It Doesn't Get Better than This: A Once in a Lifetime Winter Bloom Display in June Wash at Anza Borrego State Park

Sand Verbena bloom at Anza Borrego State Park

 

Date: January 5, 2023

Place: Anza Borrego State Park, Borrego Springs, California

Coordinates: 32.931745, -116.256579

Length: 8 miles

Level: easy

 

 

On the first week of 2023 I had the opportunity to take some time off and go on a trip by myself. My plan was to fulfill a long time dream to go winter camping at Lassen Volcanic National Park. Nature however, had different plans for me. A forecast of a powerful winter storm forced me to change direction. The forecast map indicated that the area of California least affected by the storm would be the southeast. I remembered seeing back in October reports of a wild fall bloom in Anza Borrego State Park, a result of the August monsoon rains. The moment the thought came into my head I knew where I was going to go. I didn't even know if the bloom has lasted until January. I went on faith, knowing I'll enjoy the desert with or without flowers. 

An issue at home delayed me a bit and I left home just before noon and drove for grueling nine and a half hours, stopping only to fuel and a brief dinner, crossing the Angeles Mountains at the peak of a rainy gale and crossing the Los Angeles area metropolis at the crawl speed of rush hour. 

I reached the Culp Valley Primitive Campground, about 15 miles from the town of Borrego Springs after 9 pm. In the nearly full moonlight I found a place to pitch my tent and crashed inside my sleeping bag, ignoring the sounds that came from a small group of men camping behind a clamp of bushes some distance away. 

The sound of pattering rain woke me up before dawn I tossed and turned for a couple of hours more. Eventually the rain paused and I grabbed the opportunity and got out of the tent. I quickly broke camp and took off, driving down to Borrego Springs, where I used the time before the visitor center opened to make myself tea and breakfast. 

The staff at the Anza Borrego State Park was very very helpful. I wasn't late to see the bloom, they told me, and marked on the map where I should go to see the wildflowers. I was also warned to avoid the north side of the park that day because the rain was coming and there was a risk of flash floods. I chose that day to go south to June Wash, where I was told there was much bloom. 

Field of Desert Sand Verbena, Abronia villosa ssp. villosa 

 

Although I had the navigator on, it was impossible to miss the place I was looking for. The entire dune area of the lower June Wash was covered with purple mats of sand verbena in full bloom. All I needed to do was to find the dirt road entrance and park. As soon as I got out of the car, before even looking where the dirt road was going, I saw the first wildflower right my my feet. It was the Spanish Needle and I'd see lots of them on the hike. 

Spanish Needle, Palafoxia arida var. arida

The docent at the visitor center said that I could drive up the dirt road but I preferred to hike. If any reader of this considers driving up that dirt road, be aware that you'll need a 4WD car because long segments of that road are deep sand.  

June Wash Road

I packed water and some snacks into my backpack, and although none of the clouds above looked ominous I through inside also my plastic rain poncho. Just in case. I verified that my camera battery was full and I started up the sandy dirt road. 

My hike as captured by my GPS

My progress on the first quarter mile was very very slow. The dirt road was flat and easy, but there were so many wildflowers blooming all around me that my head was spinning and my camera clicking ceaselessly. 

Narrow-leaf Cryptantha, Jhonstonella angustifolia

There were quite a few plants there that I was seeing for the first time. Certainly when in bloom. That morning I was very happy for taking that long drive to get there. 

Hairy Stickleaf, Mentzelia hirsutissima

Even plants I've seen blooming before in other parts of California seemed more attractive to me now, surrounded by all the surprising winter splendor. 

Wirelettuce, Stephanomeria pauciflora

A short distance into the hike I saw the first teddybear cholla standing for a photoshoot. I know the teddybear cholla from Joshua Tree National Park and I saw many of them in June Wash. They looked very plump, thickened from the monsoon rains.

Teddybear Colla, Cylindropuntia biglovii

A plant that from a distance reminded me of tobacco turned out on a closer look to be of the mustard family, and a lifer for me too. The spectacle pod. I was too early in season to see any pods though, and the flowers were nice, but not spectacular. 

Spectacle Pod, Dithyrea californica

The two wildflowers in the photo below were blooming all over the place. Here they made it convenient for me by fitting together in a single frame.

Emory's Rock Daisy, Perityle emoryi, and Desert Sunflower, Geraea canescens

The most prominent color all around me was that of the hairy sand verbena. The big patch of purple I saw from the road was the bloom of this plant. It was really going all out there. The color was dimmed a bit by the clouds overcasting the sun but their effect was very impressive nonetheless.

