First, we are in luck for almond blossoms, even though it's already at the tail end.
Califoria is the largest almond producer in the world (80%!).
Some Googling pointed us to Shafter, a small town.
Rows and rows of almond trees, however most are done, green leaves coming out, petals on the ground.
Found one late patch on Cherry Ave, and then on 7 Standard Rd. Lovely.
At Bakersfield, turned NE onto CA-178, heading into the hills (the southern tail of the Sierras).
The view is getting better as we getting inside the hills.
This road follows Kern River. Some flowers were adding some orange shade on the hills.
We branched off onto Old Kern River Canyon Road. Good gravel.
It gains elevation, higher than the paved CA-178.
Saw a few cars parked at some TH.
Around the highest stretch, I spotted some Foothill Pines.
Made a stop, and soon realized that they are everywhere. Their needles are long, cones are huge and pointy. Definitely need to pay attention, not to drive onto one. Picked two from the ground.
They are heavy and full of resin.
The goal is a stop at Remington Hot Springs.
Park the car at a well signed large pullout, and walked down to Kern River.
A couple of hispanic families are enjoying the relaxation. Kids running around. One guy was scrabbing a pool with a large brush. It's nice to see someone taking care of the place.
One of the kids told me a small pool higher, maybe the source.
We soaked in the pool, and then walked to a submerged pool to eat our lunch.
Walking up to the road, I took photos of some flowers: fiddleneck, blue dick, mustard, and a large patch of popcorn.
Next short stop is Isabella Lake to stretch our legs. It's a very large reservoir.
Not particularly pretty. There's a stone memorial commemorating some camp site of Edward Kern during the winter of 1845-6.
~Half an hour later, we saw Joshua trees next to highway, yellow flowers covering some slopes.
Once hit CA-14, turn north to CA-395.
At Olancha, we turned east towards Death Valley, at the south end of Owens Lake. Owens Lake is quite pretty. It still has a lot of water in Feb.
You can see snowy peaks of southern Sierra Mountains to the north.
Onto CA-190, crossing Panamint Mountains across Death Valley N.P. Our next destination.
The view is very good, especially in the glow of the setting sun.
Made a few short stops for pictures. Flowers along the road:
Birds-eye Gilia,
Notch-leaf Phacelia,
Prickly Poppy (not yet in flower),
Yellow Cup,
early bloom of Desert Globemallow.
Made a stop at Stovepipe Well store inquired about back roads, gave up camping at Saline Valley and visit of Racetrack Playa, despite of renting an SUV. Overnight in Beatty, NV. Filled gas.
2/28, Saturday. Death Valley National Park
On the way to Death Valley, stopped at Rhyolite ghost town.
Before the ghost town is some odd sculptures at Goldwell Openair Museum.
Rhyolite was a prosperous mining (quartz) town in early 1900s.
Many relics remain: a 3-story bank building, a handsome train depot, many rusty tools.
Good view of the surrounding hills.
Now over the gentle Daylight Pass, and down towards Badwater basin. The road sides were covered with flowers: purple Caltha-leaf Phacilia, yellow desert gold.
The snowy top of Telescope Peak to the west.
We drove on the unpaved Westside Road through the salt flat. Great view. Very few cars.
Still had some water left. Not sure what kind of mineral in the salt, the water was greenish.
The road continued to brushy area with less view. So, we drove back to the main paved road.
Artists' Road has many colorful crumbly-looking rocks. It's a one way road from the south.
A few stops for you to walk closer to these rocks.
On our way out, saw a group of 3 motorbikers. I like this lady in red.
Many flowers on the slope on the way to and out of these rocks.
Next stop: Bad Water. A lot more water than I've seen. Very pretty. Reflections.
Took off our shoes and walked into the salty water.
This is the lowest point in US, 288' under sea level.
A sign of sea level was displayed on the hill.
There's a woman wearing a crown and swinging fire around, a guy was video-taping her.
Used the restroom at Furnace Creek visitor center, and asked about the bloom conditions on different roads.
Temperature is 93°F.
Secured a camping spot at Texas Springs Campground. Nice background (opposite direction to the skeleton) and a funny phone booth.
I was worried that it would be full, because it was a Saturday.
