tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72245568861427171762024-03-18T12:02:59.582-07:00My Own 100 HikesTrail write-ups for my dayhiking since 2010. Most of these were near my home in the San Gabriel Valley. However, I spent Fall 2011 living in Murray, Kentucky, so there's a large collection of hikes from Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (KY and TN), and the drive between LA and KY. I also hike a lot in southern Nevada and southern Utah. Each hike used to be organized by year, but I ran out of pages. I should reorganize, but haven't, yet.SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.comBlogger761125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-62274908231206689152024-03-16T13:41:00.000-07:002024-03-18T10:41:11.833-07:00Ubehebe Crater, Death Valley National Park, CA, March 10, 2024<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3nzV5yowcI-G-vvZslHRs_QRzl2r8SfoSKPd2ofZQiAhROrKqzaFWuXgukxrTaS4_tmIUrWcu-RLj8L0nl0jTwc4HBBYnOUBtw71If_M9fq6hK1PoqDndHrIeKkusZYS2NVOUnPtyswgQS6_i9_FQCTd6DCtbrN6r1P-4pcAwPcfxGlzVYL2p6Gh22U/s2048/ubehebe.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3nzV5yowcI-G-vvZslHRs_QRzl2r8SfoSKPd2ofZQiAhROrKqzaFWuXgukxrTaS4_tmIUrWcu-RLj8L0nl0jTwc4HBBYnOUBtw71If_M9fq6hK1PoqDndHrIeKkusZYS2NVOUnPtyswgQS6_i9_FQCTd6DCtbrN6r1P-4pcAwPcfxGlzVYL2p6Gh22U/s320/ubehebe.jpg"/></a></div>
This was the first day of daylight saving time, but I got up at my "regular" wakeup time, and tried for an early started. Drove off early, with the thought of maybe returning to a less-crowded Lake Manly this morning. But after considering the amount of backtracking on the road this would involved, I elected to head north, to Ubehebe Crater, after first heading down the Beatty Cutoff road towards Badwater. Pulled over and took a shot down the road (see previous post), then turned right and made the very long drive to Ubehebe Crater.
<p>For context, it's about 56 miles from Furnace Creek Visitor Center to Ubehebe Crater, and about 45.5 miles and about an hour driving time from Beatty Junction to the crater. Had we gone to Badwater, first, that would have added another 35 minutes each way.</p>
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<p>The Ubehebe crater is large, about 1/2 mile wide, and 1.5 miles to walk around it. It and its neighbors formed just a few thousand years ago, when magma contacted subsurface water, leading to a series of explosions. In addition to Ubehebe, there are several other, smaller craters to the south, incluidng Little Hebe Crater. That one is obviously smaller, but more clearly defined.</p>
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<p>I elected not to walk to the bottom of the crater. However, on the drive back, I stopped about 1/2 mile from the crater, to walk, explore and snap pictures among one of several dense patches of flowers I saw on the way up. I stepped carefully, either in sandy washes or rocky tops, or on occasional fused tuff, where nothing was growing.</p>
<p>It won't be a "superbloom," but there is a lot of stuff blooming, now. Probably won't last long as the summer heats up, though.</p>
<p>As a BTW, there are no restroom facilities at Ubehebe Crater parking area, but there are flush toilets at the Grapevine ranger station, back on Scotty's Castle Road. Scotty's Castle, itself, remains closed, likely for at least another year.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com085942G6X+2M37.010058 -117.45075737.006631162754822 -117.45504853442382 37.01348483724518 -117.44646546557617tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-71444545946962595252024-03-13T22:30:00.000-07:002024-03-18T10:50:10.557-07:00Lake Manly, Death Valley National Park, March 9, 2024<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijxB9Ql4XQVcZyfaEsl-rgofWgSgcoZ3DALOt4u69Yfm64oyunjX3XTZe8r72cfLFeKHWn5A1X1qYv3sDgHv_DNi7mW0UJOr3A2GZlDVKP3SVU7AJ8vUZHG4yPM12JsFlrSW2pA8plzQgYpPakPIhZG0UUhLrC5KIoKTyOzgQmLQnEEZ4-NgLjzDK3xPw/s4032/20240309_173656.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijxB9Ql4XQVcZyfaEsl-rgofWgSgcoZ3DALOt4u69Yfm64oyunjX3XTZe8r72cfLFeKHWn5A1X1qYv3sDgHv_DNi7mW0UJOr3A2GZlDVKP3SVU7AJ8vUZHG4yPM12JsFlrSW2pA8plzQgYpPakPIhZG0UUhLrC5KIoKTyOzgQmLQnEEZ4-NgLjzDK3xPw/s320/20240309_173656.jpg"/></a></div>
Made it up to Death Valley over the weekend. Drove up on Saturday, March 9. Stopped at Dante's View on the way in, to get a view of the Badwater Basin from above. Then drove around and down to Badwater, itself, to see "Lake Manly" from the water's edge. That's roughly an hour drive, from Dante's View, by the way. Well under three miles of walking for the day, with maybe a mile up to near the "peak" of Dante's View, and 1/2 mile around Badwater. So not an offical hike, by itself. But something worth blogging and seeing.
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<p>"Lake Manly" was one of several names given to the recurring terminal lake at Badwater Basin. During ice age periods, the lake is large and persistent. During more recent periods, it has appeared only rarely, after major water events, such as when the remains of Hurricane/Tropical Storm/Tropical Disturbance Hillary came through. Heavy rains returned in February of this year, expanding the lake and making it a sight to see. So we wished to see it. This'll be the first of three posts I'll make over the next week or so, from that trip.</p>
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<p>From Dante View (no restroom facilities at the top, btw, but a vault toilet down the road about a 1/2 or 3/4 of a mile), I could see an area far below, where Badwater Road appeared to approach very close to the shoreline of Lake Manly. Later, as I drove south on Badwater Road, I could see an alluvial fan that appeared to pour right into the lake, meaning, a steep incline of dry land to the lake, and a possible dry approach to the water's edge. While I ended up parking near Badwater and walking out from there, my walk did confirm that I could have approached from that alluvial fan and reached the water a lot quicker.</p>
<p>It was crowded, but that was to be expected. Still, arriving as late was we did, I was able to park just 150 yards or so from the lot. Vault toilets there.</p>
<p>Kind of a party atmosphere, with many people trying for their instagram moment. You could walk along the narrow outlet from the Badwater Spring, over salty and mostly dry crust. The farther you walked, the more the dry spots thinned, and you'd be walking in toe-deep brine. Because this was normally a salt flat, you could walk hundreds of yards, while still having water only toe deep. Yes, great for a "walking on water" look.
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<p>Depending on where you stopped and how you framed your shot, you could get a bit of privacy and a wide open view over a smooth, glass-like surface, or an isolation shot, or a shot with posing people overlapping, as far as the eye could see.</p>
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<p>The water is evaporating quickly. It was no longer deep enough (about a foot) for reliable kayaking, and the surface area was maybe 1/3 of what it was a month or so previous. But it's still a picturesque mirror for the desert and mountains surrounding the basin. If you just want to get to the water, I'd suggest parking 1/4 mile or so south of the Badwater parking area, just past mile marker 17. That's on the alluvial fan, that allows for a short, dry walk to the water's edge. For "walking on water" shots, maybe walk from the edge a bit further north and east.</p>
<p>The last shot was the next morning, driving down the Beatty Road cutoff. I was considering an early morning visit, but it would have required an addiitonal 1/2 hour of driving to Badwater, then turn around and heading north, towards Ubehebe Crater, which I hadn't been to, yet, and was a priority for me to see, this trip. So figure at least 90 minues later, and over an hour additional driving, for what was already going to be a fair amount of driving. So we elected to turn back towards Ubehebe Crater, forgoing a chance at a morning view of Lake Manly, up close.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Death Valley National Park, 1 Badwater Rd, California 92328, USA36.2302816 -116.76737836.226819787434167 -116.77166953442382 36.233743412565829 -116.76308646557617tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-9631319130325749052024-02-13T19:00:00.000-08:002024-02-14T16:27:49.194-08:00Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, February 12, 2024<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguO_oeVBT4up76yb6ULet0yXAOKvXM8Q7fbTlSvzzivWRNzZdb6GsVrt4OPMcdb0866_7zCGgRgQoncO-XH4H1feMQPBMQ9ms-LiwHPhduoy5wPGHsRNN3_xBPx9dsxnb0-_AGaqbl3hHRXdZy3Uj5X0fGu0KXbn_D8trsyiIJUBW_TjFAeuZJxKFZ29M/s1411/DSC_2948_%281%29%5B1%5D.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguO_oeVBT4up76yb6ULet0yXAOKvXM8Q7fbTlSvzzivWRNzZdb6GsVrt4OPMcdb0866_7zCGgRgQoncO-XH4H1feMQPBMQ9ms-LiwHPhduoy5wPGHsRNN3_xBPx9dsxnb0-_AGaqbl3hHRXdZy3Uj5X0fGu0KXbn_D8trsyiIJUBW_TjFAeuZJxKFZ29M/s320/DSC_2948_%281%29%5B1%5D.jpg"/></a></div>
A variety of factors have kept me off the trail, which has been pretty damn frustrating. Finally managed a little excursion on Monday afternoon, February 12, 2024. Drove out to Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. The recent snows promised the potential of some nice skyline shots.
<p>This has been a <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2015/03/hike-2015013-kenneth-hahn-state-park.html" target="_blank">somewhat regular destination for me,</a> although I don't think I've been there for a few years. Got there early, with time for a little walking before sunset. Probably only did two or 2 1/2 miles, though.</p>
<p>Took plenty of shots. Chatted with an LASD sergeant, for a bit. He was also there enjoying the view. I was just trying to make sure I wasn't going to get locked in there. The sign out front says the park gates are locked at 6pm. About twenty minutes before that, a truck came rolling around the road, announcing "final call" for the gate being locked.</p>
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<p>I took my last shot around 5:48pm, then headed to my car, and drove slowly down the road, reaching the gate with a few minutes to spare.</p>
<p>After I got home, I saw a crescent moon, and wanted to try out one of my telescopes, an Orion XT8 Dobsonian that my wife found at a thrift store a number of years ago. It was getting hard to track objects with it, because it was so sticky when trying to push the tube in any direction. So I bought some new teflon bearings, which I installed over the weekend. The good news is that it's a lot smoother, now, and easier to fine tune the pointing. The bad news is, it's so slippery that it slides up or down in altitude, depending on how heavy the eyepiece I am using. I'm going to have to buy some new magnetic weights to keep the tube balanced.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com04175 Punta Alta Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90008, USA34.0087688 -118.361966934.006990032163031 -118.36411266721191 34.010547567836966 -118.35982113278808tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-10565871564781985952024-01-10T23:00:00.000-08:002024-03-07T14:59:16.693-08:00Joshua Tree National Park, December 31, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwBmITrA1GrUDw2UzOln4Gt5sI7bJMH1jSkTc76wguurtb-d-_7WaEZwaz06DKE95HBRJmlijVV80ZF8LF1wF0wIChSELRooPl06MSdBpbW47XNZfTLEsFoYq6ED88kgaML6WKY7uPidIje7ttazNdly2Bqtu3hz1fWz1mJuIjZzlYiU2-CmrhmSitvA/s807/01%2049%20palms.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="807" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwBmITrA1GrUDw2UzOln4Gt5sI7bJMH1jSkTc76wguurtb-d-_7WaEZwaz06DKE95HBRJmlijVV80ZF8LF1wF0wIChSELRooPl06MSdBpbW47XNZfTLEsFoYq6ED88kgaML6WKY7uPidIje7ttazNdly2Bqtu3hz1fWz1mJuIjZzlYiU2-CmrhmSitvA/s320/01%2049%20palms.jpg"/></a></div>
The last hike I took last year, but my first post of 2024. I got a very late start, partially because I worked the night before, and partially because the main goal of this trip was going to be astrophotography.
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<p>As a result, I wanted a really short hike, so I wouldn't feel too tired to make that night drive back into the park. Since I was planning to stay in Twentynine Palms, the obvious short hike choice was 49 Palms Oasis. It's outside of the main roads of the park, so you don't actually go past an entrance kiosk to get to this one. Instead, to get to the trailhead, you head north off of CA-62 on Canyon Road, which is about two miles west of the Stater Brothers shopping center in Twentynine Palms. At Canyon, there's a VCA animal hospital just east of Canyon, which may serve as a landmark, in addition to a brown NPS sign pointing the way.<p>
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<p>This road is not super smooth, but fine for passenger cars. Just pay attention, especially after a storm, as sand and gravel will wash over the road, potholes may appear, and the edge of the pavement may suddenly shift inward, leaving less than two car-widths of pavement.</p>
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<p>As I approached the parking lot, I saw numerous cars parked on the shoulder of the road, indicating the lot was full, earlier. By the time I got there (near 3pm, as I recall), however, there were several spaces available.</p>
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<p>Although just three miles roundtrip, the trail itself did not feel that crowded, though it still required a few moments of waiting for oncoming hikers and slowdowns until I could pass other hikers.</p>
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<p>The trail is well-defined, so sticking with the trail, if that's your goal, is easy. There's a good climb and descent both coming and going, so it can be a good workout. The more cardio fit will run the trail, both ways. Not me, though.</p>
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<p>The end of the trial is obvious, with several signs indicating you should not be tromping down among the palms, although people do. I heard no running water this trip. Also, probably because of the temperature and the season, I heard no amphibians croaking.</p>
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<p>On my return, it appeared the clouds were building. It was still comfortable, and the lighting was nice for photography. But my hopes for the night were not optimistic. Yet, surprisingly, after dinner and a walk around the motel, I did see Jupiter and numerous stars among holes in the clouds, so I wound up packing my astro gear and heading back out into the park.</p>
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<p>Was considering the Sky's the Limit compound, but the gate was closed and locked. So the next paved parking area I knew of from the North Entrance is White Tanks. That's the trailhead to hike to Arch Rock, and also the California Riding and Hiking trail.</p>
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<p>When I got there, there was one camper van, who were obviously planning to illegally camp in the parking area. But they were pretty dark, and I set up with my car between them and me. Also, during setup, I kept my car's dome light on, to see what I was doing. Didn't need to worry about anyone else's astrophotography or astronomy because no one else was out there doing that.</p>
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<p>I set up my 80mm f/7 Astrotech refractor, which I bought a year ago, June. Paired with a .8x focal reducer, it yields a 448mm focal length, and an f/5.6 focal ratio, which is a fair telephoto length, and pretty fast for the focal length. My "good" camera is a Nikon D780. Used this set up only a few previous times, including when we were <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/01/comet-ztf-from-lake-mead-nra-nv.html" target="_blank">visited by Comet ZTF.</a> Besides that, only one other effort, which was a pretty unsuccessful astrophotography session. So I was really looking forward to giving this set up another try.</p>
<p>I used my Orion Sirius Mount. It's a goto mount, but for this sort of thing, I just tried to visually line it up on Polaris, and used the tracking function only to compensate for the earth's rotation. It's all unguided, and, because I don't know how to stack images, they're just single frames, typically between 30 seconds and 120 seconds, and ISOs of between 800 and 1600. The shots are then uploaded to my phone and processed in Lightroom for mobile. Some shots are cropped and/or rotated.</p>
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<p>My astrophography subjects, in order of posting, were the Flame/Horsehead Nebula complex, in Orion, the Orion Nebula (M42), the Pleiades (M45), and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). From an objective point of view, they're pretty mediocre. But, for me, I'm pleased with the results. Will try taking slightly longer exposures in the future, especially on the Flame/Horsehead Nebula complex. My goal is not necessarily to go much deeper into astrophotography. To get serious would be to go down a rabbit hole of exposures, stacking, and processing techniques, and once it starts getting too much like work, it's no fun. Fortunately, the equipment and software available to the general public, including my dslr, is (figuratively) light years ahead of where it was when I was younger, so I can get reasonable results with only moderate effort, and I can settle for trying to improve on the margins.</p>
SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Fortynine Palms Oasis, Fortynine Palms Canyon Rd, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277, USA34.1191848 -116.112072534.10497319740611 -116.12923863769531 34.133396402593888 -116.09490636230468tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-20076727547289837642023-12-11T23:30:00.000-08:002024-01-19T15:08:32.389-08:00Convict Lake towards Mildred Lake, hiked August 12, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMz8grKIijIv2OLD1-2xP4YvNHSJC18k5ux4dwstkxG6J55k-U17EUfH3jiPz4V_Hv6SKfq-IVzTtCvI7F_vriYfxN-Q6S1Y0IyTxx9-BG5KYc6fEP_MNfKU99DKAZdbY6P8JQH71SjUWqy5KluwBX78_AnT1g8B4r7zm4_2We_OhE028-hTmzo8m8g4/s1085/110%20convict%20far%20side.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1085" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMz8grKIijIv2OLD1-2xP4YvNHSJC18k5ux4dwstkxG6J55k-U17EUfH3jiPz4V_Hv6SKfq-IVzTtCvI7F_vriYfxN-Q6S1Y0IyTxx9-BG5KYc6fEP_MNfKU99DKAZdbY6P8JQH71SjUWqy5KluwBX78_AnT1g8B4r7zm4_2We_OhE028-hTmzo8m8g4/s320/110%20convict%20far%20side.jpg"/></a></div>
Hike from the summer, during my ill-fated Perseid trip. Second day in the Sierra. Convict Lake was a frequent fishing destination, back when I was in high school and before. Never got to hike around the area, so I was pretty sure this was going to be a destination during this trip.
