Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts
September 01, 2009
September 14, 2008
Distractions are Good
I need to stop ignoring all the stupid polling going on right now. It's giving me an ulcer. How can the American public be so bloody blind to the fact that Sarah Palin is NOT who she says she is?!? And how in the hell did the race get so damn close??
I'm beginning to think that McCain isn't as stupid as I thought he was when he picked her as his VP. I'm beginning to think he also realizes just how bloody stupid a large percentage of the voting public really is...that they would not only accept a neo-conservative, speaking-in-tongues-speaking, oil-loving, global warming denying, machine-gun toting creationist, they'd fall all over themselves to see who can adore her the most!
It's revolting to watch. And the worst of it all is the new Republican chant being shouted at all their campaign events, "Drill, baby, drill!"
Can someone please save America from all the fat, greedy, "consume till you croak", bible-thumping, Earth-raping Americans before it's too late? Please, America...WAKE THE F**K UP! This world cannot handle another four years of the Bush Administration!
Big sigh...ok, enough of my "elitist, left-wing liberal ranting." Sonja and I needed something to distract ourselves from the depressing state of American politics. So we hopped in the car with Harvey and Luna and headed for the hills.
We haven't explored much of the area outside of the park, yet, and as a result haven't had a chance to take the dogs for a good hike. To change that I whipped out the map this morning and tried to find a suitable road into the surrounding mountains where we could go exploring. I found a squiggly red line that looked promising, so we loaded up and headed out.
(as you can see, we didn't take Gilbert, our beloved mountain-climbing Subaru. He's been hibernating in the garage for the past month and when we tried to wake him up for the drive he responded with a resoundingly silent, "I ain't goin' nowhere"...Yeah, I guess we should have had that "service engine soon" light checked out when it turned on about a year ago, huh?)
Anyway, once we got to an elevation that seemed to get us above all the locals with chainsaws, we headed up the road to see what we could see.
We did find a pretty little mountain-top lake, but even Harvey found it a little too muddy for his liking, so we continued on.
While it wasn't the most exciting hike we've ever been on, the mountain air was incredibly refreshing, the views were inspiring and the dogs had a great time. And really, that's all we were looking for anyway.
I'm beginning to think that McCain isn't as stupid as I thought he was when he picked her as his VP. I'm beginning to think he also realizes just how bloody stupid a large percentage of the voting public really is...that they would not only accept a neo-conservative, speaking-in-tongues-speaking, oil-loving, global warming denying, machine-gun toting creationist, they'd fall all over themselves to see who can adore her the most!
It's revolting to watch. And the worst of it all is the new Republican chant being shouted at all their campaign events, "Drill, baby, drill!"
Can someone please save America from all the fat, greedy, "consume till you croak", bible-thumping, Earth-raping Americans before it's too late? Please, America...WAKE THE F**K UP! This world cannot handle another four years of the Bush Administration!
Big sigh...ok, enough of my "elitist, left-wing liberal ranting." Sonja and I needed something to distract ourselves from the depressing state of American politics. So we hopped in the car with Harvey and Luna and headed for the hills.
We haven't explored much of the area outside of the park, yet, and as a result haven't had a chance to take the dogs for a good hike. To change that I whipped out the map this morning and tried to find a suitable road into the surrounding mountains where we could go exploring. I found a squiggly red line that looked promising, so we loaded up and headed out.
(as you can see, we didn't take Gilbert, our beloved mountain-climbing Subaru. He's been hibernating in the garage for the past month and when we tried to wake him up for the drive he responded with a resoundingly silent, "I ain't goin' nowhere"...Yeah, I guess we should have had that "service engine soon" light checked out when it turned on about a year ago, huh?)Anyway, once we got to an elevation that seemed to get us above all the locals with chainsaws, we headed up the road to see what we could see.
We did find a pretty little mountain-top lake, but even Harvey found it a little too muddy for his liking, so we continued on.
