I decided to get an early start so that I could get back to my sisters and spend more time with my nephew, so I ended up leaving San Marcos around 4:30am. It had rained that night and I had seen on weather.com that they were predicting snow over 4000 ft. I was surprised to read this since I was near san diego where it is 65 degrees year round. But as I started to gain elevation I started to see snow. I definitely wasn't expecting this at all. When I went through Julian(a small mountain town with great pie!) there were plows out and they had probably gotten about 6 inches of snow. The roads weren't too bad. I'm used to snowy/icy roads being in Iowa so it delayed my arrival by 30 mins. I had to take a few pictures to prove that I wasn't just imagining the snow so here is one looking back at Highway 78.

Around 6:30 or 7 I got down into the desert. The first thing that I wanted to do was to do the borrego palm canyon hike. So I headed toward borrego springs and the visitor center. I started the trail at about 7:30 or so. The trail is supposedly the most popular and heavily used but since I got out so early I only saw one person on the way out. This trail is about a mile and a half to get to the palm grove and then you kind of can hike the boulders to get around the grove. I ended up going probably a mile or so past the main grove. This grove of palm trees is one of the largest natural palm groves in the United states. They say there are over 1000 trees in this canyon. It was pretty impressive to be walking in the brown desert and then all of a sudden see a mass of green. I can only imagine how happy explorers were when they saw this. Here was my first view of the grove

There are certain areas where you can walk around in the grove but make sure not to go over the fence and walk around the palms on the other side of the fence. They are trying to preserve the trees and don't need people walking on the smaller ones. Here is a picture a smaller palm

On this trail I heard a whole lot of birds. I got pictures of a hummingbird and some blue birds. It was nice to hear them chirping as I was hiking. I also saw some bushes that had yellow flowers blooming. I was happy to see this because when I had talked to a worker at the visitor's center, they were saying there would be no flowers due to the drought. Here is a picture of a hummingbird taking advantage of some blooms and a yellow flower from a bush.

After a lot of boulder hopping and a few waterfalls, I decided to start to head back to main grove of palm trees and then back to the parking lot. On the way back, I ran into quite a few people that said good morning. I had to think about that for a second because I was thinking it was the afternoon already. That's what happens when you leave somewhere at 4:30am. Anyway, it was a great hike and I highly recommend it to anyone. Make sure to bring a whole lot of water with you because you'll need it with the dry air. Fortunately it was cooler when I was there. Probably in the low 50s but I still drank probably a half gallon of water.

After getting back to the car, I decided to go to the visitor center to get some information and advice. After talking to a lady, she had told me to do the Hellhole Canyon trail. I took her advice but am wishing I would have done something else. This hike is also to grove of palm trees so I was a little bit disappointed because I had just done a similar hike. I had wanted to see the borrego badlands but she had said that you had to have 4 wheel drive with high clearance in order to get back there. So I didn't even try. I wish that I would have just hiked back into one of the washes so that I would have seen a different landscape. Oh well.

Back to the trail. This trail is a bit longer. It is around 3 miles one way, I believe and the last mile or so is boulder hopping without much of a trail at all. It was kind of fun but wasn't really worth it after being to the borrego palm canyon already. There were a couple of goodsized waterfalls which were nice to see but I would recommend doing the borrego palm canyon trail. Unless if you want more solitude and adventure then do the hellhole canyon trail. One thing that I did like about this trail was all of the cholla. It is a smaller type of cactus. The shapes of it were very interesting. Here is a picture of a little cholla family. The two parents with their child in the middle : )

I decided to drive over by the badlands on the main highway just to see some different landscapes. It was nice to see some interesting rock formations along the way. I made it up to an area where I could see the salton sea and then I turned around. I had thought about going to the salton sea and going for a swim/float but after hearing that they put a bunch of fish in the sea, and the fish couldn't survive due to the salt concentration. I decided not to go down there due to the smell and the bones of fish. I then decided to start heading back to my sisters. I was cutting the trip a little bit short but I wanted to get back and spend some time with my nephew.

I took a little different way home. I took montezuma's grade(S22 up to ranchita and then 79 down to santa ysabel. This was a nice drive. The view looking down over the valley is great on montezuma's grade and then as you get up higher there are big boulders on the mountain. And then I got up to the snowy areas again. here was my last view of the snow

I stopped in Santa Ysabel at Julian Apple Pie Factory and decided to get some dessert and a pie to bring home. I highly recommend stopping and getting some pie there. It was some of the best pie we have ever had. If you're up there, it's worth a stop.

I made it back to my sister's around 4 or so and enjoyed the rest of my break. Overall it was a nice trip to Anza Borrego. I can't imagine what it looks like during good years in the spring. Some of the postcards with wildflowers are extraordinary. It would definitely be worth a trip when the wildflowers are in bloom. I also would recommend either having four wheel drive or taking a tour with a 4 wheel drive company in Borrego Springs because I'm sure the scenery is a lot better off of the main highways. The majority of the park can only be seen with 4 wheel drive. I had a good time there and look forward to getting back.