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<p>There's a trail that goes around Convict Lake, and it's not particularly short, at a bit over 2.5 miles, because Convict is a pretty large lake. The other trail heads into the John Muir Wilderness from the far side of the lake.</p>
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<p>Not long after you leave the parking lot near the outlet from Convict, there's this sign on the trailhead. If you click on the picture, you'll see a larger version, but the gist of the matter is that it says the bridge crossing Convict Creek, three miles ahead, is washed out, so plan accordingly.</p>
<p>So I was pretty sure I wasn't going to actually make it to Mildred Lake. I was pretty sure I'd stop at the bridge out, and turnaround. But I was open, depending on how I felt and how high the water was.</p>
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<p>Well, it turns out, it's actually about four miles from the parking at Convict Lake to the bridge crossing, and by the time I got there, I was perfectly willing to call an eight mile out and back hike good enough for a day.</p>
<p>Despite being August and with the trail clear of snow, there were still some snow patches along the way, and their melt kept the water relatively high. But, unlike above Sabrina Lake, the slope of this creek and drainage meant far fewer stagnant pools, and basically no mosquitos. It was a more enjoyable hike, from that perspective, for sure.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, with the faster drainage and dryer soil, there were far fewer wildflowers on this trail than above Sabrina.</p>
<p>The trail was well defined pretty much the entire way, up until just before the turnaround point, where use trails made the true trail less obvious. Still, once I got to the washout, there was no question that this was the place. Only the abutments remained. No sign of the actual bridge.</p>
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<p>I was later informed that this was because it's not like the bridge got washed out this year. It's apparently been out for many years.</p>
<p>At the wash out, a side stream came in from the right, heading into the main stem. The bridge used to be just below that confluence.</p>
<p>The roar of the creeks was quite loud when standing near the water. And because I already knew (from my Alltrails recording) that I had gone four miles, I was ready to turnaround. However, in looking at my still shots, the water seems less powerful than it did in person.</p>
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<p>Crossing would still require taking off my boots and splashing through swift water, but I think if I crossed the tributary, first, then either went further upstream or even crossed just above the confluence, the flow would not have been hazardous to cross. Yes, wet feet, and some time to dry my feet before lacing the boots back on, but not impassalbe, if I was committed. But I wasn't, because I didn't want to tire myself out too much, in the event of astronomy, later that night.</p>
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<p>Spoiler alert -- It clouded out again that night, so I "saved" myself for nothing.</p>
<p>Returned the way I came. Passed only a few people who seemed prepared to continue past the water crossing. Almost everyone was on a day hike, and even then, it was a lot emptier than the trail around the lake.</p>
<p>Haven't been hiking much recently, for a variety of reasons. And not currently sure how many past hikes I still need to blog. So no more than maybe one more hike to post this year. So, Happy Holidays, and see you all in a few weeks!</p>
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<p>Video from the crossing, here. Not sure if I uploaded it right. If not, I'll return tomorrow to fix that.</p>
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SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0H4QM+3P Mammoth Lakes, CA, USA37.5877107 -118.865718837.574107900505531 -118.88288493769531 37.601313499494474 -118.84855266230468tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-76040393529930944692023-11-16T19:30:00.000-08:002023-11-21T08:14:10.261-08:00Valley of Fire State Park, NV -- Fire Wave / Seven Wonders Loop, and Mouse's Tank<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9zxlvAbPn0dUVRfH81-ClqLcDrR2RshZdp4tmouMS6PcgYDFmeI8qjYZOdgr7NnQ7sdKa4xMRuzVgMZYFl9NafYU-Jn6H5VFR_loPwi_e692YfXno5mtHfredzQjF00KGmBINiJza2Fjq3eHa7FH0TRYBNXWWZK8kmw17cd8nwSuxZONgL4S4oakcQg/s1620/firewave%203.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9zxlvAbPn0dUVRfH81-ClqLcDrR2RshZdp4tmouMS6PcgYDFmeI8qjYZOdgr7NnQ7sdKa4xMRuzVgMZYFl9NafYU-Jn6H5VFR_loPwi_e692YfXno5mtHfredzQjF00KGmBINiJza2Fjq3eHa7FH0TRYBNXWWZK8kmw17cd8nwSuxZONgL4S4oakcQg/s320/firewave%203.JPG"/></a></div>
<p>Hiked November 6, 2023. While still having many older hikes that need to be blogged, thought I'd go ahead and put this more recent one up. It's the good season for visiting Valley of Fire, with the summer heat having passed into more temperate circumstances.</p>
<p>I had visited Valley of Fire numerous times previously, most recently in February 2021. Never managed to blog that, though. So I think this is my first hiking blog entry for Valley of Fire State Park.</p>
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<p>It's a little over an hour of driving time from the Las Vegas area. Depending on where in the Las Vegas Valley you're coming from, there may be little difference between heading north on I-15 and taking Exit 75, then heading east to Valley of Fire, or heading through Lake Mead NRA and Northshore Road, then heading west into Valley of Fire. It's faster via I-15 (assuming typical traffic), but the drive through Lake Mead NRA is more scenic, more leisurely, trivially fewer miles, and with vault toilets at several spots along the way. No food that way, however, unless you bring it with you, or possibly if you detour a not insignificant distance to Calville Bay. Also, you'll need to pay a Lake Mead NRA entry fee, unless you already have a pass.</p>
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<p>By contrast, if coming from I-15, you've got the Love's travel center at U.S. 93, and the Indian casino/truck stop at Exit 75, for food, gas, and flush toilets.</p>
<p>Because I already have the park pass, I took the scenic route.</p>
<p>I was slightly surprised to find the entry kiosk to Valley of Fires Tate Park from the east actually staffed. I think on my last visit, you either had to pay at the visitor center or via a self-serve "iron ranger." Entry is $10 for Nevada residents and $15 for non-residents. I don't know if they check IDs or just go by car license plates, but $15 was fine by me, even if I was only going to be there about a half a day.</p>
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<p>Figured I'd hit the "Fire Wave" place, again. This being a Monday, I figured it would be emptier than when I was last here, on a weekend. And it was somewhat emptier, but far from empty in the park. Parking was also still limited, as they now only allowed parking in designated lots; no roadside parking.</p>
<p>The "good" news is that makes it a mile or so walk from Parking Area 3, rather than just a few hundred yards from the road (still not very far, of course), and the longer walk from either side meant you'd spread out the arrivals, hopefully.</p>
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<p>Last time, I was annoyed by a family who just planted themselves near the most scenic area, and let their kids run around the rocks. Made it impossible for anyone to get just regular pictures of the "Fire Wave." This time, there were no "permament" residents, but there was a foursome of hikers that moved with amazingly glacial speed. They spent literally 10-15 minutes walking the 150 or so yards to get out of my shot. By then, I only had a few moments before additional hikers appeared. Still, at least I did get a chance for a few photos of unpopulated sandstone.</p>
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<p>It's not as otherworldly as the actual "Wave" in Arizona, but it is a beautiful spot, and the alternating colors of sandstone stripes make for a nifty shot.</p>
<p>Once at the Fire Wave, you can either retrace your steps back to Parking Area 3, or continue on a loop, cross over the highway, then head up the "Seven Wonders" loop, returning to Parking Area 3 from the other side of the south and west.</p>
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<p>More scenic rocks along this hike, including some that are purple. No idea of the chemical composition it takes to make purple sandstone. The whole loop is about 2.5 miles. On the return, I observed what looked like an unofficial trail that would also take you to Parking Area 4, near the White Domes at the end of Mouse's Tank Road. So if Lot 3 were full, you'd have that as an option to still get to walk to the Fire Wave, though with a somewhat longer trek involved.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the shot above was taken just southwest of Parking Area 3, looking into the Seven Wonders. Looks very Zion-esque.</p>
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<p>Once back at my car, I next drove back down the "Mouse's Tank" road, which starts near the visitor center and deadends north, near the White Domes trailhead. I parked in the picnic area across from the Mouse's Tank parking area, and took the short, roughly 3/4 of a mile out and back trail to Mouse's Tank. The "tank" is a spot of relatively impervious stone that holds water late into the year, and was used by a Paiute renegade named "Mouse" (or "Little Mouse") when he was on the run. The tank, itself, is not a lot to see, by itself.</p>
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<p>The main attraction on this trail is that there are a lot of petroglyphs visible on the walls (generally the walls on the north side of the canyon, or your left, on the way in, and right, on the way out). At least those are the ones I saw. There was one interesting thing on the south side wall, but I'm not sure if it was a petroglyph or just natural weathering. That's the first of the "petroglyph" shot in this post.</p>
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<p>Petroglyphs can be tricky, and their visibility can vary widely depending on which way you're walking and where the sun is. I actually didn't see that many on the way in, but, on my return, as I walked slower and spent more time looking up, I saw a surprisingly large amount. And, as just noted, almost all seemed to be on the north side of the canyon.</p>
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<p>I was especially intrigued by the one panel, with many antlered animals, presumably deer, though, potentially, elk. Obviously, they're pretty scarce within 100 miles of the place, now. But, long enough ago? Yeah, the area would have been wetter and forested, and deer or elk definitely around.</p>
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<p>Alternatively, it's possibly more likely that these were made long after the last ice age, by an artist who traveled a bit and saw or knew of deer and elk from his or her own travels. No idea which version is more likely.</p>
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<p>I returned to my via an alternate route, in a mostly-fruitless search for more petroglyphs. This took me up a short canyon that was immediately north of the one the official trail took. Only one possible petroglypth, though it was deeply etched, so I'm not sure if it was ancient or modern. I did see this pretty nifty rock, though.</p>
<p>All told, about three miles total walking, so just enough to qualify as a day of "hiking" in my blog. Nice way to spend a late fall day.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Fire Wave, Overton, NV 89040, USA36.4886199 -114.527818236.481719653307351 -114.53640126884765 36.495520146692655 -114.51923513115234tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-26371893219405304532023-11-01T20:00:00.002-07:002023-11-02T08:19:10.035-07:00Sabrina Lake Past George Lake, Inyo National Forest -- Hiked August 11, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ecemtR9k4mDA0zFp-t0KFzF7vGU6t0Tmbmy2GadtJrpq7p2ndj1XSZC7OidlxbCoFN9ICuEP6xld8tfrZSDd5AkUwgsxmc9F30M-GD9mQIJAbtqET8_YaK5YvaDOxs6-XJBjzrGYiV2YExaydYUeEYcB38NmEPNq60T_9olvp5S96F6TKrJmbscSczA/s807/01%20sabrina.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="807" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ecemtR9k4mDA0zFp-t0KFzF7vGU6t0Tmbmy2GadtJrpq7p2ndj1XSZC7OidlxbCoFN9ICuEP6xld8tfrZSDd5AkUwgsxmc9F30M-GD9mQIJAbtqET8_YaK5YvaDOxs6-XJBjzrGYiV2YExaydYUeEYcB38NmEPNq60T_9olvp5S96F6TKrJmbscSczA/s320/01%20sabrina.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>One of two hikes I took around the Perseid Meteor shower, back in August. Friends booked the group campground in the White Mountains for meteor and general astronomical viewing. I was happy to join in on the astronomy, but wasn't feeling the need to camp, so I booked a room down in Bishop. Turned out to be a good choice, since there was clouds and rain pretty much every day (except, ironically, for the first night, but even that was only partially astronomically clear).</p>
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<p>It was quite a contrast from recent years. Because 2023 was such a heavy snow year, the snow coverage in Auguest 2023 was still a good deal more than <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2022/06/bishop-pass-inyo-national-forest-ca.html" target="_blank">July 2021</a>, for example. Not to say that it was all that snowy, but it was, at least, not completely dry. Of course, that meant more mosquitos!</p>
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<p>Fourth picture from the top, by the way, if you click on the shot to enlarge it, you'll see a mosquito, top left-center. They were swarming, and you could hardly take a shot without them getting on your hands. <p>
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<p>But that meant lots of greenery, lots of wildflowers, and lots of running water. It was gorgeous.</p>
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<p>I gave some thought to continuing on down into the South Lake drainage, to Tyee Lakes, but the threatening weather deterred me. I didn't want to wind up getting soaked, and there was plenty of thunder and stormy weather around me during this hike. I only got showers on me, however.</p>
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<p>So, at the pass, looking down, and a cross a small patch of snow, and knowing I'd be descending now and need to climb back up that to get home, decided better of it.</p>
<p>This still made a nice walk, far enough to get tired, not too far to get too tired. But it also meant I got back into Bishop as darkness fell, and I lacked the motivation to then head back into the White Mountains for some astronomy. Not that it would have been great seeting, but, in the benefit of hindsight, this was the least cloudy night up there of the three I had to choose from.</p>
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<p>As noted previously, the return only meant sprinkles on me, not a major downpour that I feared. Plenty of time to snap flower photos. Lots of columbine, including some whitish columbine.</p>
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<p>This hike was out of Lake Sabrina, at the western terminus of CA-168, 19.3 miles, and 23 minutes from the Travelodge in Bishop, where I was staying. From Lake Sabrina, there are a couple of backcountry options. The one I took looped over towards Tyee Lakes, over towards South Lake. The other trail heads past Blue Lake. I took that hike, to Dingleberry Lake, the previous year, to near Dingleberry Lake. Oddly enough, I don't think I ever blogged that hike, or at least I can't find my write-up.</p>
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<p>Both trails take off from a bit below the Sabrina dam, on the south side of the creek and lake. About two-thirds of the way along the lake's south side, the trail splits, with the side to Tyee Lakes going up steeply to the left.</p>
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<p>So it was a slow slog up a long climb, but with the blue waters of Lake Sabrina set off against the granite cliffs and patches of snow below. About 800 vertical feet later, you're in the George Lake basin. Relatively level, and often adjacent to running water, and lots of greenery, along with the aforementioned mosquitoes.</p>
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<p>George Lake is the largest of the lakes in the basin, and the last you come across. At that point, the trail begins another steep climb, this time, to the northeast. Looking back the way you came, you seem more steep granite cliffs, now above George Lake, rather than Sabrina.</p>
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<p>Another 800 foot vertical gain puts you at the pass into the Tyee Lakes Basin. Those lakes aren't visible from the pass, however, as they're tucked below the more granite cliffs that you can't see from the pass. At the pass was the pictured patch of ice. The trail would continue in that direction, first at a gentle slope, but then steeply down a creek canyon to Tyee Lakes. Because of the threatening clouds and the big climb it would take to get back if I continued, I turned around here, and made it back to the car with only drizzles catching me. The rain was light enough and intermittent enough that I stopped for plenty more wildflower pictures along the way back.</p>