Of course I wouldn't settle for just broad views of the verbena field. I had to pause by every verbena shrub that was close enough to the trail.

Desert Sand Verbena, Abronia Villosa ssp. villosa

The sand verbena wasn't the only pink bloom out there. Lovely spires of Arizona lupine, still in the early phase of their bloom, also added lively color to the desert setting. 

Arizona Lupine, Lupinus arizonicus

Of course not all wildflowers were pink or purple. The little white flowers were just less conspicuous. They didn't escape my eyes though. 

Desert Pincushion, Chaenactis stevioides

A tiny spec of yellow behind a smoke tree grabbed my attention - it was a California primrose. I saw only a few of them on this hike, and most were not yet in bloom. 

California Primrose, Eulobus californicus

 I was so giddy about all the wildflowers I was seeing, I got excited even over grasses. My knowledge in grasses is very, very limited, however. Even the genus name I needed help with. 

Schismus sp.

The docent at the visitor center mentioned a carpet bloom of little yellow flowers. I didn't see carpets of them, but I did find a few of the chinchweed, the one I believe he had meant.  

Chinchweed, Pectis papposa var. papposa

After about a third of a mile of going almost parallel to the asphalt road the dirt road curved in the direction of the hills and I followed it north. 

Most of the big bushes I saw on the hike were not blooming yet, or blooming just a little bit. Probably not as opportunistic as the more herbaceous plants they were savoring the water and using their energies to grow and heal from the drought. One such bush that didn't look like anything else around turned out to be the rush milkweed, a beautiful Asclepias that had only a few blooming inflorescences. 

Rush Milkweed, Asclepias subulata

One of the most common bushes there, the creosote bush, has already finished blooming, baring its little cotton ball fruits. I've seen blooming creosote in other parts of the park though. 

Creosote, Larrea tridentata

The clouds kept gathering and the day darkened. In the lower light the intense bright orange of the dodder truly stood out. The dodder is a parasitic plant, sucking the energy from the plants it prays on, in the photo below, a smoke tree. 

Dodder, Cuscuta sp. on Smoke Tree, Psorothamnus spinosus

The clouds that blocked the sun were dark and ominous, but the cloud cover wasn't complete. I loved the ever shifting light and shade pattern that the clouds created. 

I paused by the star of he hike - a sand verbena that had different shades of color from dark pink through soft lavender, to light lilac, and almost white. 

Desert Sand Verbena, Abronia Villosa var. villosa

When I lifted my eyes from the plant I saw a very different palette of colors, that of a rainbow painting the slopes of the Valecito Mountains. 

The trail took me a but closer to the hills flanking the wash  and I had a nice view of the special desert garden the grew on the lower part of the slopes, comprised mainly of ocotillo and of teddybear cholla. 

Desert Garden 

Some wildflowers are much harder to see from a distance, especially on the sandy background of the wash bed. 

Thomas' Buckwheat, Eriogonum thomasii 

Since I was out there to see wildflowers, I was looking also for the smallest ones. Even when half-buried in the sand. 

Heermann's Lotus, Acmispon heermannii

The big cloud passed without shedding a drop and I enjoyed a nice walk in the sunlight. A large yellow spot on the side of the trail turned out to be someone's truck that had a canopy popped right next to it. As I passed it I saw a single person sitting behind the truck and reading something. He didn't seem to notice that I was there and I continued on without saying anything. Solitary people in the desert are there because they seek solitude. 

June Wash Road 

One of the reasons to go to June Wash that day was that it was the least in risk of flash flooding. That was because the June Wash drains the Valecito Mountains, a local and relatively small range. June Wash might flow, told me the docent, but it's not likely to produce a dangerous flash flood. As it turned out, it didn't even flow. The mountains looked nice though, and on another occasion I probably would have enjoyed continuing my hike up that slope. 

Valecito Mountains

Each cactus had its own beautiful shape and I felt compelled to photograph them all. Choosing which photo to include here was a big challenge. 

Teddybear Cholla, Cylindropuntia biglovii

A few cushion-shaped brittlebush plants appeared before me. Only half of it was blooming, but that half was certainly worth my attention. 

Brittlebush, Encelia farinosa var. farinosa

My outmost excitement I reserved for the desert agave. There's a lot of desert agave all  ver the park, and I've seen it on previous trips to the desert. It was however, my first time seeing it bloom, and it is quite a sight. Most of the agave plants I saw were not blooming, or were already long done blooming. The few that were however, bloomed with great splendor. 

