The winter rains made the desert wildflowers very abundant. Our first choice of a place to visit was Anza Borrego, CA. A small amount of research soon showed us that the amount of vehicular traffic in the state park was overwhelming with waits, on the interior roads, of hours. Our next choice for wildflower viewing was on Peridot Mesa, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation east of Globe, AZ.
We arrived in the early pm (the 8th)and returned again the next day before the sun rose. The sides of the low cinder cone hills were blanketed in a various shades of yellow-orange. We drove about 2 miles off the paved road (US70). The primary wildflower was the Mexican Gold Poppy, with a few purple lupines. We returned before sunup the following morning to try and reap the early morning sunlight. It was a beautiful morning wing the sun waking up between two cinder cones. But Alas, the poppies were closed up tight, and did not reopen until about 9am. However, being in their (poppies) present before dawn was very spiritual. With no breeze blowing, one could imagine hearing the poppies beginning to stir with the rising sun. It was indeed a very touching moment.
After leaving the AIR we discovered a unique restaurant in Globe, called, _The Copper Hen_. You can have a regular eggs, potatoes and bacon breakfast, but you will be missing other tasty dishes.