Bow Willow and Rockhouse Canyon Loop
(8 miles, +1,000/-1,000 feet).

On Friday morning I heard a story on KPBS that this year is supposed to be the best wildflower season in Anza-Borrego since the late 1990s.  So that sealed the deal — Barnfinder and Rockit Man and I would head to the desert.

We arrived at the Bow Willow campground at about 7am and started the hike in the broad flat wash of Bow Willow Canyon.

It didn’t take long for us to start finding all kinds of wildflowers.  I used a special website for Anza Borrego flowers to try to identify them.

After about half a mile we turned south and headed up into steep and rocky Lone Palm Canyon.

As we ascended we found more wildflowers clinging to craggy rocks.

We made it to the top of Lone Pine Canyon where it once again flattened out to a wash.

Rockit Man got his trail name at about this point in the hike because he liked naming rocks.

The ocotillos everywhere were full of green and on the verge of blooming.

After a while we hit a gentle saddle and descended into Rockhouse Canyon

Rockhouse Canyon was also full of flowers.

At about the halfway point we neared the rock house after which the canyon was named.

After a nice break we headed up to the saddle separating Rockhouse and Bow Willow canyons.

Clouds started rolling in and making beautiful shadows on the distant hills.

Once we were back down in Bow Willow Canyon, the walk was extremely easy on a super flat wash the rest of the way back.