A day at Anza Borrego…

This week has to be the best week for weather here this year as far as I am concerned!  It was around 75 deg. F. and just sunny and warm and wow!!!!

This morning we were on the road by 9:15 for Anza Borrego State Park.  We wanted to show Tom and Cheryl some of the sights out there, and what a day to do it.  First off was a stop at the Borrego Air Field, no, not for me to fly… but we did get to catch a nice tour by Kelly, The Flying Ranger.  She is the only Ranger in the State of California that flies, and what a program she put on for 1 hour.  I had heard of this program from non other than Al from TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH))   He was in on the tour a year or so ago and raved about it.  Ever since I read it in his blog I have wanted to go.

This airport is private, and used mainly by small aircraft, although you could land a medium sized jet here probably in a pinch. 

 

That is Kelly below in the Ranger Uniform, and she ended up having quite a crowd today for her program, and she was quite pleased at the interest.   She gives you a very good overview of the whole program, and all she does… a lot of patrol work from the air!  She flies just about everyday, and logs about 400 + hours a year.  She helps in all situations of search and rescue… patrol for illegal activities, lost people, stuck vehicles, you name it.  She even locates and rounds up people entering the country illegally, as the park borders with Mexico.  She is a Peace Officer, and firearms instructor for the park.  She worked about 9 years on the ground as a Ranger, and then got her Pilot’s Licence and started to fly for the Park.  She has been flying now for 8 years or so.  What a great person she is, and she has an excellent storey!

This is the plane she flies below… it is almost an identical plane to my super cub!  It is set up for her needs, and includes a PA system so she can talk to people on the ground, and she can also track long horned sheep from the air!  She is in full communication with all the Park Rangers on the ground, and can lead them anywhere!

She showed us all the workings of the plane, and did a great job!  The plane only weights 1,300 lbs., and can fly 110 mph at top speed, and only 44 mph at low speed, which is very slow for a plane!  This allows her great flexibility in the air. 

It has a few more dials and buttons than my super cub has… imagine that!

 

This plane can hold two people, and she does take other Rangers up in the air on occasion.

 

If you can imagine, this plane’s covering is made of a fabric material… it is very light.  The plane can stay in the air about 5 1/2 hours, using 10 gallons of fuel an hour.

It has a 4 cylinder motor, with 180 h.p.  Kelly does the oil changes herself!

All of us enjoyed this presentation, and she had great stories of her times in the air!  We enjoyed!

Next we headed up to the visitor’s centre and checked it out.  We also showed Tom and Cheryl the Clark Dry Lakebed where we like to boondock and a few other things…

This was as close as we got to the elusive long horned sheep today, we tried, but the visitor’s centre had the only ones…

The Rangers convinced us to take the Palm Canyon hike out to the Oasis… Judy and I did the hike two years ago and it was great then, and still is!

tom was overcoming the obstacles along the way.

This is an amazing hike and I recommend it to anyone!

Augh… at last the Oasis and Palm Trees… This hike is about 3 miles return trip.

As you get closer to the Oasis, you cross a spring running down the canyon… kind of cool out in the desert!

Just a great cluster of tall Palm Trees at the very end of the trail…

 

Lots of people come out on this hike!

 

There was lots of things we did not get to see, so Tom and Cheryl just have to come back! 

Till tomorrow…