50@50 – Anza Borrego State Park, CA
In the argument of how land shapes culture, one only has to look at the areas of extremes, such as the arctic or the desert. Personally, I love the desert. That’s not to say I’d prefer death by frying than freezing, but that the desert is visibly filled with such biodiversity. To appreciate the desert, one must step out of the car and observe it at close range. About 90 minutes east of San Diego lays the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. We allotted only a half day to explore the landscape – not nearly enough.
This wasn’t always a desert. Mammoth fossils have been found here. Humans arrived here over five thousand years ago and have left pictographs on rock walls. But one wonders, what was the environment like back then, or even 500 years ago?
In our short four mile hike, we observed pup fish (which can exist in water from nearly freezing up to 108 degrees), a very large hare, lizards, a multitude of birds and large paw prints. The aural experience is that of a city, loud, cacophonous, and teaming with activity – without any humans. The sounds were all made by birds, bugs and other animals we couldn’t see. February through April are the peak months, but we’re here at the end of May, and a late spring this year rewarded us with a late show of blooms.
The park’s diverse landscape contains flat valleys, oasis-like canyons and still-rising mountains. Waves of European settlers had to adapt or perish as they crossed this land. We know the Spanish explored this area in 1774, and that gold rushers and settlers came to California via the southern Emigrant trail and the Butterfield Overland Stage. But historically, the focus has been on those who arrived. In a time when a day’s travel was about twelve miles, how many didn’t arrive?
I contemplated this as I traversed my measly four mile hike. Even in the late morning, of late May, the temperature hovered at 90 degrees. From the visitor center at Borrego Springs, we took the paved path down to Palm Canyon which stands out in the arid landscape, inviting and cool. We turned left at the campground, and continued about a mile along an unnamed trail. Climbing onto a small peak, we glimpsed Salton Sea about 30 miles away. The sea replenishes hundreds of species of birds, and as California’s largest inland body of water, this saltwater sea draws photographers, boaters, artists, campers and, of course, bathers to its shores.
This is why I love the desert; it requires one to look closely; to see that abundance exists in the details not apparent from afar, to hear nature’s dialog.
Walking just a few miles gives us insight to those who lived here or traveled here before us. The desert forces our adaptation, our resilience and flexibility; it forces us to rise to meet the challenge.