<p>Don't have the Alltrails recording handy, but it says 6.3 miles roundtrip to George Lake, so probably 9-10 miles roundtrip from Tyee Pass. Plenty enough for me to get tired.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Lake Sabrina Rd, Bishop, CA 93514, USA37.2134527 -118.610696737.20661696356467 -118.61927976884766 37.220288436435325 -118.60211363115235tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-50293909972912196232023-10-18T19:30:00.002-07:002023-10-19T14:39:25.770-07:00Eastern Sierra, October 7 and 8, 2023 -- North Lake, Bishop Pass, McGee Pass, and Rock Creek Canyon<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21tIs4LwRggrYf0JwylVYeGDgA2FS_ILk2rjRlEnyDKcTW2NbWYXhNY51QyVoLTlfaHyEidwfLkm_mGhGQSFE3nYpSzv4LnB6og7q96fAJBJ0f-gx1-VLlEc0LgkSVCmFJYdVL3PFLOun_zFi6G_jngdjtf_QdPCh4lBQ6FzKM4IVQmZjHQ_zg2N0M2E/s1008/aspen%20and%20waterfall.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21tIs4LwRggrYf0JwylVYeGDgA2FS_ILk2rjRlEnyDKcTW2NbWYXhNY51QyVoLTlfaHyEidwfLkm_mGhGQSFE3nYpSzv4LnB6og7q96fAJBJ0f-gx1-VLlEc0LgkSVCmFJYdVL3PFLOun_zFi6G_jngdjtf_QdPCh4lBQ6FzKM4IVQmZjHQ_zg2N0M2E/s320/aspen%20and%20waterfall.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>With the exception of the rabbit brush shot at the end of the post, all of these were taken on Sunday, October 8. By now, these areas are likely well past peak, but probably still scenic.</p>
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<p>Despite many fishing trips in the eastern Sierra when I was younger, from boyhood through until young adulthoold), these are two places I never visited, before. Both had been mentioned prominently in some of the fall folliage websites I had been perusing the past few years, however, so I wanted to visit both. I feared overwhelming crowds at both, however, so I had to choose which to try to hit first.</p>
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<p>Because the websites had mention aspen near the start of the McGree Creek trails, and also mentioned a small lot, and so urged you to "come early," started there. Got there a little later than intended, because I initially left Bishop (my home base for this weekend trip) without tossing my camera bag in the car. Had to turn around and drive back, wasting about 40 minutes.</p>
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<p>From Bishop, I headed north on U.S. 395 for about 30 miles, before turning left on McGree Creek Road. Having never been here, before, I then needed to slow down to figure out what next. There's a lodge right after you turn, and a rather narrow road to the right of the lodge. That's the road you need to follow, heading straight up after the stop sign.</p>
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<p>It's paved but occasionally steep and rough until you get near the campground. Then the pavement ends. Still easily passable by passenger vehicles, but narrow. When I got there, before 9am, there was still plenty of parking. When I left, in mid-afternoon, the parking lot was overflowing, and a lot of people were there for the fall foliage.</p>
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<p>Vault toilets at the trailhead. Then you head upstream. The trail splits at several points, where you can either hug the river or go a bit higher. Because the sun hadn't yet reached the vally floor, I stayed high and headed up. John Muir Wilderness sign maybe a 1/2 mile up. Very picturesque near there, and ever more so on my return, when the sun was hitting the entire canyon, but clouds kept the view up from being too glare-y.</p>
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<p>I continued up until where the map indicated a fairly large lake, but reality indicated was a large marshy meadow with a brook meadering across. Some color on the cliffs across the way. Took a detour on the return to get a face-on view of a waterfall that came down from the left (when heading down-canyon), as seen in the previous shot, and as seen from when closer to the trailhead at the top of this post.</p>
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<p>Returned to my car, ate lunch, then drove to Rock Creek Canyon. Took a scenic route; should have stayed on 395 until Tom's Place, but the way I went (next turn off of 395, south) took me through a picturesque town. Eventually got to actual Rock Creek Road. I think the speed limit is something like 35 or 40mph, but cars wanted to drive much faster. Continued upstream to near the end of the road (not knowing where the colorful aspen would be), wound up parking about 1/2 mile from the end, when the traffic started backing up, walked up to the end of the road, then picked a random short trail to walk. That ended up being a 1/2 mile trail to Eastern Brook Lake.</p>
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<p>As I neared the end of my drive, graupel started falling. That's frozen precipitation that's harder than snow but softer than hail. Because of recent warm temperatures, it didn't stick on the road, but did accumulate a bit off the roads. It continued falling on my short hike to a picturesque lake, which I assume must have at one time been planted with eastern brook trout.</p>
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<p>However, this lake, like I"m sure the others on the longer trail to a chain of additional lakes, was above the aspen line. Just confiers. Having never been up this way, I didn't know. So I walked back down the trail, then down the road. Aspen and willow lined the creek than ran by the parking area and the road back to the parking area. I took plenty of photos.</p>
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<p>Then I drove down to actual Rock Creek Lake. Parked near the start of the road to Rock Creek Lake campground, since I assumed by the sign that only camp parking was allowed down the road. This was not correct, so I ended up walking more than I needed to. Once near the lake, there were more roads and paths to walk adjacent to the lake, some with good aspen color right along the road.</p>
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<p>There was more color along the shoreline. However, being late afternoon by now, the sun was above the lake from were I walked, creating a strong clare off the water, which made photography over the lake difficult. Once I got to the southern end, I took some pictures, including some of a few people fishing near the inlet to Rock Creek Lake. There was the impressive snag, pictured here, near that southern end.</p>
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<p>Then drove back down to Bishop. Long day, with about a six mile hike out and back from McGee Creek, and several shorter walks in the upper Rock Creek area, both around Rock Creek Lake and to Eastern Brook Lake. Were I to return to Rock Creek Canyon, I'd definitely want to walk more along the upper reaches, though not for aspen. For aspen, further down, well below Rock Creek Lake, were several campgrounds along the creek, with lots of aspen stands. For the fall, I'd spend more time down there.</p>
<p>This last photo was from the Division Creek rest area. Rabbit brush was thick in bloom down in Owens Valley. With more time, I would have wandered down there, to try to get some fall blooms in my collection.</p>
<p>A little rushed for such a long drive, but still, got one pretty full day of fall foliage. I also took a few hours on October 7 to hit North Lake and parts of Bishop Canyon. May try to get that posted soon, too. Also still waiting to be blogged are some summer hikes in the Sierra, among others.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0McGee Crk Rd, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546, USA37.5511273 -118.802158237.544322424340109 -118.81074126884765 37.557932175659886 -118.79357513115234tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-77289441539743833432023-10-10T20:00:00.000-07:002023-10-10T20:00:00.139-07:00South Fork Taylor Creek, Kolob Canyons Section, Zion National Park -- Hiked October 29, 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUDMbehni0tArgDOUNdc7Wntmy3PlUtZeJNGBZn3eHMQXiVIDrrhb5saiGmUd8lWbX349eyDkLtbVtIC9qt4hewvT-YsiquIGB-2QGhAGadYuEUF5-Gir8ielLm--pqV1YVs8C1ob7jt-9JwKej7W9wrQBuG_23d-A5jVNH5DYZn7zmx1g0_oiabTBjI/s1134/01%20cover%20south%20fork%20taylor%20creek.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="756" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUDMbehni0tArgDOUNdc7Wntmy3PlUtZeJNGBZn3eHMQXiVIDrrhb5saiGmUd8lWbX349eyDkLtbVtIC9qt4hewvT-YsiquIGB-2QGhAGadYuEUF5-Gir8ielLm--pqV1YVs8C1ob7jt-9JwKej7W9wrQBuG_23d-A5jVNH5DYZn7zmx1g0_oiabTBjI/s320/01%20cover%20south%20fork%20taylor%20creek.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Remember how I keep saying I'm way behind in my blogging? Well, this one is almost a year old. That makes it sort of timely, since it's soon to be fall foliage time in southern Utah, again.</p>
<p>I did this hike a few weeks after I drove up <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2022/11/kolob-terrace-road-october-10-2022.html" target="_blank">above Cedar City, along Kolob Terrace Road</a>. Because of its lower altitude, I assumed (semi-correctly) that the leaves would change later in this section of Zion National Park. The trailhead is just under 30 minutes south of Cedar City.</p>
<p>The NPS list of hikes makes no mention of this as a trailhead, which is odd, considering the size of the parking area. As you head up Kolob Canyon Road, the parking area is just before the big hairpin turn, about 3.4 miles east of I-15.</p>
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<p>Despite many previous trips up this road, I only hiked up this canyon twice, both fairly recently. And that's because it wasn't listed on the dayhike list in the orientation material the NPS provided upon entry. So, the first time up this canyon, I had no idea what to actually expect. But it turns out there's a pretty well-defined trail up this canyon. Yes, it's steep in places. But, until you get near the end, it's just still just a walk.</p>
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<p>Most of the fall color in this canyon is yellow, which provides a nice contrast against the reddish sandstone walls. There are steep walls as you work your way up canyon, that narrow, the further up you go. Eventually, the way forward requires scrambling. At that point, after it becoming apparent that I was nearing the end of a non-technical walk, I turned around. Very roughly, I'd estimate maybe three miles roundtrip.</p>
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<p>Impossible to get lost on this hike, unless you climb out the side of the canyon. I did observe anchor points on several of those canyon walls, so clearly there is (or was) some technical climbing done in this canyon. If people were climbing above me, I'd get nervous hiking below them. But, there were no rock climbers on this or the other time I poked around this canyon, and rather few hikers. That seems odd, considering the size of the parking lot, but I think part of the reason for the size of the parking lot is that it is either overflow or an alternative parking area for folks hiking out of the Lee Pass trailhead, a half-mile further up the road. You'd park here on those times when either snow or rain damage makes the road further up the canyon impassible.</p>
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<p>Used to be there was no entry fee to drive up this section of Zion, but that's not been the case for a while. However, paying in the main canyon would cover your entry here, or vice versa. And, of course, if you have a federal public lands pass, it's free, either way.</p>
<p>Despite this location being lower in altitude than the hills above Cedar City, it can still get cold here. You'll notice some snow on the downed trees in this photo, and perhaps some patches in the first shot of this post, as well.</p>
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<p>Still, the lower altitude does mean fall foliate change comes later here than in Cedar Breaks, though probably earlier than in Zion Canyon. However, there were also some windy days and nights a bit before this trip, so there was less foliage on the trees than if the weather had been more conducive to leaf peeping.</p>
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<p>By the time I got back, it was pretty dark. So I waited for more darkness. Somewehre along the line, I realized I had forgotten the adapter I need to connect my dslr to my ball head tripod. So I resorted to using my cell phone. This is with my Samsung S21, in pro mode. ISO 1600, 30 second exposure, braced against my car antenna to hold the camera still, and using voice activation to trigger the shutter. I also used the free Lightroom for Mobile to process. The Andromeda Galaxy is near the center of the photo. I'm pretty pleased with the result, as I don't usually use my cell phone for night skyscapes.</p>
<p>As always, click on the photos for larger versions of each shot.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0E Kolob Canyon Rd, New Harmony, UT 84757, USA37.455094 -113.184680137.45424230390983 -113.18575298360595 37.455945696090176 -113.18360721639404tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-2970432854796127232023-10-05T20:00:00.007-07:002023-10-06T09:00:59.197-07:00South Rim Trail, Cedar Breaks National Monument, in Daylight, Hiked Sunday, September 15, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEcZkJHZ-HLzMQxO6cuo0JpdYe0FDSOqmkDRKuzZr_ovcIigRJwzGsTdt7khAFzUDI8lFQWpZHZ2Ysz2jIQHDxAu_RqnLB77VgDJpJhP2jzXsGizMCO6VKWVdMq6-OE-vfD2rhCiD6kTL-HHHZpKlUdZgf5wfaebvtrvBns2FWbzVElTFflB3lnA5F6k/s807/01%20bartizan.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="807" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEcZkJHZ-HLzMQxO6cuo0JpdYe0FDSOqmkDRKuzZr_ovcIigRJwzGsTdt7khAFzUDI8lFQWpZHZ2Ysz2jIQHDxAu_RqnLB77VgDJpJhP2jzXsGizMCO6VKWVdMq6-OE-vfD2rhCiD6kTL-HHHZpKlUdZgf5wfaebvtrvBns2FWbzVElTFflB3lnA5F6k/s320/01%20bartizan.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Returned to Cedar Breaks the third weekend in September, to volunteer for the Southwest Astronomy Festival. I set up my 11" SCT at Northview Point on Friday and Saturday nights, then down in Springdale on Sunday, September 15.</p>
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<p>Didn't have time to hike on Friday or Saturday, but I headed back up to Cedar Breaks on Sunday, late-morning. <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2020/01/cedar-breaks-national-monument-ut.html" target="_blank">Most of the times</a> I <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/07/cedar-breaks-national-monument-ut-july.html" target="_blank">hike this trail in the evening</a>, often before my astronomy, or to try to catch a <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/08/south-rim-trail-cedar-breaks-national.html" target="_blank">nightscape with bristlecone pines</a>. Meanwhile, the extension (and renaming) of this trail (South Rim Trail) was completed last year, with the extension of about 1/2 mile, to the Bartizan. There's a modest double arch at the end. However, when I visited in July 2022, it was monsoon season, and the top of the cliff was dangerous slick. When I came in Jul7 2023, I started too late, and it was basically dark by the time I got to the end. So this is the first time in a while that I walked the entire trail in actual daylight.</p>
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<p>The trail is well-defined, and, although there are substantial dropoffs, it's not a dangerous trail, except when the clay near the top of the trail is slick. By contrast, when the clay is dry, it's very grippy, and most dropoffs are not precipitous.</p>
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<p>There are several short detours, none of which I took today. First is the remains of an old cabin (on the left, less than 1/2 mile in). Second is Spectra Point, about one mile from the start. Third is Chessmen Ridge, about two miles from the start. The latter two are on the right, overlooking the amphitheater. But since I've hiked the trail many times, and the only part I hadn't seen in daylight yet was the end, I continued straight for the end. However, for first time visitors, definitely take the detours.</p>
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<p>A small, semi-perennial creek runs just left parts of the trail, and, despite being probably 1/2 mile from pavement for large parts of your hike, you still get a sense of isolation on the trail. You know, unless stupid people are hooting and hollering as they run through the woods, which, unfortunatley, does happen.</p>
<p>The eroded hoodoos are scattered all along the amphitheater. Some have eroded into arches, while others are tall and thin. They're not as colorful or as many spires as at Bryce Canyon, but, especially if you zoom in with a telephoto or binoculars, you can see some really impressive, intricate structures to admire.</p>
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<p>The trees are also eroded, in places. There are, of course, the bristlecone pines that overlook the amphitheater, espcially near Spectra Point. But even the larger conifers can eroded into interesting shapes.</p>
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<p>Overall, this was a pretty uneventful trip, except for the last 100 yards, or so. The trail gets a little narrow and crumbly, there. There's no significant dropoff, but you are walking with a slope running right to left.</p>
