Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Milky Way Breathing Dragon.

Instead of fire, this dragon breathes the Milky Way galaxy. Shot this back in June in Borrego Springs, California. Galleta Meadows Estate is privately owned desert estate land that consists of many separate plots in Borrego Springs, California and that features over 130 large metal art sculptures. The sculptures were created by Southern California artist Ricardo Breceda via commission from Dennis Avery, the owner of Galleta Meadows. Now deceased and an heir to the Avery label fortune, Mr. Avery located the sculptures on land he purchased for conservation. Galleta Meadows is unfenced and open to the public for visitation, including hiking, horseback riding, picnicking, photography, and bicycling every day of the year.[4]. Borrego Springs is a village completely surrounded by the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the largest state park in California. The Galleta Meadows metal sculptures have different themes. The largest theme appears to be of prehistoric animals, including dinosaurs. Other themes have a connection to the desert environment in which they are located, such as desert animals, including scorpions and bighorn sheep. There is also at least one religious sculpture of a priest carrying a cross through the desert. There is also an approximately 350-foot-long dragon that gives the illusion of it snaking into and over top the desert sand.

✨ Reaching for the Stars 🌟

Star trails over a field of agave with mountains in the background southwest of Blair Valley in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park prior to daybreak on August 12, 2020. If you look near the bottom of the sky towards the center, you can see a couple of Perseid meteors as well. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens. Total exposure time of 168.4 minutes f/2.8 ISO 3200. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP) is a California State Park located within the Colorado Desert of southern California, United States. The park takes its name from 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and borrego, a Spanish word for sheep.[With 600,000 acres (240,000 ha) that includes one-fifth of San Diego County, it is the largest state park in California.

Great Space Coaster (Get on board).

Milky Way galaxy arch over one of the smaller trestles north of Dos Cabezas siding. The red lights in the background are from a wind turbine farm in nearby Ocotillo, CA. The rest of the light pollution is from El Centro and Brawley. This is a stitch of 10 vertical exposures shot with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 15mm EX DG lens on July 25, 2020. A 33% moon nicely illuminated the foreground without washing out the milky way. This railroad is the San Diego & Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) and was established in 1919 by John D. Spreckels - the same Spreckels who provided San Diego with the Spreckels Theater Building downtown and the organ pavilion in Balboa Park. This railroad also contains the famous Goat Canyon Trestle - the largest wooden curved trestle in the world. It's been nicknamed "The Impossible Railroad" due to the immense logistical challenges involved, but Spreckels was determined to do whatever it took to complete the project. Some trivia: the term "sugar daddy" originated with John's brother - Adolph Spreckels. The railroad is currently not in service. It's owned by the San Diego MTS and is being leased by the Baja California Railroad. The BJRR has grand plans to reestablish freight service on this line, but so far nothing has been done. There are collapsed tunnels, trestles in need of repairs and upgrades, and more.

Social Distancing Under Fire in the Sky at the "Influencer Campsite"

My camper and truck under an epic sunset and solitude in the Anza-Borrego Desert on August 11, 2020. These amazing clouds are due to the smoke from a wildfire in Mexico. I set up camp here in preparation for watching and shooting the Perseid meteor shower later this night. Then I realized the clouds weren't likely to go away, so i relocated to Blair Valley. I call this the "influencer campsite" because one can use this location to provide influencer-worthy photos here - dramatic views, "living on the edge", "middle of nowhere", "nobody around for a gazillion miles"etc. I forgot to do a yoga pose while eating some hipster protein bar. 😂 This is a 20 frame panorama shot with a Canon EOS R and Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens. Each frame shot at 1/25 sec f/7.1 ISO 400.

Perseid Meteor Over Agave in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

I captured this meteor at 3:28 AM on August 12, 2020 northwest of the Blair Valley area of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. A rising moon illuminated the foreground and mountains without washing out the view of the meteor's glow. This is a single exposure shot with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens at 12 sec f/2.8 ISO 2500. It was a fun night observing and shooting meteors - though this meteor shower was a bit less intense than other Perseid and Geminid meteor showers I've seen in recent years. After staying up until just before sunset, I was looking forward to sleeping in my trailer for several hours. Instead, my sleep was interrupted by a swarm of bees! I ended up leaving the area much sooner than expected - and with much less sleep.

Starlight Express.

