw there, too. That sighting alone made me very happy. 

Biglow's Monkeyflower, Diplacus biglovii var. biglovii

When I got near the smoke tree I detected movement in its branches. There was a little bird that that wouldn't sit still. I didn't have the strong zoom lens with me though. 

Bird on a Smoke Tree, Psorothamnus spinosus 

Every few steps I encountered an Arizona lupine plant. Most of them were just beginning to bloom. None of them was large. 

Arizona Lupine, Lupinus arizonicus

I made my way between large boulders. Most of the way was easy enough but occasionally I needed to step over or around large rocks. So far I didn't need the use of my hands to bypass the rocky obstacles. 

Up the wash between the large boulders I saw a few yellow-blooming bushes that looked familiar to me from previous desert trips. These were bladderpod bushes, also of the legume family. The bladderpods had many open flowers still, but also had much fruit already. 

Bladderpod Bush, Peritoma arborea var. arborea 

I also saw interesting rocks there, some of them looked very much out of place. I assumed they had rolled down here from higher up the mountain, carried by flash floods. 

My time was running out but the closing canyon walls tempted me to keep going a bit further. I didn't want to drive back after sunset but I didn't want to turn and head back quite yet. 

Box Canyon

I walked a bit further up the canyon until I reached a small dry waterfall. This was an obstacle that would necessitate using my hands to climb it, that's for sure. There were two possible ways to climb that wall but after checking it out a bit I decided to let it go. This was a good enough spot to turn around and head back down. 

On my way down I heard the low buzzing sound of hummingbird wings. Without much expectation I raised my camera and clicked a few photos of the hyperactive little bird. I was very much surprised when I enlarged the photos at home and found that one of the over thirty photos I took of the hummingbird actually came out all right. 

Costa's Hummingbird, female

One of the things I love about the desert is that the geological jewels are not covered in vegetation and too much alluvial soil. I got to see many interesting and very pretty rocks on this short hike. I chose to post this weird erosion pattern on the rock in the photo below. 

The shadows were getting longer and I quickened my pace down the wash. Whenever I was in the shade and away from direct sunlight I felt cold. 

Soon I was out of the canyon walls and their shade but now I was racing the sunset itself. The sun was already touching the edge of the mountains on the west.

I paused briefly to admire a nice looking beavertail cactus. The beavertail is my favorite California cactus and I love to see them when they bloom. Now it was way too early for them. 

Beavertail Cactus, Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris

  

I quickened my pace but the sun dropped below the horizon before I finished my hike. I reached the dry side of Indian Creek again, and headed in the direction of the little trail leading back to Coyote Canyon Road. 

 

 

The sun was gone but the daylight was still good enough to enjoy the lovely winter colors of the riparian vegetation by the Indian Creek flow. 

 

 

 I pushed my way back through the mesquite thicket, earned a few scratches and reconnected with the Coyote Canyon Road. The light was fading and I got chilly and wanted to reach my car quickly. 

 

 I made it back to my car with enough daylight still to photograph one last sand verbena. In fact, I had enough light to drive down the road back to Borrego Springs. This time I remembered to starts my navigator recorder and got the map that I posted on my previous blog post. 

Hairy Sand Verbena, Abronia villosa ssp. villosa

 

I decided to start my way north that evening rather than stay another night in Anza Borrego and  face another 9 hours drive tomorrow. I also didn't want to drive through Los Angeles again. In a quick decision I pointed my car southeast to the pass leading to Salton Sea. I would drive through Palm Springs all the way t Barstow and camp there at the Owl Canyon campground, leaving only six hours of drive tomorrow, and no LA traffic. On my way out of Borrego Springs I stopped on the side and admired the full moon that had just cleared the horizon.  

Moonrise over Borrego Springs

 My trip to Anza Borrego was a very short one. I was four days away from home, and two of these days I spent driving. That wildflower display though, was more than enough reward for the grueling drive. I hope that next time I'd have more time to explore that mysterious and beautiful desert. 

Many thanks to members of the California Native Plants Society for their help in identifying plants!