While it wasn't the most exciting hike we've ever been on, the mountain air was incredibly refreshing, the views were inspiring and the dogs had a great time. And really, that's all we were looking for anyway.May 25, 2008
Stinky Fingers and a Stream Stomp
The stink on my fingers won't go away. It's been about six hours and countless hand-cleansings since I misguidedly picked up an unusual ground beetle I spotted on the road this morning, and the stench it left behind on my fingers is still quite discernable. I believe the beetle I found is in the Genus Pasimachus, but I could be wrong. It looks pretty darn close, though. It could even be the species shown in that link, but I didn't bother to look it up while it was still in my hand. Now, while I normally refrain from picking up our local Pinacate Beetles (also known as "Darkling" beetles from the Genus Eleodes) due to their tendancy to live up to their other name (stink beetle), I didn't even consider that this one would have the same sort of defensive behavior.
Well, I'm paying the price for my curiosity. My finger smells like ass. So, naturally, everything that I bring near my mouth using my left hand also smells like ass.
Smelly fingers aside, Sonja and I took the dogs out to enjoy the spectacularly beautiful weather today. It's sunny and about 75 degrees, with a nice breeze to keep things cool. We walked up the ditch to one of the better dog swimming holes in Beaver Creek to let Harvey play around a bit (he's feeling much better now...all of his swelling and hives have gone).
It was really nice to just wade around in the pool and watch Harvey do his rock diving thing. He looked ecstatic as he dove for rock after rock after rock. It's nice to see him feeling so much better.
Luna, on the other hand, seemed very bored. She doesn't look it in this photo, but she kept staring up at us with this forlorn look on her face wondering why she couldn't run around off leash. She'll just have to stay bored, though. We're not going to take the chance of her running off and disappearing again. She did her best to make up for her apparent boredom, though, finding the only rotting piece of dead stuff in the area to roll around in. Luckily, it was only a little dead lizard, so it wasn't nearly as gross as some of the stuff she found on the beach in Seward (nothing like a dog that smells like rotting salmon). Still, it meant she earned herself a good washing off in the stream.
She definitely was not thrilled about that. Not sure how well it worked, but at least she doesn't smell like my finger.
Well, I'm paying the price for my curiosity. My finger smells like ass. So, naturally, everything that I bring near my mouth using my left hand also smells like ass.
Smelly fingers aside, Sonja and I took the dogs out to enjoy the spectacularly beautiful weather today. It's sunny and about 75 degrees, with a nice breeze to keep things cool. We walked up the ditch to one of the better dog swimming holes in Beaver Creek to let Harvey play around a bit (he's feeling much better now...all of his swelling and hives have gone).
It was really nice to just wade around in the pool and watch Harvey do his rock diving thing. He looked ecstatic as he dove for rock after rock after rock. It's nice to see him feeling so much better.
Luna, on the other hand, seemed very bored. She doesn't look it in this photo, but she kept staring up at us with this forlorn look on her face wondering why she couldn't run around off leash. She'll just have to stay bored, though. We're not going to take the chance of her running off and disappearing again. She did her best to make up for her apparent boredom, though, finding the only rotting piece of dead stuff in the area to roll around in. Luckily, it was only a little dead lizard, so it wasn't nearly as gross as some of the stuff she found on the beach in Seward (nothing like a dog that smells like rotting salmon). Still, it meant she earned herself a good washing off in the stream.
She definitely was not thrilled about that. Not sure how well it worked, but at least she doesn't smell like my finger.
October 01, 2007
B-Day #34
Funny how your body gets older yet your mind refuses to acknowledge it sometimes. Even though the calendar (and the mirror) tell me that I am most definitely in my mid-thirties, my mind is still convinced that I'm 27. I've paid a heavy price for that before with sore and aching muscles after ignoring the fact that sometimes my mind has shit for brains. So with that in mind we opted for a much more leisurely birthday hike than the 12-mile descent into the Grand Canyon I had originally proposed. Instead, we drove a whopping ten minutes from our front door to the trailhead for the much tamer, but still quite beautiful Wet Beaver Canyon.
The light was really flat this morning, with a bland, grey cloud cover. So none of my landscape images turned out that great. Though I sorta like how the shadowy junipers kind of frame the walls of the canyon in this one.
While there aren't many flowers out this time of year, the cacti are still putting on a show. The fruiting bodies on both prickly pears and this christmas cholla (pronounced choy-ah) are still out, adding a little extra color to the canyon.
