I recently made two trips to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, in southern California, with some good friends to enjoy the desert sun, rain, cacti, flowers, and oases. In our wanderings, I was reminded of one of my favorite Edward Abbey quotes, from Desert Soltaire. After re-reading some quotes, I decided to pair an appropriate quote with each of my images from these trips.

~ ~ ~

“Do not jump into your automobile next [spring] and rush out to the [desert] country hoping to see some of that which I have attempted to evoke in these [images]. In the first place you can’t see anything from a car; you’ve got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thornbush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail you’ll see something, maybe. Probably not.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Indeed, the uninitiated desert visitor may see the vast expanse of parched earth and wonder why people would come here. It takes some time, commitment, and curiosity to see what that the desert has to offer.

A typical and uninspiring desert view.

A typical and uninspiring desert view.

“Strolling on, it seems to me that the strangeness and wonder of existence are emphasized here, in the desert, by the comparative sparsity of the flora and fauna: life not crowded upon life as in other places but scattered abroad in spareness and simplicity, with a generous gift of space for each herb and bush and tree, each stem of grass, so that the living organism stands out bold and brave and vivid against the lifeless sand and barren rock.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Click images for larger view!

Cacti and Palm Oasis, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Desert

Desert Oasis : Prints Available

Flowering barrel cacti and ocotillo overlook a serene palm oasis at sunrise in California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

(continued from the previous quote)

“…The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life-forms.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Cholla Cacti, Sunlight, Anza-Borrego

Embracing the Sun : Prints Available

Early morning sunlight illuminates a stand of cholla cacti in California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

(continued from the previous quote)

“…Love flowers best in openness and freedom.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Desert Flowers and Rain, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Desert

The Rain Dance : Prints Available

Dune primrose, sand verbena, and desert gold, emerge from the sand to embrace the brief spring rains in California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

The past two weeks brought some much needed rain to the southern deserts, and the flowers responded with one of the best displays of springtime in years. In fact, this weekend brought so much rain that for the first time in my eight years of doing serious nature photography my camera suffered some water damage… and I was in the desert!

“A giant thirst is a great joy when quenched in time.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Desert Spring Flowers, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Desert

Desert Bouquet : Prints Available

Dune primrose, sand verbena, and desert gold, emerge from the sand to embrace the brief spring rains in California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

“I’d sooner exchange ideas with the birds on earth than learn to carry on intergalactic communications with some obscure race of humanoids on a satellite planet from the world of Betelgeuse.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Horned Lark, Wildflowers, Anza-Borrego

A Lark : Prints Available

A horned lark wanders through the spring wildflowers of the Anza-Borrego desert in search of caterpillars.

“Water, water, water… There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount…unless you try to establish a city where no city should be.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Bearded Palm Trees, Oasis, Anza-Borrego State Park

Desert Grandfathers : Prints Available

A young california fan palm finds some sunshine among its wise bearded elders in a remote oasis in California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

“Everything in the desert either stings, stabs, stinks, or sticks. You will find the flora here as venomous, hooked, barbed, thorny, prickly, needled, saw-toothed, hairy, stickered, mean, bitter, sharp, wiry, and fierce as the animals.” – Edward Abbey, The Journey Home

Desert Agave, Cholla, Anza-Borrego State Park

Jaws of the Desert : Prints Available

A viscious desert agave (agave deserti) has skewered a ball of spines shed by its neighboring cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii). Though it may seem implausible, I photographed this scene exactly as I found it in California's Anza-Borrego State Park. Being that it was on a steep hillside far from a trail, I can only presume it was a miraculous accident! 

One of the most prolific plants of the borrego desert is the ocotillo. At first glance they appear to be strange, misshapen, medusa-esque hairdos that pop out of the ground everywhere you look. They are antithesis of the sleek and clean cut shapes of modern aesthetic. And yet…

“Each thing in its way, when true to its own character, is equally beautiful.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Ocotillo, Anza-Borrego State Park, California

Ocotillo Sunrise : Prints Available

The spindly arms of an Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) catch the warm rays of light in California's Anza-Borrego State Park.

“I hold no preference among flowers, so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Ocotillo Flowers, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Desert

Mirage : Prints Available

The brilliant red flowers of an ocotillo at first light with a view of a palm oasis in California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

“If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture—that is immortality enough for me. And as much as anyone deserves.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Ocotillo Spines, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Desert

Crawling with Decay : Prints Available

Partially decayed branches of a fallen ocotillo seem to crawl over the desert floor like centipedes or snakes. The unusual colors are enhanced by a rare and heavy desert rainfall in California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast….a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.” – Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

Desert Campfire, Anza-Borrego, California

Desert Firelight

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is one of the few places in California where it is legal to camp off just about any dirt road and enjoy the warmth of a campfire, provided it is in a metal container. And nothing beats an old washing machine tub! Here's to good times with good friends in the desert.

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2 Comments to “Portraits from the Desert ~ Anza-Borrego State Park”

  1. Boyan says:

    I was there this weekend too, on account of the forecast for a very rare rain. Didn’t come out with as nearly as nice images. Oh how I need to learn the art of the long lens much much much better.

  2. THe rain dace is by large my favorite.