All aboard! Another shot of the abandoned train cars in Jacumba, California with the Milky Way above. A rising moon (out of frame) partially illuminates the train and foreground without washing out the dark starry sky. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens, this is 5 sequential exposures each shot at 15 sec f/2.5 ISO 3200 and stacked to reduce noise. This is part of the historic San Diego & Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) railroad created by John D. Spreckels. The gold spike was driven in November 15, 1919. Spreckels built this line to connect San Diego to the rest of the country in a time before passenger airplanes and before most Americans had the means to travel by automobile. While not seen here, this railroad is home to the Goat Canyon Trestle - the world's largest curved wooden trestle. These are former Chicago Metra (METropolitan RAil) commuter train cars. These cars were brought in from Chicago and intended to be used to provide commuter service on the Tijuana and Tecate portion of this line. Lots of planning and work was dune to ensure the success of this planned route - only to have Mexico later say they didn't want to pay for it. In recent years, the cars were scrapped without authorization from the owner. And now they continue to be destroyed by vandals. (Thanks for the info, Michael.) This railroad is currently owned by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and being leased to the Baja California Railroad (which has offices in both the USA and Mexico). BJRR plans to eventually restore fright service to this line, but so far there are no signs of any progress.

The Milky Way Express

I revisited these abandoned train cars in Jacumba to shoot some nighttime photos again. This was my first time here since 2019. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens at 13 sec f/2.5 ISO 3200. This is part of the historic San Diego & Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) railroad created by John D. Spreckels. The gold spike was driven in November 15, 1919. Spreckels built this line to connect San Diego to the rest of the country in a time before passenger airplanes and before most Americans had the means to travel by automobile. While not seen here, this railroad is home to the Goat Canyon Trestle - the world's largest curved wooden trestle. These are former Chicago Metra (METropolitan RAil) commuter train cars. I'm not sure why they ended up here in southern California, but perhaps the railroad was once considering passenger excursions along this historic desert route? Sadly these cars have been heavily vandalized and stripped of anything of value over the years. This railroad is currently owned by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and being leased to the Baja California Railroad (which has offices in both the USA and Mexico). BJRR plans to eventually restore fright service to this line, but so far there are no signs of any progress.

Galaxy Gazer.

Self portrait of me sitting (it was too windy for me to stand and remain still) on a railroad trestle near Dos Cabezas in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Trains are currently not operating on this line. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM art lens on July 25, 2020. A 33% moon nicely illuminated the foreground without washing out the milky way. This railroad is the San Diego & Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) and was established in 1932 John D. Spreckels - the same Spreckels who provided San Diego with the Spreckels Theater Building downtown and the organ pavilion in Balboa Park. This railroad also contains the famous Goat Canyon Trestle - the largest wooden curved trestle in the world. It's been nicknamed "The Impossible Railroad" due to the immense logistical challenges involved, but Spreckels was determined to do whatever it took to complete the project. The railroad is currently not in service. It's owned by the San Diego MTS and is being leased by the Baja California Railroad. The BJRR has grand plans to reestablish freight service on this line, but so far nothing has been done. There are collapsed tunnels, trestles in need of repairs and upgrades, and more.

All Aboard! The Comet NEOWISE Express.

Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3 appears over Dos Cabezas siding in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park on the night of July 18, 2020 at 9:43 PM PDT. Canon EOS R and Canon 50mm lens. C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a retrograde comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. At that time, it was a 18th-magnitude comet, located 2 AU (300 million km; 190 million mi) away from the Sun and 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) away from Earth. The wooden platform, track switch, and decaying telephone pole seen here are part of the San Diego & Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) railroad. It was the creation of John D. Spreckels - the same Spreckels who provided San Diego with the Spreckels Theater Building downtown and the organ pavilion in Balboa Park. This railroad also contains the famous Goat Canyon Trestle - the largest wooden curved trestle in the world.

Incoming: Comet NEOWISE Over Water Tower.

Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3 appears to be headed for an old railroad water tank at Dos Cabezas siding in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park on the night of July 18, 2020 at 9:20 PM PDT. Canon EOS R and Canon 50mm lens. C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a retrograde comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. At that time, it was a 18th-magnitude comet, located 2 AU (300 million km; 190 million mi) away from the Sun and 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) away from Earth. By July 2020, it was bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. It is one of the brightest comets in the northern hemisphere since Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997 and was widely observed as being clearly visible with the naked eye. This water tank dates back to the age of steam locomotives and is part of the San Diego & Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) railroad. It was the creation of John D. Spreckels (the same Spreckels who provided San Diego with the Spreckels Theater Building downtown and the organ pavilion in Balboa Park. This railroad also contains the famous Goat Canyon Trestle - the largest wooden curved trestle in the world.

