Dumping for fun, Bighorn sightings, an evening at Fonts Point~~

A necessary part of the boondocking lifestyle, about every 2 weeks for us, is a trip to the dump to do our business and take on fresh water.  We make a fun day out of it by going to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park and for our $7 fee we also get a Day Use Pass.  Afterwards, we drive up to the large parking area at the base of the Palm Canyon Trail where there is plenty of room to park our motorhome, pack a picnic lunch, load up the gear and off we go.  Weekdays are best for taking the rig.

We start up on the green trail, returning on the blue

The Palm Canyon hike is approximately 3 1/2 miles round-trip with a 450' elevation gain as you head to a beautiful palm oasis.  We take the alternate trail up, which runs along the western edge of the canyon and return on the east side, for a more scenic loop. Early mornings seem to be best for Bighorn sheep sightings, and on this day we hit the jackpot.

There is a bit of rock scrambling and a few water crossings along the way, but seeing the Bighorn sheep amid such beautiful scenery was well-worth the price of admission and the short time it took us to put the motorhome in travel mode.

The other afternoon with clouds building in the west we took a run up to Fonts Point hoping to get some good photos as the sun set.  Located 4 miles off S-22, heading east toward the Salton Sea, the drive on mostly compacted sand is passable for most vehicles. Fonts Point is the crown perched atop the Borrego Badlands.  Millions of years of geologic history unfolds in this stark desert landscape and as the sun moves over mud and sand formations there is a light show of extraordinary proportions. We met others there with cameras and tripods waiting for the action.  This is also a great location for full moon watching and in years past we have joined friends and packed snacks, drinks, and chairs up for the party.

We're putting together a plan of sorts for heading out in a week or so for Arizona's Sonoran Desert. There may be a couple of necessary stops beforehand, though. My poor outdated Windows Vista laptop has finally given up any hope of handling the newer graphics programs.  I first had Google's photo editor quit on me and now, after downloading over 800 MB of Adobe Lightroom, being told my operating system was insufficient to handle.  Why, you ask, didn't I know that beforehand (slap up side the head)??  Oh well, it's safe and sound in my Amazon digital library.