Puerto Blanco Drive

 

We drove the Puerto Blanco loop drive today.  It's one way so once you're on it you're committed.  It took us all day.

We started off on the North trailhead of the Senita Basin loop hike which is poorly signed so we got lost twice and turned a one-hour hike into a three hour hike when we turned around and came back the way we came.  

Spot the trail direction signage hidden behind the creosote bushes

Including time for birding, of course.

Cactus Wren

 The hike is named for the senita cactus, which doesn't grow on the trail.  The hike is actually on a network of mining roads throughout the area.

We spotted our first ash-throated flycatcher of the trip here.

  

After the hike was done we drove on to the Dripping Springs trail.  Here the desert was abloom! 

 However the dripping spring was not dripping.

Then we drove for a long time through relatively uninspiring desert.  Once you've seen a hundred thousand saguaros/organ pipe/cholla cactus it does start to wear!   Finally we reached the southern boundary of the park right at the border with Mexico.

But it was worth it when we got to Quitobaquito Spring, located right next to the border wall. 

 This very productive spring was surrounded by trees and was humming with life.

They recently rehabilitated the man-made pond so it's not looking that attractive until the foliage grows back.  Nevertheless less we saw:

The mud turtle, a species which exists only at this spring.

The Quitobaquito pupfish which were thriving in the spring waters. Not very impressive until they mate when the males turn bright blue.

We first became fans of pupfish when we visited California three years ago.  Death Valley is so devoid of foliage there's basically no birds or mammals to be seen, but pupfish survive the intense heat in the springs there.  We even specially drove to visit pupfish penitentiary.  And they are one of the few fish to survive in the increasingly salty Salton Sea.  And every pupfish you meet is a member of an endangered species specific to their particular spring because they are so isolated.

We also enjoyed watching an Anna's hummingbird dip in and out of the running stream.

The drive runs along the border wall for x miles until you get to the border crossing at Lukeville where the loop ends.  Along here is the northernmost reach of the Senita cactus, also known as the old man's cactus (they are common in Mexico).  We saw about ten of them.