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<p>I slipped a little bit, and skinned my knuckles when I used my right hand to keep from falling. Shortly after that, I ran across an older French couple, and managed to communicate that I would like some water, to rinse my scrape. That made me feel a little better, with the reduced chance of getting tetanus.</p>
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<p>[As I look at my knuckles, today (over two weeks later), I see the scab is just about to come off.]</p>
<p>There were some people at the low point of the trail as it crossed over to the Bartizan. They were off to the left, between me and the arch, about ten feet away. A small trickle of water ran through that low point, though I don't think they were drinking that. I think they were just admiring the view and resting up.</p>
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<p>I continued past them, on to what I guess you could consider a small butte, which is the Bartizan. From that side, I saw some hard rock protruding, and eroded areas with no vegetation that I figured I could walk without significantly speeding erosion or trampling potential vegetation. That got me a clearer view of the double arch at the end (the first picture in this post).</p>
<p>Walked a bit on the top, just to see if there was another view of the arch achievable from the other side (there was not). Then returned the way I came.</p>
<p>I passed a lot more people on the way back than I had on the way in. That included the young hollering runners. I think everyone along the 2.75 mile trail heard them.</p>
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<p>This last picture was taken the night before, after the public observing session at Northview Point. I probably just included it to illustrate what I did the day before. It's a cell phone shot, in "pro" mode, 30 second exposure, iso 1600, Samsung S21. Looks like my phone moved a bit during the exposure. Still, not bad for a cell phone.<p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com04730 UT-148, Brian Head, UT 84719, USA37.6130116 -112.837433337.606212354226912 -112.84601636884766 37.619810845773088 -112.82885023115234tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-68335933732039011892023-09-21T19:30:00.001-07:002023-09-21T19:30:00.148-07:00John's Camp, Joshua Tree National Park, CA -- Hiked September 3, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqz4nHFK6igAkT8myHZwXBpjN4PPFCbJr0bX3VYBzkKTnanZSmZgZaHWFH90zOdx8BulETSVKXJyFOClD4NqCTRBmcsaupgJckf3gfOLZ07UZhWs5KmuuZD2ukjackxXVkiaEaRKwzklzHSMtcBHe624HvO3IQU-OhzWroTMDU0z-dMjx75WlHSOtQOY4/s807/01%20wash.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="807" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqz4nHFK6igAkT8myHZwXBpjN4PPFCbJr0bX3VYBzkKTnanZSmZgZaHWFH90zOdx8BulETSVKXJyFOClD4NqCTRBmcsaupgJckf3gfOLZ07UZhWs5KmuuZD2ukjackxXVkiaEaRKwzklzHSMtcBHe624HvO3IQU-OhzWroTMDU0z-dMjx75WlHSOtQOY4/s320/01%20wash.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>I have some astronomy outreach events coming up, so I wanted to get some late-summer practice locating objects with my dob. So the plan was to drive up late, take a short hike, get back to the car, drive out to Ryan Mountain trailhead, set up my telescope as the sky got dark, and locate some objects.</p>
<p>I looked at my Trails Illustrated / National Geographic Society map for Joshua Tree, and noticed a short pair of trails it showed, leading to "John's Camp." Maybe 3-4 miles total, so that seemed like an idea.</p>
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<p>One of the other times I had tried hiking a trail on this map that wasn't mentioned by the NPS was to the <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2015/12/hike-2015096-contact-mine-joshua-tree.html">Contact Mine</a>, just inside the north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. That turned out to be a success, but also easy, since that trail was well-defined, and, a few short years later, now that hike is prominently mentioned in Park hiking lists.</p>
<p>I also used this approach to figure a cross-country route to Samuelson's Rocks, which I hiked a few years ago, but still haven't gotten around to blogging.</p>
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<p>The hike to John's Camp (or Johns Camp; the apostrophe seems to be inconsistent in usage) was shown as starting from either of the first two roadside parking areas, if coming from the east, at Pinto Wye (I'm pretty shure this simply means the "Y" where the road goes one of three ways: Either north, towards Twentynine Palms, south, towards Cottonwood Springs, or west, towards Jumbo Rocks, and eventually, Yucca Valley).</p>
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<p>I picked the first one, just because it was first, and also a little longer, which was fine, since the hike was going to be so short. Amusingly, there was some guy in a faux space suit, having his friend take photos of him among the desert flora. They left by the time I got organized around my car and ready to strike out.</p>
<p>Not much of a trail, here. I assume the goal would be to just head down tot he bottom of the wash, then head left (uphill; I was going to say "upstream," but there's only water in here duirng actual flooding events, I think!).</p>
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<p>I ended up leaving the wash too soon, then taking a cross-country route, over a ridge. Should hae just been more patient, but I was unsure of my route, at the time. The scale of the Trails Illustrated map is too small to determine if you are supposed to go around or over fairly large rises.</p>
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<p>By the time I got over that rise, I was ready to call it a day. I even started walking back, before deciding that the camp must be further upstream. So I continued, staying in the wash. The first indication that I was getting close to something was a rusted can, which had presumably washed down from the camp. The second indication was the large white "tailings" hill, to the right in the fifth picture of this post. I saved that photo in a larger file size, so you when you click on that one, it will be substantially larger than the other photos, and you'll be able to see the white mound.</p>
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<p>I continued past that tailings, because I wasn't sure where the "main" archeological ruins would be. Where the wash split, I first headed to the left, through a narrows (sixth picture), and saw nothing immediately beyond. I then backtracked briefly to the main wash, and headed up that way. It quickly ended in large boulders, which I could work my way around if I wanted to, but seemed an unlikely barrier to need to get to the mine ruins. So I decided the tailing pile was the place to go, and headed back down the wash.</p>
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<p>Evidence of mining was widespread here, but I did not see any mechanical implements or engraved rocks that I had seen in some on-line posts about this location; I don't know if that means they've ben removed, or if I did not find the main camp, or if erosion has significantly changed the remains. I didn't spend that much time wandering around the area, so there may have been more ruins, not too far away.</p>
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<p>I saw some stone walls, some concrete-filled cans, a concrete slab, some unnatural-appearing slabs of rock, and a mine entrance. Not sure what the concrete cans were about; sort of looked like maybe they held up temporary sun shades to work the mine.</p>
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<p>The ruins were not nearly as extensie as at the Contact Mine, nor at <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/03/golden-bee-mine-joshua-tree-national.html" target="_blank">Golden Bee</a> or some of the <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/08/split-rockdesert-queenlucky-boy-vista.html" target="_blank">other mines</a> in Joshua Tree I've visited. But, for what I wanted (a short hike to loosen up after the long drive out here, and before my evening astronomy), it was perfect.</p>
<p>Given my late start, it was already pretty dark by the time I got back to my car. In fact, this required some walking along the road, in the dark. I just step further off the road when I see oncoming traffic.</p>
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<p>This night was just four days after full moon, and three days before Third Quarter. What this means is that the moon rises somewhat after sunset, but well before "mid" night. So, as planned, this meant I'd hae about 90-120 minutes of pretty dark skies to do my locating before a relatively large moon would rise to wash away the dimmer faint fuzzies of the night sky. Ideally, I'd have waited until the next week, but my first major dark sky outreach event of the "summer" was September 15, meaning if I didn't go this weekend and next weekend got clouded out, I'd have no opportunity to practice before the event.</p>
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<p>Although, to be fair, I had done a very brief outreach event back in the spring with my 10" dob. But the sky's completely different five months later, as we're now nearly on the opposite side of the sun, and the things you can see at night are similarly changed.</p>
<p>In any event, my lesson from the short practice session was that, yes, I can find things. But, because of the telescope's design, objects near the horizon place the telescope's eyepiece really low to the ground, so probably not the best for public observing. So I've decided I'll take my C11 on this next outreach event, after all. The collimation (lens and mirror alignment) on the C11 is off and hard for me to get right, but it's not too serious an issue at low magnifications, so if I keep powers low, it'll be fine.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Park Blvd, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277, USA34.0189472 -116.022445734.018724884724548 -116.0227139209015 34.019169515275451 -116.02217747909852tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-83265814153035561452023-09-17T15:07:00.005-07:002023-09-17T15:07:00.146-07:00Fremont Indian State Park, Utah, July 16, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TFfv-b3aAyU_m-gtnAwFuPcWOG_bphOkFy3p6JC2c7WDz7UTA4n6n-Mtq8vM0dW4aJDI2UK1J2JNwxgNeds7X1SmK7mimJpO8mnoHRtozyGswmEuhcf4TTyhVe150KJsrJW6tGe9bVFQkJLAWYngvXORle7hOsuUNBUznaYC2Fe3UL0Ul5xoq-WeXqY/s815/01%20Blanket.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="815" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TFfv-b3aAyU_m-gtnAwFuPcWOG_bphOkFy3p6JC2c7WDz7UTA4n6n-Mtq8vM0dW4aJDI2UK1J2JNwxgNeds7X1SmK7mimJpO8mnoHRtozyGswmEuhcf4TTyhVe150KJsrJW6tGe9bVFQkJLAWYngvXORle7hOsuUNBUznaYC2Fe3UL0Ul5xoq-WeXqY/s320/01%20Blanket.jpg"/></a></div>
<p><a href="https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/fremont-indian/" target="_blank">Fremont Indian State Park</a> is just off of I-70, about 17 miles from where east of where the Interstate starts, at I-15. During construction of I-70, in the 1980s, archeological evidence of ancient habitation was uncovered. Following excavation, the village was large either re-intered, or removed. The petroglyphs (carved in rock) and pictographs (painted on rock), however, remained in the canyons.</p>
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<p>In the case of that first photo, in fact, the painting is so large it is visible even if you are speeding along on I-70.</p>
Some glyphs date relatively recently, to the Paiute who passed through the area in the between 1400 and the late 1800s, while some date back to the Fremont People, roughly a thousand years ago. </p>
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<p>Many large panels are visible in the short, paved trail behind the visitor center. Some are up a bit in height, so binoculars or a telephoto lens is helpful. Indeed, one wonders if there were rocks closer to the cliffs, or if the original artists used ladders of some sort to paint so high.</p>
<p>Photos are also helpful because you can later crop and zoom in to see some sections of the panel in better detail. For example, the third and fourth photos of this post are crops of the second shot.</p>
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<p>The interpretive signs nearby stated that the higher glyphs were written after the lower ones. But it is interesting to know that, by the time the more recent paintings and carvings were made, the oldest were well over 500 years old!</p>
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<p>There are several shortish walks you can take, some more well-defined than others. There are also dirt roads, either travelable by passenger cars, or, in some cases, ATVs. That brings you to more rock art, so if you have the time, you can do some exploring and look for lesser-known displays.</p>
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<p>There are also a few cave or alcove paintings, where a metal fence keeps you out, to protect the art. In one case, where the art is on the interior wall of an alcove, there's a parabolic mirror so you can see the inside wall of that alcove. You could also reach in with your camera and snap some shots, for a clearer photo of the art. Looks like I didn't include any pictures of that, though.<p>
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<p>Finally, there are several areas were you can park along the road and scanned the high cliffs above. Again, a telephoto lens or binoculars are helpful. Can't always find all of the art referenced in the interpretive signs, though.</p>
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<p>The park is pretty small, so unless you plan to take longer walks along ATV trails, you can see all of the major exhibits in a pretty easy day. In that respect, it's not necessary a destination so much as a place to make as a day trip from other areas nearby, or as an extended stop on a longer trip through the area. In my case, it was a long day trip from Cedar City. It's the same trip I looked at <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/07/cedar-breaks-national-monument-ut-july.html" target="_blank">wildflowers</a> and did some <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/08/south-rim-trail-cedar-breaks-national.html" target="_blank">night sky photography</a> in Cedar Breaks National Monument.</p>
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<p>I had started thinking about a visit here as sort of a tie-in to my Mesa Verde trip, which occupied the last five posts of this blog. I also gave it serious thought as a possible destination to view the Annular Solar Exclipse of October 14, 2023. My initial hope was to combine that with a trip to Capital Reef, which I had <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2019/05/cassidy-arch-capitol-reef-national-park.html" target="_blank">only visited, briefly, once before.</a> Of course, like here, Capitol Reef has a lot of roadside rock art.</p>
<p>But then my wife had limited vacation time available, so I thought maybe here, instead.</p>
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<p>In fact, they are planning a "view" event here for the annular eclipse. But, by July, I had already made a commitment to the Night Sky Festival, and Joshua Tree National Park. Still, thought my wife might like to join in on a rock art hunt.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com03820 Clear Creek Canyon Rd, Sevier, UT 84766, USA38.5775656 -112.33495138.570855107497096 -112.34353406884766 38.584276092502904 -112.32636793115235tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-32913459782329885962023-09-13T20:00:00.004-07:002023-09-14T13:19:37.002-07:00Mesa Verde to Navajo National Monument, Arizona, July 3, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqFlycs-peTa0QWYeBZOjmjECVJikujGACDlVGn0kacUOoc3YyMCpjjfJDyueHp55voPwEXDr9A191VgHIx2cApQGd45Nlx9Oblk3M6lfbIRtR5lXlFdPyS2zZlL93HuxjGPkYAcwWIUx2aUPySDNgbo_S-NEp14WuW8MVDDWHML8yIYA3Cjsvb48-JI/s1134/002%20Shiprock%20AZ%20wide.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqFlycs-peTa0QWYeBZOjmjECVJikujGACDlVGn0kacUOoc3YyMCpjjfJDyueHp55voPwEXDr9A191VgHIx2cApQGd45Nlx9Oblk3M6lfbIRtR5lXlFdPyS2zZlL93HuxjGPkYAcwWIUx2aUPySDNgbo_S-NEp14WuW8MVDDWHML8yIYA3Cjsvb48-JI/s320/002%20Shiprock%20AZ%20wide.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Mesa Verde National Park is in southwestern Colorado, not very close to any Interstate highways. But it's a relatively manageable two day drive from southern California to get there early enough for the 3pm tour of Cliff Palace. It would have been an easy two day drive, but construction in the Virgin River Gorge makes that drive unpredictable.</p>
<p>The return would also take two days. The first day was going to go all the way to the Las Vegas area. But, along the way, was <a href="https://www.nps.gov/nava/index.htm" target="_blank">Navajo National Monument</a>.</p>
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<p>From Cortez, we took U.S. 160 east. As we reached the far southwestern bit of Colorado, we could again see Shiprock, in New Mexico, off to the south. We probably got no closer than 25 miles away. I just pulled to the shoulder, walked across the highway, and snapped some shots. The first shot was relatively wide; the second, a long telephoto. This was probably about 12 miles from Four Corners.</p>
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<p>We continued west, past Kayenta, and on to AZ 564. About 9 miles north on 564 takes you to Navajo National Monument.</p>
<p>From the visitor center, the main trails head right out the back. That's because this park, like many with archeological artifacts, is a sunrise to sunset park.