To boldly go where no man has gone before.

The Milky Way galaxy core shines over some otherworldly concretions at the "Pumpkin Patch" in Ocotillo Wells in the predawn hours of June 21, 2020. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 15mm EX DG lens. I illuminated the rocks in the foreground with an LED blacklight. Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area had a soft reopening as of at least this past Friday. Although the website hasn't been updated to reflect this reopening, a park employee as well as a park ranger I encountered on Sunday confirmed that the park is now open again. This unique landscape is the result of wind and water continuously eroding the surface soil and revealing these globular sandstone concretions. Such concretions are believed to be formed by the natural cementing of sand particles to a small object such as a piece of shell, a grain of sand, or even an insect.

Galaxy Gallop

Two horses play under a panorama of the Milky Way galaxy at the Galleta Meadows sculpture garden in Borrego Springs, California. To produce this image, I shot 12 vertical frames - each at 15 sec f/2.8 ISO 3200 - with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 15mm EX DG lens. I then stitched the frames together in Photoshop. The late Dennis Avery (son of the founder of Avery labels), land owner of Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs envisioned the idea of adding 'free standing art' to his property with original steel welded sculptures created by 'Perris Jurassic Park' owner/artist/welder Ricardo Breceda based in Perris, California. — at Galleta Meadows, Borrego Desert. Be sure to also visit Ricardo Breceda's Studio at 44450 CA-79, Aguanga, CA 92536.

Portal to Heaven.

The Milky Way galaxy shines brightly above Saint Richard Catholic Church in Borrego Springs, California. I shot this in the predawn hours of June 14, 2020 with a Canon EOS R mirrorless camera. Until the 1940s, the Borrego Valley was considered one of the most isolated communities in San Diego County. The outside world was accessible by only a few dirt roads, and there were no telephones or outside electricity. As the population of Borrego Springs grew in the late 1940s, it became clear that a Catholic Church should be established in the community. The Most Reverend Charles F. Buddy, Bishop of the San Diego Diocese, assigned the task to Father Francis Lobell, pastor of St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church in Julian. Father Lobell went about finding an appropriate site for the church. A.A. Burnand's initial plans for the town included a "municipal center" located in the foothills at the top of T Anchor Drive. During the Easter season of 1949, a group of local residents placed a large cross on the ridge above, and it soon became known as the church area. It was there that Father Lobell secured a tract of land donated by Burnand for what was being called the de Anza Catholic mission, named for Juan Bautista de Anza, the early Spanish explorer who traversed the Borrego Valley in 1774 and 1775. While waiting for the new mission to be built, Father Lobell celebrated Mass at Hoberg's Desert Resort, now known as the Palms at Indian Head. Fund-raising for the mission began in 1952, and by the summer of 1953 construction was underway. Built largely by volunteers, financial support was provided by the sixteen Catholic families living in Borrego, and by many others in the community. Sadly, just as construction was finishing in October 1953, Father Lobell passed away. Father William Cooney became the new pastor of St. Elizabeth's, and oversaw the completion of the church. In 2007 Rev. Victor Maristela was assigned to be pastor of St. Richard Catholic Church. And fifty-four years after the church was completed, the future looks as bright as ever.

Milky Way Over No Service Gas Station In Borrego Springs

I shot this last night (June 13, 2020) in Borrego Springs. This is a stitch of 16 frames shot with a Canon EOS R and Canon 50mm lens at 6 sec f/2.5 ISO 4000. I panned and tilted my camera to shoot in a grid 8 frames high and 2 frames wide. I then stitched the photos together in Photoshop. This was a difficult shot to pull off with the light pollution from nearby streetlights as well as the Casa del Zorro resort. And, when I do this shot again in the future, I dim the LED lighting I placed inside the building. I came up with the title for this image based on remembering gas stations having the option of "full service" or "self service". There was also the option of "leaded" vs. "unleaded" gasoline. Since this station is abandoned and the gas pumps are long gone, I figured "no service" was a fitting name. I'm not sure what led to the demise of this business, but it's possible the owners weren't able to afford to perform costly upgrades mandated by California in the 1980s. California passed legislation that required gas stations to upgrade their underground tanks, perform tests to make sure the tanks weren't leaking, and obtain insurance to cover cleanup efforts should the tanks leak in the future. I remember seeing many independent/rural gas stations shut down by the 1990's.