We spent most of the morning hanging out at a swimming hole four miles into the canyon. Here are my girls enjoying some quality time together at our picnic spot. The temperature was ideal and both dogs behaved themselves perfectly, playing in the water together for a good hour then lying quietly next to us as we munched on the gourmet cheese and expensive wine we carried out with us. The eight mile hike was just vigorous enough to make it actually feel like a hike. To top it all off, when we got home I stuffed my face with birthday cake.
Personally, I can't think of a better way to spend B-Day #34.
The light was really flat this morning, with a bland, grey cloud cover. So none of my landscape images turned out that great. Though I sorta like how the shadowy junipers kind of frame the walls of the canyon in this one.
While there aren't many flowers out this time of year, the cacti are still putting on a show. The fruiting bodies on both prickly pears and this christmas cholla (pronounced choy-ah) are still out, adding a little extra color to the canyon.
We spent most of the morning hanging out at a swimming hole four miles into the canyon. Here are my girls enjoying some quality time together at our picnic spot. The temperature was ideal and both dogs behaved themselves perfectly, playing in the water together for a good hour then lying quietly next to us as we munched on the gourmet cheese and expensive wine we carried out with us. The eight mile hike was just vigorous enough to make it actually feel like a hike. To top it all off, when we got home I stuffed my face with birthday cake.Personally, I can't think of a better way to spend B-Day #34.
April 12, 2007
Beaver Creek Trail
We went for a windy hike along the Beaver Creek trail outside of Rimrock this morning.
The birds were pretty quiet due to the wind, but we did see a couple lifers for Sonja, including her first Scott's Oriole.
We are also nearly 98% confidant that we spotted a Brown-crested Flycatcher near the White Mesa trailhead, a couple miles in from the parking lot. We spent a good ten minutes watching it and debating about whether it was a Brown-crested or Ash-throated Flycatcher. We finally decided upon Brown-crested after hearing several distinct whit calls. I tell ya, flycatchers always tie my brain in knots! We also watched a pair of Black Phoebes hopping around the rocks at the swimming hole we watered the dogs.
Anyway, the other excitement occured when we interrupted a Sharp-shinned Hawk that was in pursuit of a rather distraught-looking Ruby-crowned Kinglet in a juniper next to the trail. I could have sworn the Sharpie gave me a dirty look as it circled around with a last forlorn glance toward its almost-meal before heading off into the sycamores. I'm telling myself that the kinglet was grateful for our unintentional interruption of its near-death experience.
But the stars of the hike were all the wildflowers in bloom. We've had enough precipitation this past month that many of the cacti are beginning to bloom. They're even predicting a saguaro bloom next month down near Phoenix. I openly admit that I am not very good at, and only mildly interested in, identifying wildflowers. So, in order to avoid embarassment at getting these wrong, I'm making up my own names. If, however, anyone (*ahem* Chris?) does, in fact, know the names of these flowers, post a comment and let me know.
Desert Creamsicle Flower
Arizona Goldeneye Pseudo-Poppy Thingie
Alien Carnivorous Claw Pod
(attacking an Engleman's Prickly Pear)
Vampiric Tube Flower
These turn red due to all the blood they suck out of hummingbirds.
Cactus
Cow Surprisingly enough, Harvey completely ignored it, even though it was only about 30 feet away.
The birds were pretty quiet due to the wind, but we did see a couple lifers for Sonja, including her first Scott's Oriole.
We are also nearly 98% confidant that we spotted a Brown-crested Flycatcher near the White Mesa trailhead, a couple miles in from the parking lot. We spent a good ten minutes watching it and debating about whether it was a Brown-crested or Ash-throated Flycatcher. We finally decided upon Brown-crested after hearing several distinct whit calls. I tell ya, flycatchers always tie my brain in knots! We also watched a pair of Black Phoebes hopping around the rocks at the swimming hole we watered the dogs.Anyway, the other excitement occured when we interrupted a Sharp-shinned Hawk that was in pursuit of a rather distraught-looking Ruby-crowned Kinglet in a juniper next to the trail. I could have sworn the Sharpie gave me a dirty look as it circled around with a last forlorn glance toward its almost-meal before heading off into the sycamores. I'm telling myself that the kinglet was grateful for our unintentional interruption of its near-death experience.