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<p>The short, 1.3 mile roundtrip trail to the overlook for the Betatakin ruins is paved or on wood planks, so it's semi-accessible. Probably too steep in parts to qualify as handicapped accessible, but pretty easy, with just a slight descent to the overlook. In the morning, the alcove with the dwellings is at least partially in shade. A telephoto lens or binoculars are highly recommended</p>
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<p>Getting closer requires a guided tour with NPS personnel, but you'd have to get there at 7am, which would be really hard unless you're staying right there, so the tours generally do not fill.</p>
<p>There's a separate, overnight tour to a different ruin, Keet Seel. Obviously, I did neither tour.</p>
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<p>Instead, once back near the visitor center, I headed down the Aspen trail. It's reported as .8 mile roundtrip, but with a 300 foot descent in that short distance. The trail is NOT paved, but with steps in sections. At the end is a pretty overlook into the canyon that contained Betatakin. And right below you is a relict forest of aspen and Douglas fir, a remnant of when the area had a cooler and wetter climate.</p>
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<p>After completing the hike, I changed clothes behind my car (took off my long pants and shirt I wear for sun protection when I'm hiking, and put on shorts and a t-shirt for driving). I drove off, not noticing that my cell phone was sitting on my hood. My Prius hood slopes such that you can't see the top from the driver's seat. Phone flew off at about 55mph as I headed down 564. The phone, a Samsung S21, somehow managed to survive, so I was able to photograph the Navajo Taco I ate in Cameron Trading Post, an hour and a half later.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0MFJ8+VJ Shonto, AZ, USA36.6821867 -110.533447336.627128053233271 -110.60211185078126 36.737245346766734 -110.46478274921876tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-49157248237309223762023-09-09T11:00:00.031-07:002023-09-09T11:00:00.138-07:00Mesa Verde, Besides the Petroglyphs and the Cliff Dwellings, July 2-3, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp73CH0cu6WZYRLz9jv9CML--dVwQmRvXm50mYDXi8uXV1RZG1fBKF5zdEHT_D4p0DlJiUMkANwy5KDlPSrE_f0m_bjGxk5Xvc8ZpdkL_Na9Jxra4_bESTj1upL4okV5IESKTCcp93RyrHnm4y7rvdHJRJC56zlbkFzpyfZMHPi-hBKdAesKegBp9tXzQ/s1008/01%20Point%20Lookout%20from%20vc.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp73CH0cu6WZYRLz9jv9CML--dVwQmRvXm50mYDXi8uXV1RZG1fBKF5zdEHT_D4p0DlJiUMkANwy5KDlPSrE_f0m_bjGxk5Xvc8ZpdkL_Na9Jxra4_bESTj1upL4okV5IESKTCcp93RyrHnm4y7rvdHJRJC56zlbkFzpyfZMHPi-hBKdAesKegBp9tXzQ/s320/01%20Point%20Lookout%20from%20vc.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>This is a non-exhaustive collection of photos, other than those I took on the <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/08/petroglyph-point-mesa-verde-national.html" target="_blank">Petroglyph Point hike</a>, and on the <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/08/balcony-house-and-soda-canyon-mesa.html" target="_blank">Balcony House</a> and <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/09/cliff-palace-mesa-verde-national-park.html" target="_blank">Cliff Palace</a> Tours. There are still lots of photos I'm not posting, and a good chunk of the park we didn't visit. In particular, Wetherill Mesa is closed due to road construction this year, and I did not hike the trails around the campground.</p>
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<p>That first shot up there was the view from behind the visitor center, at the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. One place to get info, although the inside can be crowded at opening time. The little walk around the visitor center was basically just me, though. Nice view of Lookout Point, a very prominent sight.</p>
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<p>The second shot was of Shiprock, New Mexico, from atop Park Point, the highest spot in Mesa Verde National Park. That's a short 1/3 of a mile or so up a paved walkway, to a fire lookout. Shiprock, a volcanic plug, is about 45 miles away from Park Point. One of these days, I'd like to see it much closer. </p>
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<p>The next five shots are from around the Far View Complex. Numerous dwellings, farm areas, and reservoirs from over a 300 year period preceding the cliff dwelling phase.</p>
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<p>The Far View complex is a bit past the modern Far View Lodge, the only in-park motel, with accompanying restaurants and gift shops. Never stopped there, but I later learned it's not terribly expensive, and would save a bit of driving versus staying in Cortez, CO. But I have a bucketload of Wyndham Rewards points, so my wife and I stayed in the Days Inn in Cortez. It's only 14 minutes from there to the park entrance, but 45 minutes from there to the Far View Lodge. So you'd save about 90 minutes of driving a day if you stayed in the park's inn, but you'd have more limited food options.</p>
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<p>At any rate, the turnout for Far View Complex (the ruins) was not super-well signed. It showed there was a road coming in, but I don't recall if a sign actually told you what that road was for, so I seem to recall blowing by it and having to make a U-turn to get to Far View. Short road, that ends in a small loop, with room for only a handful of cars around the tiny loop.</p>
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<p>If you park there, Far View ruin is right there. A trail from there heads north, past a small tower, the remains of an ancient reservoir, and then Megalith House, which has a sort of metal barn built over the excavation site (it's a pit house, that mostly went below ground, for "free" insulation).</p>
<p>Another trail loops from there to Coyote Village, to the south. I took a less-than direct route there. Still, all told, maybe 1/2 mile of walking to visit all parts of the Far View Complex.</p>
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<p>Finally, on the Mesa Top Loop, along with the stuff around Spruce Tree House, Balcony House, and Cliff Palace, there are numerous other overviews of various near and distant cliff dwellings. The most of impressive, to me, was Square House. And that's just because you can't see it from the road, but a short, paved walk takes you out, and, all of a sudden, you're practically right above Square House. I think it's the closest you can get to any of the cliff dwellings on Chapin Mesa (Chapin Mesa and Wetherill Mesa being the two main mesas of Mesa Verde with cliff dwellings in the alcoves beneath the rim). </p>
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<p>So this and the previous two posts were from the recent Fourth of July weekend. But that's not all! One more post upcoming from that weekend, for Navajo National Monument, in northern Arizona. Then I'll still have Fremont Indian State Park, plus, for August, several hikes in the eastern Sierra, and Black Mountain in Sloan Canyon NCA in NV, and, for September, at least one hike in Joshua Tree National Park. Won't be able to get all those posted before I hope to have a few more hikes to blog about.SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Park Point Overlook Trail, Mancos, CO 81328, USA37.2802566 -108.461956137.252937238350889 -108.49628837539062 37.307575961649114 -108.42762382460937tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-74473909236232029732023-09-04T15:25:00.002-07:002024-02-15T15:07:01.881-08:00Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO, July 2, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-sq5MCDJ4QOKgvV-vKI1xZA9TPaa1wPPnlZmWYRz1H2oqwMP8Xrx9rHbf1SvsIyW9DBYNTQKCIn1eQ_HDGt07yH8hv4AZXpKHSYrAQ7FGnNmn64HZsWZLRkG_pBM7s5a-LizO9JINpFdFPJloMOpEuzY5f-mlmoFJ_Vm2jFBbvFuqUyKgLarWCSicyI/s1134/01%20view%20from%20the%20top.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-sq5MCDJ4QOKgvV-vKI1xZA9TPaa1wPPnlZmWYRz1H2oqwMP8Xrx9rHbf1SvsIyW9DBYNTQKCIn1eQ_HDGt07yH8hv4AZXpKHSYrAQ7FGnNmn64HZsWZLRkG_pBM7s5a-LizO9JINpFdFPJloMOpEuzY5f-mlmoFJ_Vm2jFBbvFuqUyKgLarWCSicyI/s320/01%20view%20from%20the%20top.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Similar to my last post, this little walk also required an $8 tour ticket, which meant logging in to recreation.gov at 7am MDT, two weeks before the hike date, and trying to snag my slots. Actually succeeded the first time, as opposed to Balcony House, where I originally could only get one slot and had to keep reloading, before eventually lucking into a second slot in the same tour time.</p>
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<p>As noted in the previous post, tickets were hard to come by, in part, because the target date was over the Fourth of July weekend. This was also early season, and tours of these ruins were unavailable the previous year, due to construction on the mesa. As a result, there may have been some serious pent up demand. In checking on recreation.gov recently, getting slots in the next two weeks would have been pretty easy, especially if you avoided a Saturday.</p>
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<p>Unlike Balcony House, you can actually see Cliff Palace from the start of this hike. You can see the earlier tours down there, and clearly see how far down you need to go. Also unlike Balcony House, there is no crawling involved, and far fewer stairs and ladders. The latter, especially, means less exposure (less of a chance of a serious fall), but also means that claustrophobia and acrophobia should be less of an issue. However, there is more walking among narrow gaps, which means a slower walker or climber in front of you will slow the whole group down. So practice patience, and if your schedule won't allow a few extra minutes going up or down, then don't go on that tour.</p>
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<p>Our ranger walked us down into an alcove, then described the site largely from within the shade of an alcove. It was hot in July, but not super hot, on account of the altitude. It's mostly 6500-7500 feet among the cliff ruins.</p>
<p>Cliff Palace is significantly larger and taller than Balcony House, and better preserved. However, we weren't allowed to go deep into the ruin; we just stayed on the front end.</p>
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<p>After speaking for several minutes in the alcove, the group was directed over to the far side of the ruin. I took a number of pictures along the way.</p>
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<p>Once at the far end, and partially shaded by some pine trees, you could see several of the large kivas, and we learned more about how those worked, and why they were there. Took some pictures during the talk, and some after we dispersed.</p>
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<p>Then, exit time. The way out obviously required about as much altitude gain as we had lost on the way in. So it's non-trivial climb, at a moderately high altitude. And, as with the way in, the walk way out was generally going to be singled file, along narrow rocky steps.</p>
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<p>One neat thing is that you could see some tiny footholds chistled out of the rock, adjacent to the larger, modern steps. That's how the original inhabitants came and went. Kind of made you wonder how often they fell on the way into and out of their cliff-side homes.</p>
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<p>Once back at the top, your car is still on a one-way loop. Near the end of the loop is the start of the hike to Balcony House, so if you're planning to do both tours during your stay, you'll know where both begin. Helpful to keep that in mind, that when you drive out there, Balcony House is at the end of the loop, so allow sufficient time to drive the full loop. You don't want to be late for your tour!</p>
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<p>At the end of your loop, you're back near Spruce Tree House, again. So, again, that's your place for flush restrooms, food, drinks, and gifts.</p>
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<p>Distance is again given as 1/4 of a mile. It's probably a bit more than that, but not particularly long. Not too strenuous, although the return climb may slow you down, because it's uphill. If you think you're going to be slow, you can check with the ranger about starting up earlier or later. ALternatively, if you're fast, don't plan to rush through the tour and walk up too early, because then you'll catch up to the stragglers from the previous tour, who waited until everyone else was gone before heading up.</p>
<p>Because it's so narrow, no one can pass you if you need to rest on the way up. By contrast, there are several wider spots on the return up and down to Balcony House, so if you need to rest, you can stand aside and let others pass.</p>
<p>In that respect, although Balcony House is considered more strenuous, other than the crawl and the length of the first ladder up, I don't think it's tougher than Cliff Palace, and friendlier for people who might need to rest on the way back up.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com05G8G+QG Mesa Verde National Park, CO, USA37.1668786 -108.473730737.166451119763956 -108.47426714180298 37.167306080236038 -108.47319425819703tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-2719036138947653412023-08-31T20:00:00.004-07:002024-02-15T14:59:34.176-08:00Balcony House and Soda Canyon, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado -- Hiked July 3, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkQTdlkOB3FNiuoDHn-fTpde0jCSrQl23MQusve0gQ1T8DJwrc0rRK5jjNwAU-RFka6BIAjK-sJ8JU_UEQWH8rIBAzEcv-DDuh0s_swWYr2FaVD3Sr20yCYSXCqh9ZVT9D2mTDlFKQdTxWufa8O6Kt8P_06fgT6Kt0cT0Nh6mXoDvKfrxJmjSm-wgnU/s807/01%20balcony%20house%20down.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="807" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkQTdlkOB3FNiuoDHn-fTpde0jCSrQl23MQusve0gQ1T8DJwrc0rRK5jjNwAU-RFka6BIAjK-sJ8JU_UEQWH8rIBAzEcv-DDuh0s_swWYr2FaVD3Sr20yCYSXCqh9ZVT9D2mTDlFKQdTxWufa8O6Kt8P_06fgT6Kt0cT0Nh6mXoDvKfrxJmjSm-wgnU/s320/01%20balcony%20house%20down.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>One of several hikes I took over the Fourth of July weekend, this post covers both the Balcony House tour and the Soda Canyon overlook hike, which lets you see Balcony House from across the canyon. The former has a distance given of 1/4 of a mile, though it feels a bit longer than that. The latter has a given distance of 1.2 miles roundtrip, though it also seems perhaps a bit longer.</p>
<p>As always, clicking on the pictures gives you a larger version of the image. Most are still reduced in size for faster uploading, but the last picture is a slightly larger file, just to give you a big enough view to see some of the details.</p>
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<p>Mesa Verde is obviously known for its ancient (ca. 1300) cliff dwellings, although there are older (ca. 1100-1300) archeological sites on the mesa tops, as well. Most of the cliff dwellings can only be seen up close via a National Park Service tour. Tickets are currently $8 each, and can be reserved up to two weeks in advance.</p>
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<p>Practically-speaking, early summer, and, especially on a holiday weekend, they will sell out within minutes of when they go on sale, at 7am Mountain Time, two weeks before the tour date. So I made sure to be on line and ready, with a recreation.gov account, promptly at sale time, two weeks before this tour, and before the Cliff Palace tour I also wanted to be on.</p>
<p>You need to select your desired tour location and time and number of tickets, then place it in your "cart." Then you have fifteen minutes to complete your purchase. If you don't, the slots are released back into the pool, and someone else can try to get them. This means that, again, in my experience, within five minutes of 7am, all but the occasional single slot is in someone's cart. However, since I suspect several people in groups will simultaneously log on and try to save spots for various times, and after someone secures the first or best times for the group for purchase, the remaining saved spots are left in the cart and returned to the pool, so spots will start returning (BRIEFLY!) to the pool by about 7:16am. Here, they were again snapped up promptly. Many times, I'd see a good time, try to put them in my cart, but then be told they were no longer available. Someone had beaten me to it.</p>
<p>So start checking a few weeks or days before your desired time goes on sale, just to get an idea of demand, and how quickly they are going. And if they're going instantaneously, don't dally on your login day!</p>
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<p>Additionally, as people's travel plans change, some slots will continued to be returned to the pool as people cancel their reservations for a partial refund. Again, if you find some, don't dally. Also, single slots are more common than large groups, so if it's just a few of you, you might wish to take the single slot when you can, and return later to try to find additional singles at the same or adjacent times. Additionally, some rangers may let you join your friends on an earlier tour if you have tickets for a later one. It partially depends on if there are no shows.</p>
<p>[Note as I check today for slots into September, I find lots of slots available for most days, so apparently it's less of an issue in late summer. Also, the dwelling tours for the ruins on Chapin Mesa (which includes Balcony House and Cliff Palace) were not available last year due to road construction, so there may have been pent up demand, earlier in the season.]</p>
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<p>Tours start at the top of the cliff above Balcony House. You can't actually see Balcony House from there, of course; the cliff is in the way! You walk a bit on a paved path, then come to a gate, which the ranger will have to open. Then there's a hell of a lot of metal steps down, to another paved walk way. That brings you to a tall, 30-40 foot tall wooden ladder.</p>
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<p>The ladder takes you to a beautiful "patio," with the cliff dwellings on one side and the canyon on the other. There's a four foot tall wall separating you from the cliff.</p>
<p>On the "left" side of the patio is a wall with windows, where you can see where the second landing area will be. After hearing the ranger describe what's on your side, you'll go up a short ladder, along some rocky steps, and through to that other dwelling area. Large kivas are on that side.</p>
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<p>More information there, then the exit. This entails a little scuttle along some rocks, then crawling along a passage between a pair of walls. The description of it being a passage, 18-inches wide and 12-20 feet long is not literal, since you can stand at least partially up as you go between the two walls.</p>
