Last Day in Canyonlands (Day 16)

4 September.

Last day in Canyonlands. Checked out Mesa arch early in the a.m after packing everything up. Thought about doing one last long hike but it was now Saturday and the weekend warriors had started making an appearance. Our cue to get the hell outta dodge.

We drove to Grand Junction, Colorado and stayed in a motel. It had been I think 10 days since I last bathed at this point. Hmmmm you say? Yeah, it got pretty ugly but whatever. Doing laundry was kind of necessary at this point as well. Gorged on about 15 pounds of veggie sushi later on. Damn skippy!

Daily Dose of Cute

So yeah, he's cute. Don't deny it. (Belding's Ground Squirrel near Mono Lake, CA) Camera Critters

Canyonlands: Scrambling, Mesmerized by a Moth. (Day 15)

Egads man, I still have about 13 or so entries left for this trip. Talk about takin' my time eh? Well then, on with it....after this quick side note: Saw 127 Hours a few days ago. Go see it! It's about that guy (Aron Ralston) who got this arm lodged by a boulder in Canyonlands...It's pretty much the only movie I've wanted to see in a theatre in years. I definitely approved.

3 September

The moon was nice and bright last night, hardly needed a headlamp. I woke up just before sunrise but it took the sun a while to make it's way over those big rocks. After packing stuff up and eating breakfast on a nice overlook, started the hike back.

And what a sweet hike it was - some serious scrambling for the first couple miles. Soooo much fun!! The flood had definitely washed away a lot of rocks and the trail was more or less obsolete in a lot of places, so it was a little sketchier than it may have been otherwise. I think it made it more fun, heh. There was a little bit of crawling, which, with a big pack throws you off a little bit. I had to put my camera away for this part of the hike cause otherwise it would have either fallen off some edge or just gotten way too beat up.

Lots of cryptobiotic crust on the last stretch of the trail (and all over Canyonlands). Cryptobiotic crust or soil is made of cyanobacteria, along with algae, moss, lichens, etc. It's pretty fascinating stuff. Cyanobacteria is thought to be one of the oldest living organisms (coool!) and plays a crucial part in the desert ecosystems. Look it up for more info..and DON'T STEP ON IT! It's extremely fragile stuff.

(Cryptobiotic Crust above and below)

Eventually got back to the trailhead (didn't see any people for about 20 miles, beautiful!) and we were able to snag a spot at the small campground. I ended up doing a fast 3 mile trail at sunset (again, no people!) and ran into a fairly large bighorn sheep. There was some pretty serious eye contact between us for a couple minutes. I got to an awesome overlook but the light was pretty harsh, outstanding views though. Lizards everywhere on the trail. I ended up running back the last mile since it was more or less dark at that point. Made some dinner with a Juniper Titmouse hanging out nearby. Starred at a moth that was sitting by my lantern for 30 minutes. Mesmerized. My World

Mushrooms. Lots of 'em.

I'm currently in Tennessee and without ample computer use, hence the lack of posts and not checking out blogs of other fine folk. Sorry 'bout that. So here's some fungi from recent wanderings in Mississippi. We were scouting for salamanders and other herps again but no such luck. Some decent mushrooms though. I'm not even attempting to slap an identification on any of these right now. My mushroom guide is from Northern California and it's currently in Mississippi anyway, so...there you have it. They're pretty little things though. (okay, well, some of them are actually a tiny bit gross...) Macro Monday

These things below..freaking tiny. The caps were the smallest I've ever seen. I could probably fit about 15-20 of them in my ring. I mean, come on, that's pretty small.

Sailor's Delight

Sunset at White Sands National Monument. Doesn't it make you wanna go run like a maniac through the dunes? Yes! Skywatch

This Changing Light

Some pretty fantastic lighting was happening the other night (right after sunset). The moon was reflecting in the water along with the cypress and the Great Blue. I was really surprised how the photos came out. I was shooting at a higher ISO than I like to use but I really dig this scene. The colors are out of control.

watery wednesday Weekend Reflections Bird Photography Weekly

Canyonlands: Craters and Kangaroo Rats (Day 14)

Up early again (saw 4 shooting stars before I fell asleep, nice). Went on a water search in the other direction, but there was still no river access. Thanks again, quicksand! Tried going though the quicksand again but decided I didn't really want the Green River to claim me (it's buddy, North Carolina's Green River, tried to eat me alive in 2004. I have issues with rivers called 'Green'). (looking out my tent, below) Outdoor Wednesday

(above: this didn't totally come out like i planned, but the point was river vs. me..huh) It was looking like our only choice was to cut the hike short by a day. Which kind of pissed me off. So, we started walking back (I was quite grumpy)..and I noticed some tiny, itty bitty drops of water. Looked like there was a spring somewhere around. So, figured we'd give it a go. The picture is crap, but you get the point- it was barely dripping. I filtered around 15 liters. It took a bit of time but it was worth it. Chugged a bunch (tasted a little rock-y but overall it was fine) and went on our way.

(water source...barely dripping, but it got the job done!)

I was so relieved we found water , because now we could camp another night. This campsite was gorgeous - and again - not a person around. Awesome. After the tents were up, did a side hike to the inside of a crater. Reminded me of one of my favorite places in northern Arizona (Red Mountain). Fun spot with some scrambling - another of my favorite things, good stuff.

A Kangaroo Rat jumped on my tent at some point during the night and went into my shoes too. So, that was pretty cute. A lot more bats tonight also, and a couple more shooting stars. Perfect place.

Frog Friend

Found him squatting in my kayak. Macro Monday

Yellow-headed Blackbird

This juvenile (female? pretty sure it's a male juvenile)Yellow-headed Blackbird was a little confused. He was hanging out in White Sands, New Mexico, which is a little different than his usual haunts (freshwater wetlands). He decided to stop in a gypsum sand desert void of water. Interesting decision. But he seemed to be making do, trying to forage on seed (check out the last photo) from what little vegetation there was. I was glad to see he was gone in the morning, he probably took off for his wintering grounds sometime during the night. He was a welcome surprise though - White Sands isn't necessarily thriving with birds. And YHBLs are pretty cool. Shadow Shot Camera Critters SOOC Bird Photography Weekly Mellow Yellow

Being Found

Zac and I were looking for salamanders at the refuge a couple days ago. Our efforts resulted in zero 'manders but when a decaying piece of wood broke open, there was a fancy little world inside...(also, I turned 30, thirty...today. Slowly accepting this...yikes) Weekend Reflections Scenic Sunday Weekend in Black and White

Gunnison's Confusing Clouds Part I

These photos were all taken within about an hour or so of each other. I woke up around sunrise and went for a hike. I could see the clouds coming in then, but it looked like the rain was going to hold off for a while. Not so much. The clouds were pretty rowdy and the sky was a little angry. Some really thick fog came rolling in eventually. I just stood in the rain and watched it do it's thing. The canyon was kind of hard to get photos off, the light was never too great, so the dark clouds were welcome. Made for some dramatic landscapes. This place is pretty badass, had a ton of fun here. The Black Canyon is out of control. The picture below is not black and white. It was just that grey! Skywatch