But the stars of the hike were all the wildflowers in bloom. We've had enough precipitation this past month that many of the cacti are beginning to bloom. They're even predicting a saguaro bloom next month down near Phoenix. I openly admit that I am not very good at, and only mildly interested in, identifying wildflowers. So, in order to avoid embarassment at getting these wrong, I'm making up my own names. If, however, anyone (*ahem* Chris?) does, in fact, know the names of these flowers, post a comment and let me know.
(attacking an Engleman's Prickly Pear)
These turn red due to all the blood they suck out of hummingbirds.
April 05, 2007
Hoodoos? You doos!
Went hiking today up in the San Francisco Volcanic Field area of Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff. It was a really neat hike into a cinder cone volcano, complete with all sorts of obsidian, cinders and hoodoos. I don't feel much like posting pictures, so instead I'll just let you watch a video. For some reason, YouTube has been messing up the sound on its videos, so the audio is a bit off with the timing. But you still get the general idea.
March 29, 2007
Cowpies and Saddle Mittens
Sonja and I took the dogs for a hike this morning. It had been a while since we took them on a really good walk, and since Harvey's arthritis seemed to be under control, opted for a nice 4 mile round trip into the red rocks of Sedona. We also chose this hike because it was so close to Sonja's work that we could go pick up some meds for the dogs to help get rid of these. But I didn't write this post to talk about fleas, as interesting as they are. I had no idea they were so hard to squish. They're heavily armored little suckas.
So, anyway, back to our hike. After a slow drive up a "high clearance vehicles only" road in our not-quite-high-clearance-Subaru, we started our way down toward the Cowpies. Actually, what we saw are a bit different than what you may be familiar with. According to this site, Sedona's Cowpies tend to be rather "swirly" and "vortex-y", not squishy and flattishly brownish-green. We only skirted the edges of the Cowpies on our way up to Mitten Ridge Saddle. For a little change of pace, I'll let most of the photos speak for themselves today (but, as always, you can click on the images for a larger version).
Luna, Sonja and Harvey on the edge of a Cowpie.
Happy dogs!
Mitten Ridge Saddle.
The rest of these are photos of some of the plants living on the edge of the Colorado Plateau.
Lichens on Slickrock.
I've titled this one,
"Little Yellow Flowers with Stick"
(haven't gotten an Arizona flower guide, yet)
Little Yellow Flower Without Stick.
Century Plant
Agave parryi
As you can probably tell, it was a very enjoyable way to spend a morning. Next month we're planning a hike down into the heart of the Sonoran Desert to try to catch the saguaro bloom that is forecast to occur within the next couple weeks.
So, anyway, back to our hike. After a slow drive up a "high clearance vehicles only" road in our not-quite-high-clearance-Subaru, we started our way down toward the Cowpies. Actually, what we saw are a bit different than what you may be familiar with. According to this site, Sedona's Cowpies tend to be rather "swirly" and "vortex-y", not squishy and flattishly brownish-green. We only skirted the edges of the Cowpies on our way up to Mitten Ridge Saddle. For a little change of pace, I'll let most of the photos speak for themselves today (but, as always, you can click on the images for a larger version).
The rest of these are photos of some of the plants living on the edge of the Colorado Plateau.
"Little Yellow Flowers with Stick"
(haven't gotten an Arizona flower guide, yet)
Agave parryi
As you can probably tell, it was a very enjoyable way to spend a morning. Next month we're planning a hike down into the heart of the Sonoran Desert to try to catch the saguaro bloom that is forecast to occur within the next couple weeks.
March 13, 2007
But, it's a DRY heat!
The past couple of days have given us our first taste of "real" Arizona heat since arriving in the state. Today, at the castle the high was 88 degrees. Considering that the highest temps we ever saw in Seward maxed out around 79 degrees, this is pretty significant. Not that I'm complaining, yet, of course. But to tell you the truth, it hasn't been all that bad. And that means that the temps during the peak of summer only get another 20 degrees above this. I could do another 20 degrees. I think.