Desert Agave, Agave deserti var. deserti

For this particular one I had to leave the trail and get closer. A few bees were hovering around the large, flame-like inflorescence. The bloom was more than twice my height, and very impressive. 

Desert Agave, Agave deserti var. deserti

Sometimes even humbler plants can make a fascinating sight, like this burro weed bush that I found, bravely 'hugging' a teddybear cholla.

Burro Weed, Ambrosia dumosa, and Teddybear Cholla, Cylindropuntia biglovii

Ocotillo bushes, signature plants of the Colorado Desert, were very common all around. Many of them were fully foliaged - a tell-tale of the monsoon rains. None of those in the June Wash area were blooming. I did see a couple of them with some flowers the day after, not too far from there.

Ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens ssp. splendens

As I progressed north toward the mountains it looked as if the hills that bordered June Wash were closing in, defining its path. More clouds gathered over Valecito Mountains but a ray of unhindered sunlight washed momentarily the light brown hills between the mountains and the wash. I raised my camera quickly but the caught only the fading tail of that fleeting sun ray. 

Deeper into the wash I got to see more and more of the desert sunflowers. On the sides of the wash there were mats of them, right above the mats sand verbena. 

I came closer to the edge of the wash to look at the flowers and a bit higher up the slope I caught sight of a different wildflower, one I have not seen before, so I climbed up there to take a closer look. It turned out to be another 'lifer', a wildflower I was seeing for the first time. 

Languisia setosissima ssp. setosissima 

Perhaps less impressive but interesting and pretty nonetheless - the desert plantain. I have seen it before in Death Valley National Park but I was glad to see it in Anza Borrego as well. There were many of them there, blooming at the time. 

Desert Plantain, Plantago ovata

Clouds came and went away, passing quickly over my head. I was about 2 miles into the hike and according to my navigator the trail was no more, yet on the ground it was still very mush a wide sandy dirt road that was clearly in use not very long ago. I remembered the docent at the visitor center saying this was a three miles road and I went onward up the wash.

June Wash

I came upon several burro weed bushes on this hike, this species is quite common there. Only one of them however, was blooming at the time. I was grateful for that because I am allergic to the pollen of its north California relatives and I didn't want to find out that I'm allergic to this one too.

Burro Weed, Ambrosia dumosa

There were many wildflowers at the June Wash area. As for wildlife, that was a very different story. I saw one jackrabbit, and it ran away and disappeared before I had the chance to even turn my camera on. There were plenty of little birds, but none of them cooperated with my camera. For all the flowers I had expected to see butterflies and I did see one. Just one. It too, fluttered away before I could photograph it. There were a few grasshoppers that I saw only when they jumped away from me, and vanished into their camouflage the moment they landed somewhere. The one wild animal that was reliably present and easy to capture, at least in its communal state, was the harvester ant. There were lots of anthills all throughout the hike, and the ants were very much active. I wondered what do these ants do when the wash flows water over their nests. 

Anthill of Black Harvester Ant

Sediment walls were closing in on the dirt road and for a while gave the impression that the wash will squeeze itself into a slot canyon. That didn't happen though. After a short distance between the sediment walls the wash opened up wide once more.

June Wash

Since the beginning of the hike I've been trying to get a good photo of the smoke tree bloom. The small blue flowers dispersed throughout the gray tree didn't line up all together in one focal plane and none of my photos do justice to this beautiful bloom. The entire hike was lined up with these beautiful, small trees, and nearly all of them were blooming.

Smoke Tree, Psorothamnus spinosus

A heavy clouds hanged over my head but patches of blue sky separated them. Somewhere to the northeast rain was coming down and a rainbow rose from the horizon and disappeared into the sky.

I reached the three miles point where I expected the dirt road to end, but he road continued on as far as I could see, and the appearance of the wash didn't show ant change. There were much fewer wildflowers now, and I stood there for a few moments, thinking if I should go on or turn around. To my right another wash connected to the main June Wash. The dirt road didn't go into that wash and a sign at its opening stated that only foot traffic was allowed into that wash. I decided to go on, but on that side wash rather than on the dirt road. Footprints on the sand told me I wasn't the only one to have recently made that choice.

The side wash quickly became much narrower than the main June Wash. Some desert holly bushes were blooming right below the side slopes, where they get all the runoff water on those rare precipitation events. 

Desert Holly, Atriplex hyenelytra

I was seeing more non-cholla cacti up the wash as well, all of them of the beavertail genus. None of them were blooming. This isn't their bloom season so I wasn't surprised, but then again, this wasn't exactly the regular bloom season for most of the wildflowers I saw on that hike. 

