Not sure if anyone has said this, but, April is when they turn on the heater. It can get very hot then and most all the wild flowers are gone. My first trip up Sandstone Canyon was in the mid to late sixties. My last trip was in the mid seventies. I'm sure things have changed alot, but the weather hasn't. Bring lots of water, a backpack, a shovel, and a good tire pressure gauge. Don't forget the SHOVEL and water. I would make every effort to see Palm Canyon if it is still open then. I have backpacked deep into the canyon and it is truly a place to see if you can. There is water there but I would filter it for sure. I know that vast area very well (Anza Borrego/Ocotillo Wells) and have many great memories. That is when I got hooked on the desert and learned to respect it as well.

At that time of year the Great Basin is in it's glory. The flowers are doing their thing and the weather can be perfect. Something to remember and maybe another time.


Ken and Family, Mt. Rose HWY, Reno, NV.

While the flowers, if we get any, are gone, it's usually not too hot here in April yet. Upper 80's to mid-90's. Compared to 117 in July, and 100's in May it's not bad! It's actually, along with October, the best weather time. Nights still cool down.

Went to fish Creek yesterday. Wow, has it changed after the heavy rains Sept. 5th! Less sand so more accessible but totally different from the last time we were there in June!

Yes, by April most wildflower blooming is long gone. But, as Spring continues other blooming will occur, such as small cacti and don't forget about the magnificent Ocotillo with it's candle-like red flowers. Like mentioned above, this all depends on the amount of rain received during the winter months. Let this not discourage you as you will enjoy the experience! Beautiful scenery!!!! Mike C.

If you move higher up in elevation you will find more flowers in bloom as spring starts to linger.

Roger that!

I have my reservations for Fri and Sat after Thanksgiving.
I expect Pablito's for dinner Fri night.
As usual, we will go up Coyote Canyon Sat AM through mid afternoon and let the grandchildren play in the creek.
http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=997725

Then, Sat night dinner and later and Carlee's.
15th round of beers is on me, if you last that long.

Slim

I'm ashamed

I promised to give you an update after our vacation, and we completely forgot! But better late than never.... you can find our Anza Borrego pictures here: http://www.ontdek-amerika.nl/amerika/be ... groot.html

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to visit Anza Borrego as extensive as we had planned, due to the vulcanic eruption in Iceland we had to shorten our stay in the USA by five days. Therefore, we have been only one day in Anza Borrego. We loved the trail to the Elephant Knees, the solitude, the 360 degrees view around us..... really great! Fonts Point was great, too. And The Slot is a really fine slotcanyon, we enjoyed it a lot. We tried to go to the Pumpkin Patch, but stupid stupid, we forgot to reset our GPS. So we were trying to find the right place with a US-miles description and a European kilometers - GPS. That doesn't work, of course..... therefore no Pumpkin Patch for us.

On this forum we also asked some questions about Ladder Canyon. We really enjoyed this hike very much, we are now recommending it to other Dutch USa-visitors!
http://www.ontdek-amerika.nl/amerika/be ... groot.html

The highlights of our vacations: the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park and Edmaiers Secret (somewhere between Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona). Here's a link to the pictures of our complete trip: http://www.ontdek-amerika.nl/reisverhal ... 010-1.html

Great pictures, what camera equipment are you using? You sure covered a lot of the west on your trip.

Everyone click on link in the post above ( http://www.ontdek-amerika.nl/reisverhal ... 010-1.html ) - pictures are really good.

Jim

Great pictures. The color is eye popping spectacular. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

Thanks for the compliments, Jim_b and Vulture. Jim, most pictures from our last trip have been made with the Canon 50d. Our lenses are a 10/22, a 24/105 and a 70/200 (all Canon).