The heat we've been experiencing also means that my first ever encounter with one of these is approaching. My coworkers are even looking forward to my first rattlesnake experience. In fact, just this morning as I opened the visitor center I discovered a little present left behind by last night's closing staff. Yeah, I guess they figure leaving a fake snake inside the cash drawer of the register for me to find first thing in the morning is their way of prepping me for the real thing. It's not that I'm freaked out by rattlesnakes. On the contrary, I think they are way cool. . . an amazing example of evolutionary adaptation. How can you not think an animal that sees the world like the Predator from one of the best Ah-nold movies ever is neato? I'm actually looking forward to hearing the ominous rattle for the first time. Seriously, I think this is one of the only times that a human being can experience a primal instinctual reaction, at least in North America. Well, I suppose coming face-to-face with a grizzly might produce the same visceral reaction, but I've already done that. So this is all I've got left. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.
Anyway, that's not why I was posting this evening. Instead, I uploaded some pictures Sonja took on Sunday of her hike with the dogs on the Wet Beaver Creek Trail near our place.
This is actually the first time I've seen them. Here's a pretty flower she found. Looks sorta rose-ish or rhododendronny to me. Honestly, though, I haven't got a clue. Besides, it's not like it's anything important like a bird or something.
And a happy, post-swimming hole encountering Luna near the pretty flowery bush thing. Isn't she awesome? Best. Dog. Ever.
The heat we've been experiencing also means that my first ever encounter with one of these is approaching. My coworkers are even looking forward to my first rattlesnake experience. In fact, just this morning as I opened the visitor center I discovered a little present left behind by last night's closing staff. Yeah, I guess they figure leaving a fake snake inside the cash drawer of the register for me to find first thing in the morning is their way of prepping me for the real thing. It's not that I'm freaked out by rattlesnakes. On the contrary, I think they are way cool. . . an amazing example of evolutionary adaptation. How can you not think an animal that sees the world like the Predator from one of the best Ah-nold movies ever is neato? I'm actually looking forward to hearing the ominous rattle for the first time. Seriously, I think this is one of the only times that a human being can experience a primal instinctual reaction, at least in North America. Well, I suppose coming face-to-face with a grizzly might produce the same visceral reaction, but I've already done that. So this is all I've got left. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.Anyway, that's not why I was posting this evening. Instead, I uploaded some pictures Sonja took on Sunday of her hike with the dogs on the Wet Beaver Creek Trail near our place.
This is actually the first time I've seen them. Here's a pretty flower she found. Looks sorta rose-ish or rhododendronny to me. Honestly, though, I haven't got a clue. Besides, it's not like it's anything important like a bird or something.
And a happy, post-swimming hole encountering Luna near the pretty flowery bush thing. Isn't she awesome? Best. Dog. Ever. And, finally...
I figured it was about time I try to stop all the moaning and complaining that I haven't posted any pictures of the inside of our house, yet. So, I'll start tonight with our livingroom.
It's our couch. Well, not really our couch. More like the house's couch. Or the park's couch. Ok, so it is A couch. With a Luna attached. That's not our table or chairs, either. But the pictures on the wall are ours.
Not our TV, either. Nor is that our coffee table or entertainment center standy thingy. But the plants belong to us. As does all the crap sitting on the coffee table. I think the light bulb in the ceiling light may actually be ours, as well. But I could be mistaken. The house doesn't belong to us, either. But many of you already knew that. And I think the carpetting will probably stay with the house. But I've heard we get to keep any dust bunnies we collect. Which is pretty cool, since they make pretty good pets!
February 18, 2007
Red Tank Draw and the GBBC
Your guess is as good as mine as to what the name of today's hiking spot means. I get the whole "red" part, and perhaps if you call a stream a draw, that makes sense, too. Oh well. At least it was a fun hike.
There wasn't much in the way of a trail, though. Which meant that most of the hike involved navigating our way over large river rocks and underneath/around/through assorted prickly things. Lots and lots of prickly things. Everything we encountered seemed to be armored with some sort of burr, prickle, thorn, spine or dagger. You'd think we were living in a desert or something.