Dark Desert Highway To Heaven.

Last night (well, technically early this morning) I headed out on a dark desert highway with the cool wind in my hair. This is Highway S2 that cuts through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This was one of the first roads into the interior of Southern California and became known as the Southern Emigrant Trail. In the 1850s, Gold Rush miners and numerous others, including the Butterfield Overland Mail stage line, traveled through Box Canyon. And finally, modernization reached the desert-the road was first paved in 1929. This particular cure is between the town of Shelter Valley and the Blair Valley area of the park. This is my first still photo shot with my Canon EOS R mirrorless camera. I must say that I continue to be very impressed with this new Canon model. Shot at 15 sec f/2.8 ISO 6400 with a Sigma 15mm EX DG lens at 1:37 AM PDT on April 23, 2020.

Starry Night Over Clark Dry Lake in Wet Mode

Well, the lake isn't so dry lately due to an abnormally high level of rain in the Anza-Borrego Desert. This is the most water I've ever seen in this area. Normally this is a typical dry lake bed with big cracks in the dirt. I had hoped the water and wind would calm down so I could get some amazing reflections, but both kept moving - except for some very shallow portions of water in the foreground. This is about 117 minutes total exposure time shot at f/4.5 and ISO 1250 with a Canon EOS R and Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens.

Star Trails Over A Canyon In The Anza-Borrego Desert

I shot this in the wee hours of the morning on February 16, 2020 in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. While I've been exploring the Anza-Borrego Desert for many year, this was my first time discovering and exploring this canyon. Anza-Borrego is such a huge park that I'm still discovering "new" locations in it. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 15mm EX DG lens. 191 stacked exposures with a total time of 191 minutes f/2.8 ISO 2000. Mountains illuminated by the rising moon. Timelapse coming later.

Lone Ocotillo, Badlands, and Star Trails

A tall skinny ocotillo with orange blooms stands in front of star trails in a partly-cloudy sky in the badlands of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Foreground illuminated by the moon (out of frame). Wide curves of star trails over some badlands seen from my campsite in the southern part of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park on the night of January 4, 2020. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens at 124 minutes (stacked exposures) f/4 ISO 3200. foreground illuminated by the moon. Shot on January 3, 2020, this is a 48 minute stacked exposure done at f/3.2 ISO 2000 with a Canon EOS R and Sigma 15mm EX DG fisheye lens (I did a partial correction to reduce - but not completely eliminate - the artsy fisheye effect). I had hoped to capture the much hyped Quadrantids meteor shower, but it turned out to be a dud. I shot around 2000 frames and only managed to capture one teeny tiny baby meteor (doo doo doo doo). Still, a never feel like a camping trip in the desert is ever a "waste of time" just because I didn't get the shots I had originally hoped for. The experience of camping in peace, quiet, and solitude under the stars is always nice regardless of what I successfully photograph.

The Stars At Night Are Big And Bright, Deep In The Heart Of The Anza-Borrego Desert.

Wide curves of star trails over some badlands seen from my campsite in the southern part of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park on the night of January 4, 2020. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens at 124 minutes (stacked exposures) f/4 ISO 3200. foreground illuminated by the moon. I had hoped to capture the much hyped Quadrantids meteor shower, but it turned out to be a dud. I shot around 2000 frames and only managed to capture one teeny tiny baby meteor (doo doo doo doo). Still, a never feel like a camping trip in the desert is ever a "waste of time" just because I didn't get the shots I had originally hoped for. The experience of camping in peace, quiet, and solitude under the stars is always nice regardless of what I successfully photograph.

Swell Sparkling Stars Sparkle And Spin Above The Ocotillo.

Some star trails above the desert landscape in the southern part of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. In the foreground are some ocotillo - which are the taller spindly trees (they're NOT cactuses) as well as a shorter stubby & fuzzy cholla cactus. Shot with a Canon EOS R and Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens at f/4 ISO 3200 with a total exposure time about 103 minutes. Foreground illuminated by a 65% moon. I'm VERY pleased with the performance of my new Canon R. In this photo, I had to remove a LOT of very intense airplane trails - especially in the upper two-thirds of the right side of the frame (you may notice a bit of distortion there). I had hoped to capture the much hyped Quadrantids meteor shower, but it turned out to be a dud. I shot around 2000 frames and only managed to capture one teeny tiny baby meteor (doo doo doo doo). Still, a never feel like a camping trip in the desert is ever a "waste of time" just because I didn't get the shots I had originally hoped for. The experience of camping in peace, quiet, and solitude under the stars is always nice regardless of what I successfully photograph.