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<p>You exit on to another "patio," a fair-sized flat area. Only way out from there is a ladder, so you'll have to do some climbing, again. At the top of that first ladder, you then scuttle along some steps, carved into the rock. There's a secured chain to keep you from accidentally plummeting to your death.</p>
<p>From this perspective, you'll see a narrow wall constructed between the cliff and a large boulder. The residents used existing "walls," where practical.</p>
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<p>Next, there's another significant ladder, followed by more trail, either paved or over rock. Then, another gate. Another ranger will be there to let you out.</p>
<p>There's a <a href="https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm%3Fid%3D17367558-1DD8-B71B-0B739F758EB9BB06" target="_blank">fun little video</a> of this tour, here.</p>
<p>It's not really "Indiana Jones," but it's definitely not just a walk. Lots of ladder rungs, stone stairs, and sopme crawling, all at a fair altitude. Obviously, if you have an issue with heights or confined spaces or crawling, or do poorly at higher altitudes, this tour is not for you.</p>
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<p>Balcony House is well-preserved, but not as large or well-preserved as "Cliff Palace," the other nearby cliff dwelling where tours are possible. Currently, "Spruce Tree House" cannot be visited, due to the danger of rockfalls.</p>
<p>After walking along the top walkway back to our car, we continued along the Mesa Top Ruins Road to the Soda Canyon trailhead. As previously-noted, it's a reported 1.2 mile out and back hike to an overlook, where you can see the Balcony House ruins face-on. If you click on that last photo in the post, you'll see the ascending ladder below and to the right of the ruins, and the final exit ladder up and to the left of the ruins, on the other side of that big, partially-separated rock slab.</p>
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<p>Returning to the loop road, a short drive takes you back to the Spruce Tree House area. The trailhead for the Spruce Canyon and <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/08/petroglyph-point-mesa-verde-national.html" target="_blank">Petroglyph Point</a> trails is here, as are a museum, flush toilets, gift shops, and a cafe.</p>
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<p>The Navajo tacos in the cafe are far from authentic, but good enough for a hungry version of me. But if you're expecting actual fry bread, prepare to be disappointed!</p>
<p>There are numerous other overlooks to other cliff and mesa top dwellings on this branch of the loop, which you will likely want to visit, either coming on going. The Square House Ruin, in particular, was neat, because when you finally do see it, it's closer than the other cliff dwellings you can see from the cliff top, and you don't see it until you're at the overlook, so it's a pleasant sort of startling.<p>
<p>From the Fourth of July weekend trip, I still need to blog the Cliff Palace tour, some of the mesa top ruins and other short hikes, and Navajo National Monument.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330, USA37.1615626 -108.46466974.7896871722042533 -143.62091970000003 69.533438027795754 -73.308419699999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-16054431417809188102023-08-14T17:00:00.002-07:002023-08-16T12:29:29.293-07:00Petroglyph Point, Mesa Verde National Park, CO, July 3, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyihXAcj-Ziax6NQvpPSUwwmwBIQdvT9dC8mH59iV4VlUEtODIauFVJlmr_KGnMjwlz2Z5MwSb2cqI2sQfHkw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
About a 2.2 mile loop that starts and ends at the Spruce House overlook. One of several hikes I took while in Mesa Verde. I did this one on the morning of the third, before doing the Balcony House tour.
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<p>This is a loop, which could be walked either clockwise or counter-clockwise. The NPS suggests counter-clockwise. If doing it that way, you start off from near the archeology museum/park offices and head down, towards Spruce Tree House, then turn right. In the past, a trail ran from here up to Spruce Tree House, but that trail has been closed for about a decade, <a href="https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/mesa-verde-national-park-prefers-to-stabilize-and-reopen-spruce-tree-house-cliff-dwelling/" target="_blank">due to the threat of a massive rock fall on to Spruce Tree House.</a></p>
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<p>From there, the trail runs along the west wall of Spurce Canyon. (A separate trail runs along the canyon bottom). You are treated to impressive vews down the canyon, but have no view of Spruce Tree House from down this trail.</p>
<p>Parts of the trail are quite narrow. You pass at least one small stone structure, likely for grain storage, along the way.</p>
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<p>I passed several hikers along the way, but it was pretty empty for most of the way. It's always surprising how, no matter how many people are at the start of a trail, it usually thins out pretty quickly once you get away (<a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2019/05/delicate-arch-arches-national-park.html" target="_blank">Delicate Arch in Arches National Park was an exception to that</a>, of course!).
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<p>The funny part is, I almost blew right by the petroglyphs. There was a gathering of people, who seemed to be just resting in the shade. So I had to keep my eyes on the path, to avoid stepping on people or slipping as I picked my way between the rocks.</p>
<p>I got to the other side of these peole and came across a sign saying, "Museum," and an arrow. "Well, that doesn't make any sense," I thought to myself. Then I looked back and saw the petroglyphs.<\p>
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<p>Took many pictures, and some video (the voices on the video, talking about a selfie? I volunteered to take their shot. Hopefully, it came out good!</p>
<p>Then, as previously noted, right after the petroglyphs is a sign for the museum, meaning you're already sort of on the backstretch of your hike. There's a single bit of class two or class three (not too hard to scramble up, but would potentially be tricky to scramble down, since your feet have no eyes).</p>
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<p>After that, it's mostly level, and largely exposed to the sun. You're walking on the mesa top. No views of Spruce House, again, because of the sandstone cliffs, but some views of the canyon, before passing through short forests and occasional patches of grass. Then you cross over the top of the canyon, where a small check dam creates a flat crossing, and you're back on the other side of the canyon. You can again see Spruce Tree House. Then you're done.</p>
<p>In addition to the museum at the top, across the parking lot is a cafe and flush toilets. Good place to get lunch, if you didn't bring anything with you. I ordered "Navajo Tacos." They're crap compared to "real" Navajo Tacos, but they were about what I would expect from an NPS concessionaire.</p>
<p>Not sure how many posts I'll break the Mesa Verde trip up into, but I figure at least 2-3 more, then Navajo National Monument, which we hit on the way back towards California.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com01 Mesa verde, Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330, USA37.1845933 -108.488328437.183738533543021 -108.48940128360596 37.185448066456985 -108.48725551639404tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-66791943029675800672023-08-10T20:00:00.002-07:002023-08-10T20:00:00.153-07:00South Rim Trail, Cedar Breaks National Monument After Dark, July 16, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzeItxpePgiYAYwiFCC-lp9Z50yJxoTjhWCxxHYcIb5_tbMpk23zRfCDbdTwRPRSUUZda-UsPyxEuo5mSzDi56qK1WB_I0NzlqHjN7fW99x8onIf_uGn7Wm6gpTyVQB03lrkOY17TSZpqe9drz_Bno4HzlI-v4wujUlwBCKryHI7YKtglk5GKJnwk3g1M/s1620/DSC_2825%20%281%29.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzeItxpePgiYAYwiFCC-lp9Z50yJxoTjhWCxxHYcIb5_tbMpk23zRfCDbdTwRPRSUUZda-UsPyxEuo5mSzDi56qK1WB_I0NzlqHjN7fW99x8onIf_uGn7Wm6gpTyVQB03lrkOY17TSZpqe9drz_Bno4HzlI-v4wujUlwBCKryHI7YKtglk5GKJnwk3g1M/s320/DSC_2825%20%281%29.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Hiked the entirety of the South Rim Trail on Sunday, July 16, starting just before sunset. <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/07/cedar-breaks-national-monument-ut-july.html" target="_blank">The first shot of my earlier post</a> was from this trip.</p>
<p>Main goal was to get this first shot. I had walked here <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2020/01/cedar-breaks-national-monument-ut.html" target="_blank">about four years ago, during a full moon,</a> and wanted to come back when the sky was dark and the heart of Milky Way was well-placed. But on the last few attempts, when I was able to get out there, monsoon rains made hiking the South Rim trail impossible. So I ended driving up to <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2021/08/brian-head-and-ashdown-gorge-dixie.html" target="_blank">Brian Head for my Milky Way shots,</a> which actually worked out nicely.</p>
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<p>I hiked to the end of the trail, and saw the Bartizan, but it was too dark by then to get a decent shot of that. I then backtracked to Spectra Point and waited for it to get dark. At this time of year, that's not until around 11pm local time. Happy with the result!</p>
<p>I'll be making at least one more trip back to Cedar Breaks this year, but with the monsoon picking up, who knows which hikes may be possible? At any rate, we'll see how things go.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Spectra Point Trail, Brian Head, UT 84719, USA37.6106412 -112.844721737.607241664350866 -112.84901323442382 37.614040735649141 -112.84043016557617tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-22619390102557264942023-08-04T22:00:00.001-07:002023-08-04T22:00:00.144-07:00Split Rock/Desert Queen/Lucky Boy Vista, Hiked June 10, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil0TefcVF6AbffcsYn2vVzZLQ8hnOZoSZS6yfOPhvMHhirvtYDHIw5wb3p1VAIalgrUFiRRRe0Qt9nFQhV9tyMj-OW4TV0P-Tzd2geh4KJureAwb7l6eS1050lKL4bq9uzqLSoCJjNmy_9xiWVObBk94cnW4TtlNDFLFMJwqtQT4gCzvkwI4YIsrSTSUE/s1008/01%20resized.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil0TefcVF6AbffcsYn2vVzZLQ8hnOZoSZS6yfOPhvMHhirvtYDHIw5wb3p1VAIalgrUFiRRRe0Qt9nFQhV9tyMj-OW4TV0P-Tzd2geh4KJureAwb7l6eS1050lKL4bq9uzqLSoCJjNmy_9xiWVObBk94cnW4TtlNDFLFMJwqtQT4gCzvkwI4YIsrSTSUE/s320/01%20resized.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Came across some pictures that I apparently hadn't posted, yet. Hiked back in June, so this is one of about a half-dozen hikes I still need to blog. All cell phone shots, with this post.</p>
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<p>Started from the Split Rock Loop parking area, a bit east of Jumbo Rocks. From there, I headed north-ish on the loop for about 1/2 mile, before turning off further north. There is a turn sign on the trail and rocks indicating the way you should go to stay on the Split Rock Loop, and there is no sign indicating where you are going if you turn right. Right takes you up an incline, then back down, then up a ravine on the other side.</p>
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<p>The trail became somewhat intermittent as I headed up that ravine, so I wasn't sure if I was on an actual trail or a use trail. Near the top, I just veered off, hoping to get a vista point among the rocks. Didn't really get a good vista, but saw lots of exposed rocks. Some of them looked like they could be seasonal "potholes" that could support fairy shrimp or other short-lived aquatic life.</p>
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<p>Still just June, and it was cloudy, so not very hot. Some flowers, but obviously well-past peak.</p>
<p>The clouds in these pictures would build, so my initial plan of astronomy that night was foiled. But at least I got a good hike out of the trip!</p>
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<p>The "Geology Fire" started about this time, and I saw some plumes of dark smoke to my south. Occasionally smelled burnt foliage, too. But I figured the vegetation is sporatic enough that I didn't think the fire could spread in my direction, despite the gusty winds.</p>
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<p>After a lot of poking around, looking for a vista, I eventually siddled back down to where I last saw the trail, and reacquired the route. When I came across a split, I checked my Alltrails app map, and picked a direction that would take me towards mine indicators. Alltrails didn't show a complete loop, but I was pretty sure I could build one, given the lack of dense vegegation. And, if not, I could just follow the trail out, then walk along roads to get back to my car.</p>
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<p>Impressive rock formations all along these trail. I spent a lot of time photographing the rocks, and the rest photographing the catci and flowers.</p>
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<p>I eventually looped high above a valley, with wonderful views both up and down the valley. Near this point, I saw several metal grates, which covered deep but narrow mining excavations. I held my cellphone up to the little openings to get a few shots down, into the mine.</p>
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<p>At the time (even now!), I wasn't sure which mine I was seeing, but, in looking at maps, I figure this area must be the Desert Queen mine. The "official" access is from the other side, and requires some dirt roads to get to. This way was longer, but also more scenic.</p>
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<p>After passing the vertically drilled mine shafts, my trail took me down into the valley, and closer to additional evidence of mining, incluidng some horizontal shafts and some machinery. Canyon walls closed in around me.</p>
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<p>My Alltrails showed a trail going at least some ways up along another ravine, so up I went. I almost gave up and decided to backtrack, but made one more push, and succeeded in finding an easy way up the ravine. When I finally emerged out of that ravine, I was in a rather wide, sandy wash.</p>
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<p>Then I came upon a low stone dam, maybe two feet tall on the downstream side. The upstream side was filled to the brim with sand. And, shortly after that, a sign! So I knew I was back on some sort of track.</p>
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<p>The trail was again well-defined, and I soon passed several more arrows or trail signs. Took one to Lucky Boy vista, which I had been to, before. However, this time, once at the vista, I continued forward, down what looked like a use trail, but which soon fragmented off almost nothing. But the foliage was thin enough that I could continue to pick and easy way forward, toward the Split Rock Loop trail. Again, I could use my Alltrails app map to make progress in the correct direction, but with no real urgency to meet the actual trail, because this non-trail was easy enough to follow.</p>
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<p>There were more interesting rock formations here, so I stopped for an extended shoot of those rocks in the second-to-last photo of this post. Shortly thereafter, I met up with the regular Split Rock Loop trail. Took only another ten minutes or so before I passed the earlier fork I had taken, and another ten minutes or so to get to the parking area.</p>
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<p>My Alltrails recording shows less than four miles for the hike, but the gps is obviously intermittent, as there are several segments of straight lines, where it did not record between two different points that I obviously didn't teleport between. Probably something like five miles, but it's hard to say.</p>
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<p>Quite a lot of altitude gain and loss, too, so I have to admit that, even if the weather had cleared, I was feeling pretty tired and not enthusiastic about telescoping that night.</p>
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<p>In terms of hikes that need to be blogged, I made another trip to Joshua Tree a week later. Hiked just a bit south of this area, from between Oak Tree picnic area and Jumbo Rocks campground in the daytime, then returned that night and took some Milky Way shots. I may try to post that one, next.</p>
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<p>On Fourth of July weekend, my wife and I took a trip all the way out in southwestern Colorado. Several hikes and overviews from Mesa Verde National Park, and a short (but more than three mile) hike at Navajo National Monument, in Arizona.</p>
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<p>Two weeks later was Cedar Breaks National Monument. I blogged the daytime hiking, but I think haven't posted my Milky Way shot from late that night.</p>
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<p>Between the two afternoon and evening hikes at Cedar Breaks, we visited Fremont Indian State Park, a bit farther north in Utah.</p>
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<p> Also walked around the Huntington Gardens and the L.A> zoo in late June, but probably won't post those two, although I did get some pretty cool shots. So at least four more blog posts, depending on how many I break Mesa Verde up into. Hopefully won't take me too long to catch up!</p>
SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com02W5V+VJ Pinto Wye, CA, USA34.0096965 -116.055965433.995466298511531 -116.07313153769532 34.023926701488463 -116.03879926230469tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-81023352076180179932023-07-28T23:00:00.003-07:002023-08-02T12:02:11.893-07:00Cedar Breaks National Monument, UT, July 15-16, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kECqQ-vNm0Ekf6SolDbBCKaGqE6_Rft6jibjLQt0jt2uXss8TCmlMy1VYvAcWE0NPCDG9E93zgLTyAZ2cKKAkUkqNI_d7-KaVRS9WX3JzLiPiPtw5h-S_m-leQtjuHLEyujBSTzHn7PbbPMdw4sAsLCs8B4tdWXneOisTN7fHJLdr6kS-FCHxXgIi-0/s4032/20230716_204827.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kECqQ-vNm0Ekf6SolDbBCKaGqE6_Rft6jibjLQt0jt2uXss8TCmlMy1VYvAcWE0NPCDG9E93zgLTyAZ2cKKAkUkqNI_d7-KaVRS9WX3JzLiPiPtw5h-S_m-leQtjuHLEyujBSTzHn7PbbPMdw4sAsLCs8B4tdWXneOisTN7fHJLdr6kS-FCHxXgIi-0/s320/20230716_204827.jpg"/></a></div>
Hiked around the South Rim and Upper Alpine Pond Loop on consecutive evenings, starting just before sunset. Lots of Colorado Columbine. This was my favorite shot.
