I said I had a plan...

I went hiking today... in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  

I'm spending a long weekend with my step-sister and her hubby (thanks! guys) in Julian so we can get some time in hiking in the desert during spring wildflower season. The DesertUSA Bloom-O-Meter is "only" up to 6 so far this year and the bloom seems less spectacular than last year's 8.  (But I didn't get there till the day after it dropped from 8 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.  *sigh*)

I, of course, took *way* too many photos.

Great areas, at least in the north, of the park are now overrun with metal sculpture! I wanted to take one of this guy's smaller brethren home, but he was too big.  :-)

The Beavertail cactus are just barely starting to bloom.

The Desert Lilies are plentiful. This one is nestled among Desert Dandelions.

I managed to spot a few Bigelow's Monkeyflowers. Woohoo!

There was a hill in Little Surprise Canyon that was covered with Ghost Flowers.

And everywhere you looked there were Phacelia!