This week we said good-bye to Borrego Springs. However, we did not leave without making a
few trips into some back country.
We started off by a final trip up Grapevine Canyon, but first we took a little hike on Cactus Loop Trail.
It was an easy hike and finally we found some cactus starting to bloom. It’s always amazing to see a rough and prickly plant (here it is the hedgehog cactus) have such a show of flowers.
Even the bright colours of the barrel cactus is pretty.
Back on the trail and as always, the views were outstanding, and everyone got to play on some big rocks.
The real icing on the cake was the sighting of some bighorn sheep on our way back home. One doesn’t often get to see these animals as they are usually back in the mountains.
One last trip out to Coyote Canyon to see if there is any sort of recovery of the trail but the water was still running. Apparently the park service has plans to rebuild the trail which was destroyed by Hurricane Hilary last summer but until then, we get to see some great scenery.
Our friends, Reto and Shelley, wanted to go on one last ride and we managed to lead them on a couple that they have not been on before. Reto has spent many years in this area so it was very unusual to show him something new. We went out to Mine Wash and visited an ancient Indian Village. Many large rocks have morteros which are areas that are worn out from grinding grain on the rocks – that would mean a lot of grinding has taken place.
The scenery was beautiful and while there were really no flowers to speak of, we did find a century plant which will soon be blooming (I love how they look like a giant asparagus).
One has to marvel at the hardiness and resiliency of some desert plants.
On our way home, we stopped by Quartz Vein Wash and lo and behold, another sighting of bighorn sheep. These sheep were a bit further up the mountain but again, we were thrilled to see them.
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