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<p>The geography works great for flower shots then, as the sunsets slowly and late, and you get soft, warm, low light from the west.</p>
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<p>Soft light on the amphitheater, too.</p>
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<p>Fleabane.</p>
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<p>Lots of deer up here. Stick to the speed limit, and keep an eye on the sides of the road after dark, because they are definitely hanging around the area.</p>
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<p>It was a snowy season at Cedar Breaks, so I think the flowers are blooming a week or two later than normal. Probably the field of sunflowers is prettier now than it was a few weeks ago.</p>
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<p>The trail to the Bartizan (an arch) opened last year. I hiked there, 2.75 miles one way. But it was getting dark by the time I got there and have no good shots. Some nice after-dark shots of the sky, though, that'll I'll be posting, soon.</p>
<p>Probably less than two miles when I did the Upper Alpine Pond Loop. Lots of deer shots, but it was getting dark, so they aren't particularly sharp.SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com04730 UT-148, Brian Head, UT 84719, USA37.6130116 -112.837433337.609612017044945 -112.84172483442383 37.616411182955055 -112.83314176557617tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-5821366409561269372023-06-15T20:00:00.004-07:002023-06-15T20:00:00.157-07:00Warner Valley, UT, October 31, 2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0tNCEy75qlZ2mp37LFgV02VGjVSNLYKu3-AepiJEsNEMWEVPslpfpWjatn7FTkB-i79O0WqKhnfWxaqYzufXzQv-BNzGpgTo9PZNPRV8xH7lkoTVvajFKVbbmNNi2h3Mbis-N_RYU78lvn1WnilKPYTOZNYH-O9hAPDjWx1j77J0y8r-0nPfIxuK/s1620/DSC_0789_1.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0tNCEy75qlZ2mp37LFgV02VGjVSNLYKu3-AepiJEsNEMWEVPslpfpWjatn7FTkB-i79O0WqKhnfWxaqYzufXzQv-BNzGpgTo9PZNPRV8xH7lkoTVvajFKVbbmNNi2h3Mbis-N_RYU78lvn1WnilKPYTOZNYH-O9hAPDjWx1j77J0y8r-0nPfIxuK/s320/DSC_0789_1.JPG"/></a></div>
<p>If you've noticed I'm always talking about how far I am behind in my blogging, this is an example. Here's something I did almost 3 years ago, but apparently never blogged: I did a set of short hikes around the Warner Valley area of Utah, which is east of St. George, UT, just north of the Arizona border. <a href="https://www.blm.gov/visit/warner-valley-dinosaur-track-site" target="_blank">The BLM entry for this site is here</a>.</p>
<p>It's less than 1/4 mile from the trailhead, so not much of a hike. But the drive there is a little tricky. I mean, I did make it with my Prius, but, in perfectly dry weather, there were a few times where I could definitely feel my wheels sliding. Lots of very fine sand. Obviously, if even a little wet, the sand would be even slicker, and that much easier to get stuck.</p>
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<p>Great set of dinosaur tracks, though. If the road is dry, it's definitely worth seeing. The tracks are on a pretty specific piece of sandstone. I would suspect that means there is additional sandstone, either exposed or under sand, with more tracks, but the one that is the main attraction is clearly marked. There's a thin "deflector shield" to keep them from being covered again by sand or sediment.</p>
<p>Goes without saying that walking on the sandstone will weather the tracks, so do take care walking around them.</p>
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<p>Quite nearby is the tiny <a href="https://www.blm.gov/visit/fort-pearce-historic-site" target="_blank">Fort Pearce</a>. It's probably smaller than you would expect, like the size of a modest home. Just designed for protection against small raiding parties.</p>
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<p>The parking area for this "fort" is right at the base of the small hill on which the fort sits. There are pioneer and indigenous marks on the rocks immediately adjacent to the fort. There are additional petroglyphs further down the canyon.<p>
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<p>I walked several miles south, but did not make a concerted effort to find some of the more interesting petroglphs. It was a pleasant walk, nonetheless, and I'm pretty sure I went far enough to qualify they day as a "hiking day."
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<p>Minus the walk down the wash, younger or older folks can get plenty out of this trip with less than 1/2 mile of walking, and more adventurous types can walk further.</p>
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<p>Additionally, people with high clearance and/or four wheel drive have a lot of alternatives in the area. In particular, <a href="https://hikestgeorge.com/hiking-trails/little-black-mountain-petroglyph-site/" target="_blank">Little Black Mountain petroglyphs</a> sounds like a cool place to go. I've wanted to get a petroglyph and Milky Way shot for quite some time, but lack the vehicle that could reliably get me to this place. Also, the route to the petroglyphs seems to change on occasion, due to local mining. But something on my longer-term list of things I want to do.SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0Hurricane, UT 84737, USA37.0230385 -113.36710358.7128046638211529 -148.52335349999998 65.333272336178851 -78.2108535tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-40843911017299960682023-06-05T19:30:00.003-07:002023-09-06T15:51:58.543-07:00Blythe Intaglios, Poston Relocation Camp I, and Wyatt Earp's Cottage<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiypjIxx7JkL5xW4GEH3w7cml-llXgl_Pj-O_9Up8vn-iWEa3Fv29y0Ygq9lKTlcEHuipWaY6o24HKKhyRFKgB94rc-yhA9ttJxqyYsPZ7RZwLlbr0LPjoFlx9bzWRBreQjgjZFNVYkTMdoI1ZhU34xi1DLe9ZK22_ZJl7gp6a1khamplbxJpPG-kk/s1008/20230409_094922.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="756" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiypjIxx7JkL5xW4GEH3w7cml-llXgl_Pj-O_9Up8vn-iWEa3Fv29y0Ygq9lKTlcEHuipWaY6o24HKKhyRFKgB94rc-yhA9ttJxqyYsPZ7RZwLlbr0LPjoFlx9bzWRBreQjgjZFNVYkTMdoI1ZhU34xi1DLe9ZK22_ZJl7gp6a1khamplbxJpPG-kk/s320/20230409_094922.jpg"/></a></div>
Driven April 9, 2023. While I usually just blog my hikes, I occasionally do non-hiking things with my wife, who is not a hiker. In this case, we decided to use a "spring break" weekend to spend a couple of nights out of town, in the town of Lake Havasu. There actually is some hiking available in town, but it's not what she would have wanted to do. And I didn't have the motivation after we got back from our other trips to do that. I did do some solo walking just in the town, including the bridge. Not sure if that's going to make it on to the blog.
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<p>Between those two nights, we spent the better part of a day driving around the lower Colorado River. First up was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blythe_Intaglios" target="_blank">Blythe Intaglios</a>, which you can think of as a poor man's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines" target="_blank">Nazca Lines</a>. They're about 75 road miles from Lake Havasu City, or about 90 driving minutes. You head south on AZ-95, turning right at Mojave Road, in the town of Parker (last place with national fast food chain restaurants and a Wal-Mart, for possible bathroom break considerations). You continue south, until reaching Agnes Wilson Road, when you turn west and cross over the Colorado River on a smallish bridge. On this stretch, you're zipping between drainage ditches for farms.</p>
<p>Incidentally, had you stayed on Mojave Road, that would take you to the Poston Memorial, and quite close to the remains of one of the elementary schools. We hit that on the way back.</p>
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<p>Instead, by turning on Agnes Wilson, you soon hit U.S. 95. Mostly a two-lane road, with soft shoulders, so not a lot of places to turn off, if you want to let someone pass. Around Mile Marker 15.5 (Riverside County US 95), there's a small sign on the right, advising that the "Giant Desert Figures" are 500 feet ahead. There'll also be an historical marker on the left side of the road, and the dirt road you need to take is on your right, opposite the stone-mounted marker. Rough, but definitely passenger-car accessible. Continue to the first two parking areas (well-marked). The figures are "conveniently" circled by low chainlink fences, so you'll know where you need to go.</p>
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<p>It's about 1/2 mile from each parking area to the various intaglio. An additional intaglio is south of these, but without an obvious trail, and it's not better-preserved than these guys, so I did not make the detour.</p>
<p>The Intaglios are not as large as you might imagine, but still pretty large, and, of course, best viewed from above. I brought a three-step stool with me to gain a few extra feet of perspective.</p>
<p>Folks aren't quite sure when they were made, and what they indicate, but they are considered to be from pre-contact indigenous peoples.</p>
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<p>By contrast, Poston is recent. It was one of ten camps where persons of Japanese ancestry, regardless of citizenship, were wholesale rounded up and sent into these "internment" camps. "Internment" is a misnomer, of course, because there's a specific internationally-accepted definition for what you can do with enemy aliens in time of war. By contrast, these were mostly natural born U.S. citizens in these camps, who were rounded up in a way quite distinct from Americans of Gernan and Italian ancestry, and different even from enemy aliens from Germany and Italy.</p>
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<p>Poston was different from the other camps because it was built on lands held in trust by the <a href="https://www.crit-nsn.gov/crit_contents/tourism/" target="_blank">Colorado River Indian Tribes.</a> As opposed to the lumber and tarpaper construction of buildings in other War Relocation Authority camps, the larger camp buildings here were built of adobe.</p>
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<p>The former elementary school buildings are surrounded by a tall chainlink fence. And, while there are openings in the fence one could easily pass through, I figured the fence indicated I should not enter, so I did not. Don't want to disrespect the property owners just for a few photos.</p>
<p>Other remains of the camp are long-removed, and plowed into farming production. The large memorial mountument is right east of Mojave Road, and pretty impossible to miss. No museum or restroom facilities on site.</p>
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<p>The final stop on our tour was the Wyatt Earp Cottage. It's located just off U.S. 95, just south of the railroad tracks in Vidal, CA. A very short drive on a dirt road is required, but, again, easily accessible by passenger cars. There's an historical marker in front of the house. A fence surrounds the house, which is privately owned, so, again, I respected the property lines and took only a few pictures, only from beyond the fence.</p>
<p>I had read about the Blythe Intaglios a while ago, but always assumed they were less accessible. Since then, I've come across information regarding a few more intaglio in Arizona, for future consideration. Some of those are adjacent to pavement, while others would require a walk.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com08557RF29+5633.800404400000012 -114.531955733.786140814928736 -114.54912183769531 33.814667985071289 -114.51478956230468tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-15239973824168938602023-05-30T19:00:00.007-07:002023-10-05T14:58:16.076-07:00Barber Peak, Mojave National Preserve, CA, Hiked April 22, 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WxV3ubge3f2pvEB40MlbsZLB5n72PuhZ2ptQ2-VZJuVpJuc_FMnb3qwm_6m3mGvSIVTrwegilRxbZqo4ZhZHd3LNGhuZ8dmeKkCNRXpDqUbOM9CkZYs6KC230yjQfkImyWT5fY3fR2CqygwZETRiYhdonOCz7j6MTFxfYgkSKLarMk7qxXRBWb0C/s1024/Mojave%20Aprl-08.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WxV3ubge3f2pvEB40MlbsZLB5n72PuhZ2ptQ2-VZJuVpJuc_FMnb3qwm_6m3mGvSIVTrwegilRxbZqo4ZhZHd3LNGhuZ8dmeKkCNRXpDqUbOM9CkZYs6KC230yjQfkImyWT5fY3fR2CqygwZETRiYhdonOCz7j6MTFxfYgkSKLarMk7qxXRBWb0C/s320/Mojave%20Aprl-08.jpg"/></a></div>
Hiked back on Earth Day, but hadn't been able to get my DSLR shots resized and uploaded.
