While camped in the southern end of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, we braved the deep sand on some of the roads and took the e-bike for a spin. I ended up at Mountain Palm Springs campground, and took the hike up to the palm grove.
It was a bit of a shock to find the place resembled a scene from The Birds!
Except, as far as I could tell, all the birds were American Robins! Hundreds of them, if not thousands. They were continuously flying, squawking, fluttering, and feeding on the fruit of the palms.
I suspect that there was some fermentation happening, judging by the continuous raucous behaviour!
There are trails to the site from both Mountain Palm Springs and Bow Willow Creek campgrounds in the area.
While much of the country, and much of California was enduring heavy rain, and snow in the high country, this little corner of paradise was virtually untouched. There was some fog one night, which resulted in a heavy dew in the morning.
There were some pretty intense winds for a bit, and it did rain some one night, but not enough to pool anywhere or get the washes running.
The weather looked good in San Diego, so Hailey was left home to guard camp. Off we went, trying to make a big circle of it. We headed north further into the park, up the S2 highway.
It wasn’t long before we could see a light dusting of snow on Mt Laguna in the high range to the west.
Pools of water along the highway were evidence that more rain had fallen as we moved northward.
We stopped along the road at Blair Valley, and took some distant photos of Yaquitepec, and the marshal South trailhead – for Al!
Heading up into the hills towards Julian – the last straight stretch of road we would see in a while!
As elevation increased, temperatures dropped almost to the freezing point, and bits of snow could be seen on the shoulders of the road.
Downtown Julian was packed with cars and people, enjoying the last of the long weekend holiday.
On the beach in San Diego, the weather was not as nice as expected, being mostly overcast with a cool breeze. But there were still multiple games of beach volleyball, basketball, and there were lots of joggers, roller skaters, walkers, cyclers all up and down the waterfront. We biked a few miles along the beach before having to head for home again.
This was the only uncrowded spot …!
Crystal Pier
Poor photo, but I like the way they paint the highway numbers in the individual lanes in San Diego. That way, you know if you are in the correct lane for an exit, or where the interstate divides.
After a long day on the road, it was nice to be back to the peace and quiet of our camp.
Till next time …
