Vintage post card of our favorite desert plant, the Ocotillo. (found this on EBay) Some interesting facts about the Ocotillo Plant   Can reach 30 feet tall Sheds its' small green leaves during dry spells. Is pollinated by hummingbirds Generally will bloom March - June, with a display of orange/red tube like flowers

There has been an unprecedented assault on our deserts and backcountry in the name of renewable energy. While the Anza Borrego Desert State Park was spared the bulldozer's blade back in 2008, many so called "green" projects have been popping up all over California. Although these remote solar and wind projects may seem environmentally friendly on the surface, there is a dark side that seems to be ignored by the media. In order to be financially viable, large scale solar and wind projects require thousands of acres of public lands to be scraped clean in order to make room for the dishes or towers. These are areas that have important bio... [More]

Jon Grasson has done an excellent job of putting together an awesome resource for Desert lovers everywhere. Dezert Magazine, an online periodical, is reminiscent of the printed Desert Magazine that ceased publication in 1985 after 40 + years of circulation . I was honored when John asked to include one of our blog entries in the first issue. Check it out if you have a chance.   Best, Bob

I left early Wednesday morning with the plan to do a solo day hike out to the Goat Canyon Trestle in the southern Anza Borrego desert. According to weather reports the rain that was hitting the coast wasn't suppose to hit Ocotillo until Thursday. Sure there were high wind warnings for  the deserts and the mountains but hey, what's a little wind ? As I began to drive up the grade past Pine Valley for my eventual descent into the desert, I quickly realized that this was not an ordinary Spring storm. Rain had quickly turned to snow as I approached the Sunrise Highway turn-off. Snow? Wait, isn't  Memorial Day weekend with it... [More]

In the small desert town of Ocotillo, CA the winds may be changing. Pattern Energy, a San Francisco based energy company is proposing to turn 15,000 acres of public lands bordering the Anza Borrego Desert State Park into a 561 megawatt wind farm with 240 wind turbines. Unfortunately for the small town of Ocotillo and the Imperial Valley, little would be gained as the power would be funneled to San Diego over the infamous Sunrise Powerlink. John Calaway, Pattern Energy director of wind development states that the area would benefit from 400 construction jobs during the two year construction period of the Ocotillo Express Wind Farm. Let me ... [More]

Since free weekends were disappearing faster than the money in my checking account I decided to take a solo mid-week trip out to Anza Borrego . I had read that the flower season was going to be "peaking" in the first two weeks of March so I was really anxious to check things out.   I left Leucadia around 3:30 PM on Wednesday, topped off the BJ70 with bio-diesel in El Cajon and dropped down into Ocotillo around 5:30PM.  Not bad considering the Bj70 with its' 90 hp diesel motor does not like hills and the trek out via Interstate 8 is nothing but hills. Basically the 8 will take you from sea level to 4500' then drop you back down... [More]