Too hot to hang around or walk in the sun.
Drove towards Dante's Point, hoping for cooler temperature.
On the way, we stopped at 20 Mules Canyon.
Walked briefly before returning to the AC car. It was simply too hot.
Dante's View is higher, much coolor.
From the parking lot, can walk both left and right, both with great view over the Bad Water basin, and the Panamint Mountains.
We, and many others, waited here for the sunset.
Plenty room so it never felt crowded.
Nice color today.
Almost full moon.
Once the sun set, the temperature dropped quickly.
At 8pm, we followed a path lined by red LED lights to a large parking lot behind the Furnace Creek Vistor Center. By now, the temperature was quite comfortable, may even call for a light fleece. There was a ranger program on stars. It's amazing that despite of the bright full moon, we could still see quite a bit. All you need is blocking the moon from your eyes. 2 rangers pointed at the sky from time to time with their powerful flashlight. A good turnout. 2 large hotels and 2 campgrounds next to the visitor center.
2/29, Sunday.
As before, Zabriski Point for sunrise. Many others were there when we arrived. Not even 6am yet!
Some walked down. Most are as lazy as us. Sat and waited for the sun to rise.
Quite a few tripods.
At this hour, the temperature is pleasant.
The park has many guided walks and talks at various locations.
At 8:30am, joined ranger Joe for a guided walk to Rainbow Canyon. About a dozen people showed up.
He talked about the rock formation, patterns. Also odd histories like:
there used to be a paved road into this canyon. Star Trek shot some scenes here.
After Joe left, we continued the short walk, and scrambled up boulders for better view.
Our last stop before leaving the park is Salt Creek. New for me.
A long boardwalk let you walk over the creek, where tens of thousands of
pupfish are swimming in groups.
This endemic fish is only found here, adapt to the salty water with extreme temperature range (0°-47°C, or 32°-116°F).
It's a long drive to Joshua Tree N.P. where we'll spend the night.
On the way, stopped at Trona Pinnacles.
I've seen these tufas before from Hwy-178, but now with an SUV, we drove the 5 miles of dirt road.
They are much more impressive up close.
It's fun to scramble over, through, around the tufas.
But too hot and dry. No water at all, but saw quite some yellow and pink veberna.
These were formed by the now dry Searles Lake from the Owens Valley to Death Valley.
At one point during the Pleistocene, the area was under 640' of water.
One of the overnight options I researched is Ricardo Campground at Red Rock State Park.
Too early when we drove by. Still checked it out. I really liked it here.
However, not sure where is water (supposed to have portable water).
A few campers here. All sites have picnic table, with great view and the backdrop of gray cliff (not colorful here).
Driving south through the town of Mojave. Saw hug fieds of solar panels on both sides of Hwy14. When opened in 2014, Ivanpah Power Facility was the world's largest solar thermal station, 3500 acres land, 392MW capacity. However, solar technology has progressed to photovoltaic (PV). This one is about to close due to high operational cost and competition from newer PV solar panels. It's impressive to see the sale.
Antelope Poppy Reserve is a bit of a detour.
Maybe 2 weeks too early for the peak bloom. Still lovely. Quite a lot of other flowers than poppy, especially fiddleneck.
Just in time for the sunset. Not too many people.
Many poppies were also blooming in the nearby fields.
Saw a lot of windmills around here.
The owner of tonight's hotel called me to make sure that I'd arrive by 9pm. The price of hotels in the area (near Palm Spring) is high, except for this one, even though it's right outside of the northern entrance (1 block from the visitor center).
3/1, Monday. Joshua Tree National Park
We visited the park south-bound. Some of the joshua trees are in bloom. Large creamy flower clusters. Some cholla cactus is in flower. Other than these 2, not much flowers, except at the south end of the park.
I was in Joshua Tree N.P. once, and remembered a lot of boulders, and a pond (to my suprise).
The rest was gone from my clobbered memory.
Did a loop to Banker Pond. Found the water again. Really nice.
Quite a few cars and people here.
This sign is funny: Do not die today!
Towards the end of the loop, view of some distant snowy mountains (San Gorgonio).
The petroglyphs are an added bonus.