But the dogs were having a great time playing in the stream and running around on the sandstone formations.
Sonja even found an old bear skull that Luna seemed to like the taste of.
So I dared Sonja to try a bite.
It was really cool to see the contrast between the flat, red sandstone and the round volcanic basalt. We were hoping to find some petroglyphs that are supposed to be down in that area, but after two hours of hiking in we decided we'd try again some other time. And rather than bushwack our way along the streambed and risk a sprained/broken ankle, we opted to climb up onto the ridge and take the "easy" way back to the car.
Ok, so let's just say we didn't think this plan through all the way. At least by the time we got back to the car the dogs had learned the fine art of cacti maneuvering. Well, sort of. But it only took us twenty minutes to pull all of the spines off of the two of them.
We also took part in the Great Backyard Bird Count today. We missed a few species I was hoping for (like a Greater Roadrunner), but overall not a bad showing for only a couple hours. No lifers, but it was fun to keep track during our hike. Here's our list of the 23 species we saw, in roughly taxonomic order:
American Coot: 6
Hooded Merganser: 1
American Widgeon: 32
Ring-necked Duck: 2
Red-tailed Hawk: 2
Cooper's Hawk: 1
Northern Flicker: 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker: 1
Gila Woodpecker: 2
Common Raven: 2
Mourning Dove: 3
Western Bluebird: 6
American Robin: 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 1
Bushtit: 3
Bridled Titmouse: 2
Canyon Wren: 1
Rock Wren: 2
Northern Cardinal: 1
White-crowned Sparrow: 3
Dark-eyed Junco: 27
House Finch: 8
Lesser Goldfinch: 6
There's still another day and a half if any of you are interested in participating. All you have to do is watch birds anywhere you want to for at least fifteen minutes before the end of tomorrow (Monday). Record the species you see and the number of individuals you can identify for each. Go here for more detailed info on the rules and how to submit your list. And happy birding!
There wasn't much in the way of a trail, though. Which meant that most of the hike involved navigating our way over large river rocks and underneath/around/through assorted prickly things. Lots and lots of prickly things. Everything we encountered seemed to be armored with some sort of burr, prickle, thorn, spine or dagger. You'd think we were living in a desert or something.
But the dogs were having a great time playing in the stream and running around on the sandstone formations.
Sonja even found an old bear skull that Luna seemed to like the taste of.
So I dared Sonja to try a bite.
It was really cool to see the contrast between the flat, red sandstone and the round volcanic basalt. We were hoping to find some petroglyphs that are supposed to be down in that area, but after two hours of hiking in we decided we'd try again some other time. And rather than bushwack our way along the streambed and risk a sprained/broken ankle, we opted to climb up onto the ridge and take the "easy" way back to the car.
Ok, so let's just say we didn't think this plan through all the way. At least by the time we got back to the car the dogs had learned the fine art of cacti maneuvering. Well, sort of. But it only took us twenty minutes to pull all of the spines off of the two of them.We also took part in the Great Backyard Bird Count today. We missed a few species I was hoping for (like a Greater Roadrunner), but overall not a bad showing for only a couple hours. No lifers, but it was fun to keep track during our hike. Here's our list of the 23 species we saw, in roughly taxonomic order:
American Coot: 6
Hooded Merganser: 1
American Widgeon: 32
Ring-necked Duck: 2
Red-tailed Hawk: 2
Cooper's Hawk: 1
Northern Flicker: 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker: 1
Gila Woodpecker: 2
Common Raven: 2
Mourning Dove: 3
Western Bluebird: 6
American Robin: 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 1
Bushtit: 3
Bridled Titmouse: 2
Canyon Wren: 1
Rock Wren: 2
Northern Cardinal: 1
White-crowned Sparrow: 3
Dark-eyed Junco: 27
House Finch: 8
Lesser Goldfinch: 6
There's still another day and a half if any of you are interested in participating. All you have to do is watch birds anywhere you want to for at least fifteen minutes before the end of tomorrow (Monday). Record the species you see and the number of individuals you can identify for each. Go here for more detailed info on the rules and how to submit your list. And happy birding!
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