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Sunday, May 26, 2019

Bautista Canyon

We took a couple of after-dinner drives up Bautista Canyon to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the chaparral at dusk. As mentioned in a previous post, Bautista Road has been closed for several months at the Bautista Conservation Camp due to heavy damage sustained from winter storms. This eliminated one of our favorite outings, which is taking the bumpy, graded road from Bautista Canyon to Anza [see Bautista Canyon to Palm Springs (2018) for a recap of our adventures]. But it also inspired us to linger longer along the paved section of Bautista Road.

Lush canyon floor


Rocky canyon wall

Because of the late and ongoing rains, the vegetation along the road was lush and filled with flowers. We caught glimpses of Bautista Creek enough to see it still had water. The creek drains the San Jacinto mountains.

Dense chaparral vegetation in evening light

Yucca in full bloom

Spring grasses in various shades

The canyon is typically in the shade at dusk, while the surrounding hills are illuminated with golden evening light. We also experienced the canyon with overcast skies and misty air.

Early evening sunlight

Flowers clinging to the canyon wall

We didn't see any wildlife on either drives, but we did see many birds, and hear the buzz of bees as they worked over favorite flowers like Sugar Bush and Yerba Santa.

Sugar Bush

Blue Bells

Yerba Santa

A drive up Bautista Road is a great way to end a busy day of exploring, and transition to dessert (boysenberry pie with a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream) and great conversation about the day!

Transition to sunset

Evening light over the orange groves in the distance



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