Camping On the Edge.

Panorama of my campsite at sunset in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for the past couple of nights. Please click to see the full image. Shot with my Canon EOS R and Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens. This panoramic image was made from 18 vertical frames stitched together. Though it's close to the highway, this is a great spot with breathtaking views (as seen on my recent breakfast photos). I'm still looking over my frames again to see if I happened to capture any Quadrantids. I must say that this was one of the most disappointing meteor showers I've ever experienced. Still, a camping trip in the Anza-Borrego Desert is never a disappointing experience, to put it mildly. The weather was quite mild. Unlike some of my recent trips out here, there was no wind at all on Friday night and very little wind on Saturday and Saturday night.

Geminid Meteor Fireball Over The Anza-Borrego Desert.

In the foreground is a cholla cactus - the kind with lots of spikes that seem to jump (actually when blown by the wind) onto your skin and clothing. Because the spines have millions of tiny barbs in them, they are difficult to remove without ripping the skin. It was quite a challenge to capture meteors this past weekend due to the moon still being nearly full and quite bright. This was the best capture I got out of 3058 frames shot at various compositions around this part of the park. With the bright skies, it was a balancing act of using high enough ISO and a large enough aperture to make the meteors bright, but not so bringt that the moonlight washed out the exposures. I shot this at 12:51 AM PST on December 14, 2019 in the southern part of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Canon 6D and Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens at 13 sec f/4 ISO 800.

Rainbow Over Borrego Springs.

Nice rainbow in the Anza-Borrego Desert this morning. In the foreground are some ocotillo and in the background are some snow capped mountains.

Rainbow Over Borrego Springs.

Nice rainbow in the Anza-Borrego Desert this morning. In the foreground are some ocotillo and in the background are some snow capped mountains.

Snow Capped Mountains In the Background and Desert Landscape In the Foreground.

Snow Capped Mountains In the Background and Desert Landscape In the Foreground. This afternoon's view from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The spindly plants in the foreground are ocotillo and are trees - not cacti. After the rain last week, the ocotillo have some nice orange blooms on them. These mountains are to the north.

Snow Capped Mountains In the Background and Desert Landscape In the Foreground.

This afternoon's view from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The spindly plants in the foreground are ocotillo and are trees - not cacti. After the rain last week, the ocotillo have some nice orange blooms on them. These mountains are to the north.

Native American Cave Paintings In the Anza-Borrego Desert Blue Sun Cave

My exploration of these ancient Indian cave paintings in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. These are pictographs and - unlike petroglyphs which are carved - they are painted using pigments and often multicolored. Most notable here is the blue sun. From what I've learned, blue is a rare pigment for this sort of thing. The remote location and shade from the sun have managed to keep these paintings looking good after many years. These cave paintings are believed to be over 2000 years old.

Native American Cave Paintings In the Anza-Borrego Desert Blue Sun Cave

My exploration of these ancient Indian cave paintings in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. These are pictographs and - unlike petroglyphs which are carved - they are painted using pigments and often multicolored. Most notable here is the blue sun. From what I've learned, blue is a rare pigment for this sort of thing. The remote location and shade from the sun have managed to keep these paintings looking good after many years. These cave paintings are believed to be over 2000 years old.

Native American Cave Paintings In the Anza-Borrego Desert Blue Sun Cave

My exploration of these ancient Indian cave paintings in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. These are pictographs and - unlike petroglyphs which are carved - they are painted using pigments and often multicolored. Most notable here is the blue sun. From what I've learned, blue is a rare pigment for this sort of thing. The remote location and shade from the sun have managed to keep these paintings looking good after many years. These cave paintings are believed to be over 2000 years old.

Native American Cave Paintings In the Anza-Borrego Desert Blue Sun Cave

My exploration of these ancient Indian cave paintings in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. These are pictographs and - unlike petroglyphs which are carved - they are painted using pigments and often multicolored. Most notable here is the blue sun. From what I've learned, blue is a rare pigment for this sort of thing. The remote location and shade from the sun have managed to keep these paintings looking good after many years. These cave paintings are believed to be over 2000 years old.