The Desert in August

Tuesday morning, I heard on the news that one of the biggest meteor showers of the year would occur that night - the Perseid Meteor Shower.  It would be exceptional because there would be no moon rise until dawn.  We hastily loaded up Dusty for an overnight.  We figured if we went to the desert late in the day, we could avoid the worst of the heat.  The desert would be far from city lights. Whoopee, a spontaneous adventure!

We chose Little Blair Valley in the Anza Borrego Desert.  The temperature was about 97 degrees when we arrived at 5:00 PM.  We were a little concerned about the clouds and our night sky.

We set up camp, which was pretty easy without a tent.

The clouds were pretty, though, and as the sun dropped, the temp started to cool.

We climbed up the boulder strewn hill above our camp to watch the sun set.  You can see Dusty down there in the lower right.

Fire in the sky!

Gail either really shrunk, or that is a giant asparagus!

Well, we lay on top of our sleeping bags staring at the sky periodically throughout the night.  We saw roughly two dozen meteors, a few which were wowsers that left brief trails.  It wasn't quite the meteor shower we expected, but it was thrilling anyway to see the Milky Way so clearly, and several satellites. It was very peaceful, and the light breeze made it very comfortable.

In the morning, we got up early, broke camp, and drove a few miles to the end of the road for a morning hike.

We saw several Loggerhead Shrikes, which can catch insects, sparrows, and mice.  It sometimes will impale its prey on a cactus thorn.

I got a fine reptile fix, as the lizards were up early to beat the heat, also.  This is a Granite Spiny Lizard.

Another Granite Spiny Lizard.

Another Granite Spiny Lizard.

Pictographs from the Kumeyaay Indians who had camps in the area.

 Our "trail" came to an end at the top of a dry waterfall.

I've been having fun with my new camera which has a superzoom lens - good for wary lizards and other wildlife.

Aah, there goes one now!

 A new find - a Mearns' Rock Lizard!  Gail spotted this one right above where we were resting.

This may be a gravid female because of the orange on the throat and over the eyes.

A few minutes later we saw this Western Side-blotched Lizard.

 I wandered over to some large boulders and was rewarded with seeing these morteros, or bowl shaped depressions created by the Kumeyaay grinding seeds.

 There were morteros all around!  This must have been a seasonal village in the past.

Another mortero.

 Our second Mearns' Rock Lizard!  Pretty good camo, I think!

And one more Granite Spiny Lizard.  Well, we were starting to wilt from the heat, and got back to the car around 10:30.

Hit the brakes!  Gail gets as excited about spotting a Mylar balloon as I do about a reptile.  She can spot them from a half-mile away.  No tortoise will die eating this one!

Well, time to book it up the mountain to Julian and get burgers!