Kilted Desert Trip to Anza Borrego

[Alan H]

Day One: Grapevine Canyon, Sentenac Canyon, San Felipe Creek and STROMATOLITES

Stromatolites are strange forms of mineral deposits laid down by cyanobacteria....sometimes known as blue-green algae. Fossil stromatolites are among the most ancient fossils ever found, some dating back as far as nearly 600 million years. The amateur geologist in me just HAD to go see the stromatolites in San Felipe Creek, once I learned they were there, so off we went to search them out.






Being who I am, I had to get up close and personal with these incredible living fossils from the beginnings of life on this planet. Here I am, just under the bridge over San Felipe Creek, checking them out.





We tried to hike down the creek, but it was too thickly overgrown with brush, so we drove 2 miles down the road to the pull-off at Plum Canyon/Grapevine Canyon and hiked up the wash to find the water. It was full of filamentous green algae (scummy!) but there were birds everywhere and LOTS of stromatolites. We stopped for lunch, there. On the way back out I stopped to take pictures of cactus flowers, for those of you who think the desert is devoid of color and beauty.