Beavertail Cactus, Opuntia basilaris

On my way up June Wash I occasionally saw large gay bushes hare and there, but didn't pay them much attention. Brushing against them up the side wash I realized they were blooming. The flowers were too miniature for me to see their shape but the shape of the inflorescence, and certainly that of the stem assured me that this bush was of the sage family. I plucked a leaf and inhaled the pungent aroma into my lungs. I didn't pick any for tea though, as tempting as it was. 

Desert Lavender, Condea emoryi

Pretty colors on that hike appeared not only in wildflowers, but because the wildflowers were the primary objective of this hike, most phots here are of bloom. Even so, I still appreciated the pretty stones and rocks that I saw on my path. 

Fruit can also be quite colorful. In this case, the spotted pods of the indigo bush. I was sorry to have missed the bloom of the indigo bush, which can be quite spectacular. 

Schott's Indigo Bush, Psorothamnus schottii

One of the more common wildflowers I saw on the hike was the brown-eyed primrose. I photographed many of them but it's this little one from the side wash that I chose for post. 

Brown-eyed Primrose, Chylismia claviformis

All that time I was going up the side wash without any clear idea of a deadline time to turn around. I was almost four mies into the hike when the heavy cud that descended from Valecito Mountains parked itself above my head and started dropping down water. 

June Wash side wash

I stopped, pulled out my plastic poncho, and threw it over myself, hiding my camera underneath. I've hiked in the rain many times and usually I don't see that as a big deal. This time however, I was worried about the possibility of the wash coming to life in a flow, if not a flash flood. Besides, I knew I had about four miles to get back and I figured that it was a good time to turn around. Throughout the downpour I kept my camera tucked under my poncho, occasionally pulling it out for a quick snapshot. The sunlight that permeated the cloud cover through the gaps in the south illuminated the raindrops, making them shine like pearls. 

Rain

The rain lasted for about half an hour. I didn't like the rustling sound of the plastic poncho hood in my ears so I ket the hood off and my denim hat got soaked. Looking at Valecito Mountains I saw that the big cloud ad moved away from the peaks and I realized that there won't be any flash flood. In fact, even a trickle of a flow won't happen today. Beyond the hills on the west a rainbow dropped from the sky. 

I kept on moving and before long the clouds moved away altogether and once again I was enjoying bright, clear sunshine. 

The birds came out of their hidings and flew about with loud twits. Most of them were sparrows. I didn't have a suitable lens to take photos of any individual bird but I captured the group of sparrows when they perched momentarily on an ocotillo bush before flying away to their next attraction. 

The air was clearer now, and the colors more intense. The angle of the afternoon sun added beautiful shadow play and texture to the scenery all around. At some point I made the choice t leave the dirt road and follow the main wash path. I thought I might be seeing new things if I didn't follow the exact same route back.

One of the things that I saw off the main trail was the burrow of some animal, perhaps a rabbit hole. The footprints, which I did not identify, testified that the burrow was being used. 

My decision to go off trail paid of when I noticed another blooming shrub that was new to me- the Emory Dalea. This shrub, a relative of the indigo bush and the smoke tree Was blooming with small, light purple flowers. It was the only one of that species that I saw on the hike. 

Emory Dalea, Psorothamnus emoryi

Only a few steps away from the Emory Dalea I found another 'lifer' that at first glance looked like a milkvetch but turned out to be of a different genus (also different from the other dalea, despite the same common name) 

Parry's Dalea, Marina parryi

I rejoined the dirt road about half a mile before the end. The little off trail shortcut I took through the sands of the wash bed had cut about half a mile from the hike. 

Just before reaching my car I found yet another new wildflower, that I somehow missed on my way out into tJune Wash. This was the windmills, and I guess the flower shape looks sort of similar to its name sake. 

Windmills, Allionia incarnata var. incarnata

Before finishing my hike I turned around and looked back at the Valecito Mountains. A few white, fluffy clouds adorned the sky right above the peaks. There was no indication that less than a couple of hours earlier a heavy raincloud was coming from that direction. That cloud was now on the south side of the sky, and looked already lighter. 

I finished the hike at 3:45 and decided to use the rest of the day time at the Agua Caliente County Park spa. It was nice to soak in the warm water and complete it with a shower before heading out to the (relatively) nearby Bow Willow Campground where the park's docent recommended I'd spend the night. 

The following day I've seen more of that lovely winter bloom of Anza Borrego State Park, but the June Wash alone was worth that long drive south. 

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