April 11, 2008

Laura's Anza Borrego Adventure

I am a newer Juniper Ridge employee; camping in Anza Borrego was my first official Juniper Ridge company outing. On our first full day in the desert we decided to tackle a scenic hike that would wind us through views of amazing wildflowers, several palm groves and up tall peaks that would allow us to see the Salton Sea.

Here we are at the start of the hike. We are well rested from a night of sleeping out in perfect weather under the stars. At this point we are also still fully hydrated and curious about our surroundings, so we are asking Hall lots of questions about the beautiful wildflowers and plants along the way.

We all hiked for several hours and arrived at one of the palm groves. They were beautiful in a surreal way - palm trees in a little cluster in the middle of the dry desert. I thought this was an image only dehydrated cartoon characters would see, but they were there, they were real, and they were beautiful. We enjoyed a nice rest there and relaxed for a bit in the shade

We hiked on a bit further and then, in a unified subtle wave, all of the seasoned Juniper Ridge employees decided to turn back and head home. Myself, the eager new employee, and Micky (a dear friend to Juniper Ridge), decided we would continue to follow Hall - our fearless leader - up a steep, cactus-filled mountain under the heat of the desert sun.

Everything around us was beautiful - with the exception of one thing - Teddy Bear Cholla. I made this photo huge for a reason; these little "jumping cholla" were an ever-present part of my Anza Borrego experience. The name Teddy Bear Cholla is really a bit insulting to those of us who were repeatedly outwitted and attacked by these teddy bear plants.

We hiked up and up - finally my Midwestern legs which developed on flat flat land, said no more so I sat on a rock with Micky and enjoyed the spectacular view as my boss galloped towards the summit.

An hour passed, Hall reappeared, and Micky and I were now rested enough to slowly stumble down the mountain. We enjoyed the views for a moment longer and then began our descent.

Here Micky is arriving back on flat ground again! The timing was rather perfect, we strolled towards our campsight at dusk and arrived just as the last bit of light disappeared.

I spent the rest of my Anza Borrego experience enjoying the wildflowers from a chair by the campfire. What a beautiful, beautiful place.

Posted by laurasweitzer at 3:37 PM | Comments (1)