Borrego Springs is one of my favorite getaway locals. It is sort of halfway between Palm Springs and San Diego, and is surrounded by Anza Borrego State Park - California's largest. In spite of that, the town of 3,500 year round residents gets very little traffic and few visitors except for the spring wildflower season. I am here for a few days to see and photograph what might be a nice crescent new moon.
I arrive at the Borrego Springs Motel - a small family owned business that has been enhanced from its 1950's "bones" to include solar power and new furnishings, but intentionally no TV's, wi-fi or telephones. It is a nice no frills home base. When I arrive, Robin, the manager has left a note on the office door letting me know that I am in room #3, and the door lock combo is the last four digits of my phone. I am the only guest, and I won't see Robin until tomorrow.
Not much to do, so I drive around scouting for locations that might be good for viewing the moon setting tonight or tomorrow. Many of the roads are directly east-west and would give a good view to the setting moon, so I sit in the middle of Palm Canyon Drive and consider this, but decide against sitting in the road in the middle of the night.
I also decide against the abandoned camper, because it is just a little creepy and may not set the right tone.
I find a road I have not noticed before which leads to the community landfill, but there is an interesting small sand dune that I consider, but I decide to keep on looking.
Later I go to an area called Rockhouse and think it might be a good location, but tonight the moon is quite low as it gets dark, and there are clouds around that don't help things, but I will try again tomorrow.
On Monday, after meeting Robin for the first time, I go to the park headquarters and discover that it is closed, except for the weekends until later in the season. Oddly, all the restaurants in town stay open all year round so I go to Kendall's coffee shop for a late breakfast and there are only a handful of customers but am comforted to recognize the same waitress that I always see there.
Scouting again, I finally decide on an area that I have visited before
that is close to the main road but on a dirt track that won't get any
traffic. There are some nice ocotillo plants there that might work well
in the foreground of a photo.
Even though it was in the 80's today, an hour
after sunset it is chilly and the wind has come up so the ocotillos are
going to be moving around during any long exposures, but I decide to
try, and end up liking the results.
Tonight I had been focusing on the moon for subject, but once the moon sets, the stars come out quickly and the Milky Way is always a treat to see. Borrego Springs prides itself as a Dark Sky Community, and away from the heart of town, there is very little light pollution.
The sun is setting later this time of year and after a while I call it quits for the night and am back in my room by 9:00, which is a reasonable bedtime here.
