CALIFORNIA

Anza Borrego from Storm Canyon, Mount Laguna

This blog has been existing for about 7 months now, but I don’t think I have made a post here about places in my own home turf, San Diego. I guess the reason to that is my other blog, San Diego Backroads. When I think of what to post in this blog, I think of outside San Diego. It is like I am making San Diego outside of California. For today, I decided to post something about San Diego’s backyard, Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

The picture of Anza Borrego Desert above was taken from the trail to Garnet Peak at Storm Canyon in Mount Laguna.

Mount Laguna

I find it amazing at how conditions changes at this place, right next to each other, but seem different worlds. If looking East is an arid land, looks devoid of vegetation from afar, yet, looking West at the same point where I took the first picture above is the oak and pine forest clad with snow.

Looking West from Storm Canyon

Anza Borrego Desert State Park is a rain shadow desert. When the storm coming from the ocean hit the mountains, the clouds are pushed skyward, and most moisture evaporates up the sky. Very little  or no rain would reach the desert. Rainshadow happens frequently across Southern California inland from the Pacific Ocean. Thus, allowing San Diegans to frolic in desert sun,

Anza Borrego Desert Wildflowers, Spring 08, San Diego County

get a dose of fun in the mountains,

Sledding on Mount Laguna, San Diego County, winter 09

and in the ocean.

Surfing in Windansea, San Diego, year round

Though Anza Borrego Desert may look brown and uninteresting from afar,

Anza Borrego from Afar

But don’t let its outright appearance deceive you. Behind this boring color are very interesting landscape,

Font’ s Point Overlook, See Person (if you can find him) for Scale

and as with all other deserts in the Southwest, it is very colorful in the spring time and early summer,

Brittlebushes, Anza Borrego, Spring 08

when many species of cacti, widlflowers, desert lilies, and bushes come into full bloom.

Desert Sunflower (Gold) and Sand Verbena ( Purple)

This year 2009, the prediction is another good bloom, since the park looks greener than last year. For current wildflower update, please visit the site: http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_abdsp.html

Pile of Rocks @ Devil’s Postpile National Monument

Presently, Devil’s Postpile National Monument is closed for the season and may open on June 7, 2009 depending on road conditions. Since this National Monument is located 7560 ft above sea level west of the “Sierra Nevada” (spanish for Snowy Range) Crest, it experiences typical Sierra Nevada winter. Too dangerous to drive on icy mountainslopes, and very expensive to maintain snow plowing, this park closes November to early June for vehicles. However, it is open to backcountry skiers and snowshoers. However, with 400 inches of mountain snow, travel into the valley in the winter can be hazardous, thus, it is advised to have proper avalanche skills and physical conditioning before doing backcountry skiing into the area. Otherwise, people just skii around Mammoth Mountain Skiing Resorts, a popular skiing resort for Southern Californians.

Mammoth Mountain in the early summer of 2008

During summer and fall, access to this park is through Red Meadows Shuttle Bus from Mammoth Mountain. The shuttle bus is mandatory and is $7.00 per person which can be bought at the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Gondola Building, adjacent to Mammoth Mountain Inn. The shuttle bus allows more visitors to the area without traffic congestion which could result in safety hazards for visitors. The road to the valley is a steep single lane road that winds its way on the side of the mountain and can be quite stressful with very heavy traffic if everyone is allowed to drive in the park. To decrease environmental impacts on the Valley and also for the safety of everyone, the US Forest Service established the mandatory shuttle system.

There are many places to stop and explore at the Red Meadows, however, most of us were tired already from 7 days of day hiking in Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite that we just decided to take the short hike to Devil’s Postpile. From Bus Stop 6, Devil’s Postpile is an easy 0.4 mile hike to the base and another 15 minute uphill hike to the top.

Top of Devil’s Postpile

The top of Devil’s Postpile has hexagonal polished tiles neatly arranged together. Have you ever wondered why nature most oftentimes show a hexagonal formation? If you look at the back of a tortoise shell, you will notice the hexagons. The honeycombs also are a neat arrangements of hexagon. The salt pan or mud cracks in the desert also form hexagon. Hexagon is pretty common pattern in nature’s landscape, and it is very evident here at Devil’s Postpile National Monument.

Here are some basic information about the wonders of Devil’s Postpile:

I. Devil’s Postpile is one of the world’s finest example of columnar basalt.

These columnar rocks resulted from the basalt lava which erupted less than 100,000 years ago. As the lava cooled, it contracted and cracked, forming vertical columns. The symmetrical vertical and hexagonal columns formed because the cooling of the lava was slow and its mineral composition was consistent.

II. Nature’s Hexagon

Hexagon is nature’s way of using the least length of line to enclose the most area! As the lava that flowed Devils Postpile cooled, it shrank. Then, cracks were formed to relieve the stress, meeting in three way conjunctions to form a pattern of hexagons with 120 degree angle.” Nature surely taught man about the concept of optimization and geometry.

III. Polished Hexagonal Tile Floor

The polished floor was caused by the glacier that flowed down this area some 20,000 to 12,000 years ago. The moving ice carved away one side of the postpile, exposing a sheer wall of columns 60 feet high. Erosions and earthquakes later felled many columns that lie at the base of the monument.

Felled Columns at the Base due to Erosions and Earthquakes

Devil’s Postpile sits on a volcanic land where glacier once existed, thus its unique beauty is brought by the interplay between Fire and Ice. And it is not all rocks at Devil’s Postpile, there are a lot of wildflowers in the crevices of the rocks

Wildflower @ Devil’s Postpile

you hear the strong current of the water that flows through the river

and there are several waterfalls nearby. For more information (and more beautiful pictures), please visit the park site at http://www.nps.gov/depo/planyourvisit/nearbyattractions.htm