At The Backroads

What makes you excited about Fall? A lot of people would probably unanimously say, the magnificent color display from fall foliage as some trees are transformed into colorful hues of gold, orange, yellow and russet.

Lake Cuyamaca, Julian, San Diego County

And I am no different from the majority who loves this yearly cycle, where leaves explodes with colors before they fall to the ground and feed the soil they linger.

Me, Slowly Revealing Myself in Picture

But I have also other reasons for getting excited about fall. As I have mentioned before, there may be a few people who appreciates the stark beauty of a desert, and I am one of those. In as much as I love the lush mountains and the blue ocean, I also adore the desert. Yes, I am one of those desert rats, or desert converts. And for me, fall, is a sign of more frequent visits to desert! Yes! We actually just spent our last weekend from the desert and mountain, a two in one trip.

 Where The Desert And Alpine Forest Meet, Eastern Sierra, Sep 27, 2008

Desert Slopes are Not Barren After All, Lundy Canyon, Sep 28,2008

North Lake, an Alpine Lake in the Eastern Sierra, Sep 27, 2008

Freezing Cold Morning at Mono Lake, Sep 28, 2008

 Mono Lake, Sep 28, 2008

 @ Pothole Dome, overlooking the Tuolomne Meadows and the Evergreen Pine Forest, Yosemite National Park, CA, Sep 28, 2008

I totally love our short weekend trip where we get to marvel with desert wonders and surprises, and enjoy the pristine scenery of the mountains. But our weekend trip was not quite close to San Diego. In San Diego, there are two desert parks close by that I love to visit during the cooler season, from fall to spring.

First, at Joshua Tree National Park, which is bordered by Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

 Joshua Tree

First time I saw Joshua Trees, I was fascinated by its form. Its limbs are outstretched up to the heavens, like in a prayer. The tree was named by the mormon migrants who thought that the outstretched limbs of the tree were like that of a man in supplication, in a prayer. This is one of my favorite tree in the desert, its twisting limbs speak of a lot of character to me. And coincidentally, U2’s Joshua Tree album is also one of my favorites.

Another desert park I look forward to visit more often starting this fall is Anza Borrego Desert Park, which is in Eastern San Diego County.

I love hiking in those corrugated landscapes, slot canyons and windcaves, and be awed by surprises that hidden in these miles of nothingness and thorny vegetation perhaps, you would catch sight of a patch of green fanning their leaves into the air, the Borrego Palms.  

Aside from fall foliage and desert visits, another thing that makes me excited about fall is getting to have more low tides at day light, it means more sea caving, and more walking further out with the sandstone cliffs reflecting on the shore.

Torrey Pines Cliffs Reflected on Shore

These are the many reasons I get excited about the wonderful gifts of fall.

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