The Mighty Carmel Reaches the Sea

For the first time all winter, the Carmel River has broken through the sand berm and reached the sea! The river made the breach just within the past two days...I was here on Feb 15 and it was still not flowing under highway 1. We've had over four inches of rain this month, after getting just six for the entire rainy season through January.

The surf was quite hefty today! It had a brownish tint near the mouth of the river. A shower looms in the background; it reached the beach about 15 minutes later.

The lagoon is less extensive than when the river was confined behind the sand berm, but it's still a nice home for hundreds of birds. Towering CU loom in the background. Most of the birds aren't here at the moment; they went for a flight a few minutes before I took the pic.

Winter in the Tehachapis

I drove home yesterday, via the Grapevine and the southern San Joaquin Valley. The recent cold storm dropped snow as low as 2000 feet. I took this pic whilst driving down the Grapevine.

In the southern San Joaquin Valley there was a nice contrast on the hills. The lower slopes were green while higher elevations were shrouded in white. Add funky clouds with constantly changing light, and you had a cool photographic environment.

I'm always looking for new routes to drive. Although I have explored California extensively for almost 50 years, there are still quite a few roads I have never traveled. One of these was a section of route 58 between 101 and Interstate 5. It wasn't far out of my way yesterday, so I took it. This proved to be a serendipitous choice! In summer, this route is hot, dry, brown, and scrubby. But in winter, after a cold storm, it presented a magical blend of colors and shades.

There was virtually no traffic, so it was very relaxing to drive.

I liked this abstract blend of snow, bare slopes, and clouds. Route 58 rises to 3200 feet west of Bakersfield. Two days earlier heavy snow fell here, and the road was closed for a time. You could see that it had been plowed. Five months from now it will be searingly dry and remorselessly hot here; clouds will be a novelty. But on this day it was cold, damp, green, and a little magical.

Winter Moisture in the Desert

It rained off and on in the desert for three days starting last Saturday, with snow in the mountains. The moisture was very welcome as the region has been in a drought for several years. This winter has been better; good rains fell in December, and this rain assures a good flower season starting in March. A few blooms have gotten a head start; this flower is on a paloverde tree in my friend Dave's back yard. Blow the pic up and you'll see water droplets on the branches.

In Joshua Tree National Park, snow fell above 4000 feet, coating all the mountains in white. The peaks around Palm Springs, rising to 11 thousand, were really laden with powder. The contrast between the desert and snow is refreshing!

Blow this pic up and you'll see a crow hangin' in the Joshua branches, no doubt looking for a snack. His urban counterparts can just cruise the parking lot in the nearest In 'N Out Burger, but the JTNP crow is more self sufficient.

A Crisp day in the Desert

Rain fell last night in the Phoenix area, quite a bit in fact; most spots around the region had one to three quarters of an inch. Today the clouds were still threatening, but only a few sprinkles occurred. But, the photography was superb, so I headed out to White Tank again to enjoy the crisp air and the changing light. The sun darted in and out of the clouds, which billowed over the mountains. The effect was gorgeous!

This view is looking north, toward the Mogollon Rim. The clouds hung over the rim all day, making a nice backdrop for the desert. While it rained here, up on the rim Flagstaff had almost a foot of snow.

The teddy bear chollas were translucent in the sunshine, as the barrels soaked up the moisture.

More rain is forecast for tomorrow night, with additional storms likely in the following week. This wet sequence will set up a great flower season in March and April!

Hassayampa

A couple days ago I visited the Hassayampa River Preserve, run by the Nature Conservancy near Wickenburg. The Hassayampa is not your conventional river; for most of its length, most of the year, it runs underground. However, in the preserve it is a real stream...not much of a river, really, as this pic shows; it's only about 10 feet wide. This is due to a shallow bedrock layer that prohibits the water from sinking into the ground. Five miles upstream from this point, the river is usually dry on the surface; five miles downstream, the same. This changes during the summer monsoon; I remember a professor in college recounting a time when one day, the Hassayampa in Wickenburg was dry; the next day, it was a quarter mile wide and six feet deep!

The preserve is located on an old ranch, and the ranch house is used as the preserve headquarters. Many years ago, desert fan palms were planted, and have proliferated. These trees are not native to the immediate vicinity, but are found in oases at various places in southern California and southwestern Arizona. There's a pond here, and the water makes the preserve a major wildlife haven. It's a nice spot to spend a few hours.

Just threw this pic in...a railroad runs thru the eastern part of the preserve.

Chillin' in the AZ

I'm hangin' out for awhile in the Phoenix area, like many retirees do. About half of the traffic in Sun City consists of golf carts driven by old folks from the midwest. In late April and early May they will all go back up north and Sun City will turn into a semi ghost town. But now, in February, it's bustling. The Lizards enjoy it here; they're in their natural habitat. I take them out into the desert once in awhile where they are most at home.

This view is in White Tank Mountain Regional Park, west of Phoenix. If you blow up the pic and look closely just to the right of the cactus arms you can see the towers of downtown Phoenix, about 30 miles away.

A noble saguaro rises into the desert sky. White Tank is a pleasant place with many good trails of varying difficulty, and numerous picnic areas tucked cozily into the desert. These are nice spots to relax with a beer and a book. Most of the time the only sounds are birds, or perhaps the breeze whispering thru the spines of the saguaros. The picnic benches can even be used for a brief period of comatose slotation (i.e. siesta), as I did earlier this week.