<p>I've hiked <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2012/10/hike-2012070-barber-peak-loop-mojave.html" target="_blank">*around* Barber Peak</a> on <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2013/10/hike-2013027-barber-peak-loop-mojave.html" target="_blank">a number of occasions</a>, from <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2010/11/hike-96-barber-peak-loop-trail.html" target="_blank">as early as 2010.</a> But I'd never hiked *up* the mountain. On this last trip, I figured I'd give it a shot.</p>
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<p>I started from near the visitor center, then hiked west of Hole in the Wall campground. I bypassed the turn that would have taken me into "The Rings," and continued north. Ahead of me, I saw what looked like a nice ravine to head up, towards the top of the butte. It looked like desert concrete most of the way, with no large barriers to passage.</p>
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<p>Turns out that was an illusion. There were many points where the ravine had vertical drops far too tall for me to climb, so I stayed to the right of the ravine for most of my trip up. This route was steep, and the ground was crumbly in points. But there were no steep dropoffs, so I figured the worst that could happen is I'd slide, and maybe get myself a bit scraped up. But it would be mostly over dirt, not sharp volcanic rocks, so I wasn't too worried.</p>
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<p>There were a fair amount of desert mallow and other flowers in bloom. I did my best to minimize my impact, walking on solid rock where available, and trying not to cause any slides that would bury the growth. I did see several smallish slids and some boot prints, but not a lot. I mean, it's so close to the big campground, that of course other people must make an attempt to scramble up towards the butte top, but apparently not many, which is probably a good thing.</p>
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<p>Once on the flattish top, the view was great. I found this climb a lot longer and tougher than topping <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2021/11/table-top-mountain-mojave-national.html" target="_blank">Table Top Mountain</a>. The distance to the top is less, but the crumbly crosscountry part is longer.</p>
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<p>Also, the top is less flat. Whereas Table Top is mostly flat, Barber Peak slopes quite a bit. The obviously higher part of the butte is to the west, so I walked that way, but with a less-than-direct route: I wanted to be able to enjoy the view.</p>
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<p>It was mostly a grassland at the top, with the occasional pinyon pine and juniper. More of those trees surivived somewhat recent wildfires here than had survived on Table Top, or near Mid Hills.</p>
<p>I stepped carefully, looking just 4-8 feet in front of me, so as not to accidentally step near a snake. As a result, the snakes I did see were usually already moving off by the time I saw them. All three I saw were of the species photographed, so clearly not rattlesnakes. Two were about that size (less than two feet long), while the third (the first one I saw) was over three feet long. My best guess is "Mojave Patch-nosed snake."</p>
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<p>I got to the point where I figured I was as high as possible. As if to confirm that, I discovered the peak benchmark markers almost immediately upon reaching "the top." There were two of them, separated by maybe ten yards.</p>
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<p>I took more pictures. With a clear view to the north, I could see what I assumed were the Castle Mountains. I assume the Providence Moutains were to my south, well beyond Wild Horse Canyon. Later, as I looped around the butte, I could overlook the broad valley that Black Canyon Road traversed.</p>
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<p>From near the top, back near where I first got to the top of the butte, my way back down was not obvious. I checked my Alltrails recording a few times, to try to go back more or less the way I came. I mean, this way, I was sure could be done, whereas another way might lead to a ledge that would require backtracking.</p>
<p>Finally, I was off the slope, and back on the Barber Peak Loop Trail. I followed my way back to the visitor center, ate a bit of dinner, then set up for the Star Party that we helped put on for Earth Day Volunteers, at the Black Canyon Grup Campground, which we've also done <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2014/06/mojave-star-party-and-non-hike-to-cow.html" target="_blank">many times</a>.</p>
<p>My Alltrails recording shows total distance I walked on this hike was 3.9 miles roundtrip from the visitor center, with an elevation gaine of 1240. It's mostly cross-country, so pretty slow going. The recording also shows me with just over three hours of time "moving," which means not a lot over one mile an hour. It's pretty slow going both up and down the butte. Definitely a nice view, though.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com085762JV3+4H35.0427868 -115.396013335.035759689254185 -115.40459636884766 35.049813910745819 -115.38743023115235tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-45545673628513796372023-05-10T23:00:00.002-07:002023-05-11T07:33:24.137-07:00Liberty Bell Arch trail, Lake Mead NRA, AZ<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqxDRHcoXqXr3QFeCho7oK0Wi2PQriKVRdRLRCwDmWhjEe_arkeEioYBOh6XZ-of35f55J64A2O26Rx2egssP8TLChh-sQhhMTK9HMZ7C7ETtHCbBYTfXSGPAZ5JauNAciHLtZ7fDNHl-Zs7SL5Wb3ABIpB6nq1vnM_yGdZaO_Hz2ZoaBC3qYBdVh/s1008/20230507_160827.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="756" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqxDRHcoXqXr3QFeCho7oK0Wi2PQriKVRdRLRCwDmWhjEe_arkeEioYBOh6XZ-of35f55J64A2O26Rx2egssP8TLChh-sQhhMTK9HMZ7C7ETtHCbBYTfXSGPAZ5JauNAciHLtZ7fDNHl-Zs7SL5Wb3ABIpB6nq1vnM_yGdZaO_Hz2ZoaBC3qYBdVh/s320/20230507_160827.jpg"/></a></div>
Hiked Sunday, May 7. Been out this way numerous times, but <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2019/12/liberty-bell-arch-river-overlook-and.html" target="_blank">possibly not since 2019.</a> It's become a little tricky in recent years, as Lake Mead NRA has instituted a summertime closure of this trail, from mid-May through mid-October, because stupid or unprepared (or both) people used to hike hear in full mid-day heat, and either die or need rescuing. I don't like the idea of a full seasonal closure, because there will almost always be days during the closure period when the temperatures abate, or you could go early or late to avoid the worst heat, and certainly complete this hike safely.
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<p>Unfortunately, that's not how they do things.</p>
<p>I would like to have taken this hike about a month ago, because I thought there was a chance of some decent blooms this way. And, sure enough, I saw a lot of spent brittlebush along the way. <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/04/pacific-crest-trail-near-haugen-lehmann.html" target="_blank">Not nearly as dense as what I saw down by Palm Springs,</a> but it would have been nice.</p>
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<p>As it was, there were only a few blooms, including a few showy (but nearing the end of the bloom) white flowers on a bush, which I think might be sand blazing star. Also, later in this post, you'll see some of what I think are yellow tackstem, which sprouted in cracks amongst the volcanic rocks.</p>
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<p>I got a pretty late start, as I spent the morning with my wife, wandering around Boulder City's Spring Jamboree. I figured it would mostly be "crap," meaning old stuff, antiques if you collect them, dust magnets if you don't. But they also promised an "outdoor expo" as part of the event.</p>
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<p>Well, it turned out the outdoor expo was about five vendors, including REI. They had a national park trivia contest, and I obviously national parks and trivia, so I came back for that and won a small bag of goodies.</p>
<p>I only mentioned that because I was debating a trip to "Spooky Canyon" after I got back, but found myself a little too tired to want to extend my trip. As it is, this was about 5.5 miles roundtrip. And, although only about 80 degrees, it must be the dryness that makes it seem hotter and more draining.</p>
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<p>The trailhead is for the White Rock Canyon trailhead, which is about four miles south of the O'Callaghan-Tillman Bridge, off U.S. 93. The parking lot is on the east (left) side of the highway, so you'll have to be in the fast lane as you approach it, and pull into the leftturn lane, before yielding to oncoming traffic and crossing into the parking lot.</p>
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<p>The trail heads under the highway, then west, down a broad wash, which eventually narrows, in White Rock Canyon. The trail to the Arizona Hot Springs peels off to the left before you enter the narrow part of the canyon. After the second narrow point in the main canyon, the trail to Liberty Bell Arch climbs a hill, to your right. There is usually a sign on the rise, indicating the trail.</p>
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<p>Had you continued forward another two miles or so, you'd reach the Colorado River. But the Liberty Bell Arch trail heads up some side washes and gains altitude. Evidence of mining is plentiful, and many of the side trails do lead to additional evidences.</p>
<p>After reaching a rather impressive viewpoint, the trail then descends steeply for a bit, before making a run towards a butte. Liberty Bell Arch proturdes towards you, and only becomes apparent when you have a bit of an angle between you and the butte.</p>
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<p>The trail passes within a hundred yards or so of the base of the arch, which is very large. NPS photos often show brittlebush blooming below the arch, but I think so many people have trampled their way to the arch opening that I saw very few dead brittlebush on the way up. Mostly, just creosote bushes.</p>
<p>By contrast, there were a lot of spent brittlebush on the other side of the trail, away from the arch.</p>
<p>Continuing past the arch gives takes you to a spectacular overview of the Colorado River. You'll see part of the O'Callaghan-Tillman Bridge upstream, as well. Some thousand feet below, you may see kayakers on the river, and people camping on the shoreline. Meanwhile, looking to the east, you'll see U.S. 93, where you came from. Because of the line of sight and proximity to a major highway, you'll likely have cell phone reception for much of your hike.</p>
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<p>Retrace your steps to return to your car. It's largely uphill on the return, and the sandy wash the last mile or so is much slower going on the return than it was on the way out. You may decided to stick to the high ground on the right. Firmer ground makes the going faster, even though it's a bit out of the way.</p>
<p>On this particular trip, I noticed three sets of shattered glass in the lot, which means auto burglaries can be an issue, here. I was actually happy when I got there that the lot was pretty full, with some people sitting in a pickup bed, and others coming and going, incluidng an NPS truck. For all I know, he was there to take a report on a break in. All of which is to remind you to take care, and make sure no potentially valuable objects are in view of your car. Obviously, if you can have someone drop you off, or stick with the car, that would be even better, but that's not a really great solution.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com08577X7FG+X635.97495 -114.724388135.961057021190655 -114.74155423769531 35.988842978809345 -114.70722196230469tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224556886142717176.post-77415564717927175262023-04-26T19:30:00.003-07:002023-09-13T13:59:27.816-07:00Pacific Crest Trail, Near Haugen-Lehmann Way, Whitewater, CA<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASugue7OFm4_OXO6kCBGl9HG_q6frik5eKvgoGI4qrHXWX-fJ9-MfqBp6ql08H6WcxoiG3bqjQbfPV45mFLDeuxNhEuwflyAPo7ga-sPthT5y5LzgqCnBUxsQuq-bnrkUuRk8I41llMJ9wof3-BTnLgKfBiU6DBFfTWSynzx5-0W8Q23bW6IVfk0Q/s1008/01%20flowers.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="756" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASugue7OFm4_OXO6kCBGl9HG_q6frik5eKvgoGI4qrHXWX-fJ9-MfqBp6ql08H6WcxoiG3bqjQbfPV45mFLDeuxNhEuwflyAPo7ga-sPthT5y5LzgqCnBUxsQuq-bnrkUuRk8I41llMJ9wof3-BTnLgKfBiU6DBFfTWSynzx5-0W8Q23bW6IVfk0Q/s320/01%20flowers.jpg"/></a></div>
Hiked April 19, 2023. Very short hike on my way to an astronomy outreach event in Twentynine Palms, at <a href="https://www.skysthelimit29.org/" target="_blank">Sky's the Limit.</a> This was an NPS-sponsored event, with Joshua Tree National Park recognizing its volunteers, and welcoming visitors to a small night sky event.
<p>I had driven by here the previous Saturday. And, had I been in the slow lane as I passed Haugen-Lehmann Way (Exit 111 on I-10), I would have exited and explored it, then. As it was, I ended up heading to <a href="https://wildlandsconservancy.org/preserves/missioncreek" target="_blank">Mission Creek Preserve</a>, <a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/04/mission-creek-preserve-sand-to-snow.html" target="_blank">where I had a very nice hike.</a></p>
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<p>But when I got a last-minute notice of an event at Sky's the Limit, I decided I would take advantage of this, both to try out my new 10" Dobsonian telescope under dark skies, and to stop by along the way for a visit to this area around Haugen-Lehmann Way. So I used four hours of vacation time, left work around noon on a Wednesday, and headed home to pack.</p>
<p>Got on the road before 2pm. Unfortunately, there was an accident on the freeway not far from my home, which delayed me. So, by the time I got out to Haugen-Lehmann, I figured I only had about an hour or so, maybe a bit more, before I would need to continue on. I'd need to get to Twentynine Palms with enough time to eat dinner and set up my telescope before it got too dark. Didn't want a repeat of what happend the previous Saturday, when I got to an observing spot well after dark, but then couldn't figure out how to assemble my truss-tube telescope without the manual.</p>
<p>I've had the telescope since December, but only set it up a few times at home. Weekends came and went with either clouds, me being sick, or me having conflicting commitments, so I never got to take it out under dark skies. Indeed, the time before I made it to Joshua Tree (<a href="https://myown100hikes.blogspot.com/2023/03/golden-bee-mine-joshua-tree-national.html" target="_blank">when I hiked to the Golden Bee Mine</a>), the evening turned completely cloudy.
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<p>So, quick visit. I exited at Haugen-Lehmann, headed north, drove until the road t-bones into Cottonwood Road, then turned right (north). When the pavement ended, I parked and walked the few hundred yards until the Pacific Crest Trail crossed the road. Then I walked along the trail about 3/4 of a mile, taking a lot of pictures along the way (I also took a few before I got to the end of the pavement-- I think that first shot is from the roadside). Spectacular, thick brittlebush all around. A few patches of Fremont pincushion. Very few lupine and other flowers. But, man, that brittlebush!</p>
<p>Happily, after my hour or so of poking around here (too short to qualify as a formal "hike" under my traditional definition of three miles, minimum), I continued to Sky's the Limit, and had a successful outing with my new telescope. Some quirks, that I'm still figuring out, but I'm happy with the purchase.</p>
<p>It's likely that the summer-like temperatures are rapidly drying these flowers out, but a pretty immediate trip might still be rewarding.</p>SkyHikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12149622862975962200noreply@blogger.com0W8HX+4R Palm Springs, CA, USA33.9278624 -116.650419833.913618547592165 -116.66758593769531 33.942106252407839 -116.63325366230468