The plan for this section of the trip is to head west out of the Coachella Valley through the mountains to San Diego County, a relatively short trip “as the crow flies” but in reality a roller coaster grueling trip up and down across high mountains and deep desert valleys. My education into the rugged country of Southern California continues…
About 30 miles south of Palm Springs we turn directly west off the highway and head across the desert. The flat desert floor by the Salton Sea quickly gives way to a rugged range of hills deeply eroded by rare but torrential desert thunderstorms.
This area is part of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California’s largest state park that at 600,000 acres includes nearly one-fifth of San Diego County. The diversity contained within the park is amazing, ranging from below sea level basins and 8,000 feet mountain peaks. In the early 1770’s the Spanish explored the area and noted springs present in the broad valley at the center of the park. In the next 200 years the route through the area became a major entry point into California. Gold was discovered in the mountains to the west and ranchers began wintering cattle in the desert valleys due to the temperate winter temperatures and presence of water. The town of Borrego Springs was established in the 1920’s, but growth did not really occur until the 1940’s when wells were drilled to bring in a consistent source of water, electricity came to the valley, and the US government established a military training station out on the desert. Today Borrego Springs is a town of around 3,000 people totally surrounded by the state park and a tourist destination for those interested in exploring the desert mountains and canyons. The Borrego Valley is bordered by a stark, jagged mountain range to the west that rises sharply above the valley floor. The dark horizontal line in the distance at the base of the mountains is trees that cluster around the town of Borrego Springs and follow a seasonal creek to the right.
Crossing the desert I note that the landscape is dotted with campers, not in an organized campground but scattered across open spaces. Apparently the only restriction is that one must be within 100 feet of a road (all of which are dirt).
As I have seen all the way across the desert, recent rains have turned the desert green. Turns out that conditions are just right for the development of a “super bloom”, a rare instance when the desert becomes alive with vibrant flowers. I’m a bit early to see it but in the coming weeks nearly 200,000 visitors will descend on this little desert community and overwhelm the limited services that it offers. I’m going to enjoy my time before the deluge! The desert is essentially flat (but very windy) as I approach Borrego Springs.
There is something other than the desert and flowers that draw visitors to Borrego Springs and I am looking forward to seeing it. Over 130 steel metal sculptures, known as “Sky Art”, were created by Ricardo Breceda and are scattered around Borrego Springs. Many are concentrated in an area called Galleta Meadows north of the town center. It’s truly amazing. These behemoths are scattered across the desert floor and one can just drive around them. Unfortunately for me the wind was howling and what you can’t see is the blowing sand that made exploring the area not particularly pleasant. However, I persevered, and here is the result. Enjoy this sample of the amazing collection!
The scale of the sculptures is hard to portray. For example, this elephant in the foreground is about the size of the Lunch Box, the scorpion that follows is larger.
Tending vines in a vineyard.
Incredibly this serpent stretches across the road.
A small sample of the wonders scattered across the desert.
Amazing!
Remember the mountains towering in the background of all those pictures? Turns out that immediately upon leaving Borrego Springs I had to climb them on a steep, narrow, winding road. The views out the back mirror of the valley were spectacular but there were no pullouts or other opportunities to take a picture. Once up and over the first range of mountains the weather also changes rather dramatically. I knew that the winds on the desert floor were just a precursor of a storm moving in but I didn’t realize that I would be in the middle of it. The lush alpine landscape is the result of copious amounts of rain and snow that fell this winter.
And how do I know about that rain and snow? It’s because as I enter the old gold rush village of Julian the mist turns to light snow.
This is very rugged country and the narrow highway twists and turns through canyons as I head towards the San Diego metropolitan area. Finally I emerge from the wilderness onto I-8, the major interstate that crosses the southernmost area of California near the border with Mexico, about 15 miles east of the San Diego suburbs.
In line with my goal of exploring southern California off the main tourist path I reluctantly avoid all of the charms that San Diego offers (and there are many, it’s one of my favorite places to visit) and skirt the northeastern suburbs to alight in Santee at my next stop (and one of the most interesting), the Creation and Earth History Museum.
Creation and Earth History Museum
The Creation and Earth History Museum was founded in 1992 by Dr. Henry Morris and the Institute for Creation Research. The museum was purchased by the owners of Scantibodies laboratory Inc. who established the non-profit Life and Light Foundation with the mission of equipping believers with evidence of the Bible’s accuracy and authority through “scientific research, educational programs, and media presentations, all conducted within a thoroughly biblical framework.” A fascinating experience is about to unfold. The museum is housed in a building in the Scantibodies complex in Santee.
The first series of galleries explain how and what God made in the seven days He took to create the earth and its inhabitants.
Back-lighting made photographing the written material problematic so please be patient! Acts of God and the biblical evidence supporting the acts are explained.
Pamphlets providing a deeper level of detail and “evidence” for individual topics are available throughout the museum.
A detailed explanation about the feasibility of the Noah’s Ark story is presented.
Next a series of galleries provide evidence for the creation doctrine via interpretation of the geologic history of the planet. A significant section uses the results of the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State to explain how a single instance can create geologic evidence similar to that purported to have come from the Great Flood.
The process and allegedly erroneous results of radioactive dating is also explained as inaccurate from the creationist point of view.
The existence of the “Ice Age” is also given a biblical explanation.
The populating of the earth by life is explained with an accompanying map. The different colored arrows denote the movement of each of Noah’s three sons.
The concept of “race” and “religion” are explained.
Finally at the end of this section of the museum a summary of the proposed impact of evolutionary thinking is presented.
The next section of the museum examines in great detail the anatomy of the human body and essentially poses the question in a myriad of ways, “Who created this?”
Definitely a thought-provoking experience!
Next up: North San Diego County
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