Also stopped at Skull Rock and Split Rock.
Skull Rock was very popular for a good reason. The rock is large and does look like a human skull, especially looking from the side.
A lot of people lined up to take photos in front of its "eye sockets".
Drove up to Keys View for a panaromic view to the west: Coachella Valley. The sprawling urban development of Palm Spring, Indio, ... San Andrea fault! You can see Salton Sea to the south, and to the north still snowy San Jacinto, San Gorgonio.
Quite a few tour groups. One guide was quite entertaining, talking about the real estate developement, casino, ...
Had lunch here. No shade, but at least not hot.
Driving through the length of the park to the south entrance. No more crowds.
Quite scenic drive. Stopped to take photos at the Cholla Garden, which was closed for some reason.
Cottonwood Spring at the southern entrance, as the name suggests, is an oasis.
The tall fan palms have old leaves draping around the trunk, like beard.
There are ruins of old gold mines.
Found this beautiful desert bluebells. Quite a few, blooming in the sand.
We didn't walk much. Still too hot.
Driving out the south gate, along the road, saw quite a lot of flowers.
I wanted to camp tonight because of the lunar eclipse ~3am. Salton Sea between Joshua Tree NP and our Anza Borrego is a logical choice. California State Park operates a few campgrounds on its NE shore (so not exactly on our way). We stopped at the small town of Mecca to buy some food. All Mexican, Spanish only.
But first, visited Bombay Beach further south.
The town looks semi deserted. Sandy. Some houses have strange artwork in their backyard.
The left photo is one of them overly convoluted.
Drove down to the very wide beach. Feels even more abandoned.
Random "art" scattered around. A lot of space. A couple of RVs parked here.
Salton State Recreation Area operates a few campgrounds.
We drove into Corvina Beach. Picnic tables. Toilet building. Water. The payment slip asks for camp site number.
There's no camp host. I asked a camper van owner and borrowed a pen.
There's no number whatsoever.
Enough space. Water is still a bit of a walk away.
Great sunset!
At ~3am, I did crawl out of the tent to see the eclipse. The earth is moving so slow. Took hours for the earth shadow to pass the moon. I didn't wait that long. Full blood moon tonight.
3/2, Tuesday.
Driving to Borrego Springs via Borrego Salton Sea Way.
Visited a couple of small BLM campgrounds along the way. Free, no facility.
First stop at Calcite Mine TH. Walked a bit. Too sunny. Dry rocks.
Found quite a few Bristly Langloisia and Phacelia Crenulata, one
Whitebract Blazingstar,
and one lonely desert lily.
Next to the Borrego Springs airport, saw many California Primrose, big and showy, right outside of the fence.
Stopped at Anza Borrego visitor center, inquired about the flower condition. Was told that they had a few days of above 90°F weather, and flowers were at their last leg. Also walked around their nice garden, used the washroom.
Headed north to checkout Coyote Canyon - a known wildflower destination, also where I got my rental car stuck in sand years ago.
On the way, along Borrego Springs Rd, saw many large sculptures of prehistorical animals at Galleta Meadows made by Ricardo Breceda with Under The Sun Foundation.
They are impressive, sitting on flat by dry meadow. Desert verbena was adding a nice pink hue.
These were not here when dad and I were here last time.
This time, with an SUV, we drove to the 2nd wash of Coyote Canyon. It still had some water.
Found a few people here, one gentleman was braving the sun, painting in plein air.
All along, not much flowers left. Too late, too hot.
At Desert Garden (with picnic table, signed), walk up a little hill where you can be a bit higher.
Good view of the area. Many ocotillo, some blooming. Bright red flowers.
Per ranger's recommendation, we didn't try to find the pumpkin patch (need a more serious car), but hiked the short "Slot", a very narrow canyon, where you had to squeeze through at times.
It was fun. Thanks to the narrowness, shade inside the slot, so not too hot.
Quite a lot of people.
Flying out from Palm Spring Airport. About 1.5 hr drive. The airport waiting area feels like a restaurant, totally open. Very nice. Had many hours before our flight, because I reserved a late flight to ensure a day of travel. Alaska Air is quite good. No delay. This concludes a week of California tour. Too much driving!
