Angel Fire Wildfires

 

 

Angel Fire Wildflowers

In the campground where we stayed in Angel Fire, NM, there is a walking path that had some lovely wildflowers blooming while we were there.  I’ve done my best to identify them using my Wildflower book, but forgive me if I’ve gotten some wrong…

It was interesting to see a couple of variations on a theme, so to speak for these blooms.  They are called Common Horseweed and are members of the Aster family.  The color in the middle of the bloom was the same color, but the outer petals are clearly very different colors! 

There were quite a few poppies around on our walk.  They tend to grow tall, and I find them such vibrantly happy blooms.  They generally make me smile just by looking at them!

We have yellow Columbine blooms at home, but this was the first time I saw some that were purple in color!  They certainly added a different touch to the flower bed!

This pretty little bloom was always found in a cluster of flowers.  I believe the name of them is Dakota Vervain, and although the individual blooms were small, when they were clustered together, they did create a lovely burst of color in the garden.

The last three flowers we found in the garden were all small and added nice touches to the garden.  The yellow bloom is called a Shrubby Cinqufoil.  It reminds me of a different flower, but I couldn’t recall its name or find it in my wildflower book.  The purple blossom is a primrose of a sort – I always feel like they seem like such shy little blooms!  The last flower – the red & white blooms that remind me of carnations, with ruffled petal edges.  However, I couldn’t find anything that looked like them in my reference book.  Maybe wild carnations?

This is the first of three flower blooms that I found to be inspirational to look at, and so I found an appropriate quote for each of them.  This bloom to be is a poppy, and yes, I think this will be a “good end”, and the beginning is very lovely, too!

A dandelion always seems so simple, but when you look at the “after bloom” when it’s going to seed, this simple bloom is very complex!  So, the simple bloom is truly a state of mind!

This fragile looking bloom really deserved the quote I found for it, and it also seemed appropriate to have it be a bit faded itself!

I hope you enjoyed this wildflower walk with us.  If you have had a hectic day, this hopefully was a chance to sit back and catch your breath.

Enjoy!

 

Burro Mountain Adventure

 

Burro Mountain Adventure

In June, we visited a campground that was new to us.  We camped at a campground on Burro Mountain, and the campground was right next to some off-road trails suitable for an OHV!  Of course, we had to take advantage of it!  Let’s check it out…

We went down a couple of different trails on our trip, and they all started out the same way – very easy and picturesque!!  And, interestingly, we were the only ones on the trail.  Of course, it was during the week – I’m thinking things would have been a bit more crowded if it was the weekend!

There were certainly some interesting shaped trees we came across along the way.  At one point, I even thought I saw some people camping in among the oddly shaped trees, only to find out it was a huge rock instead!!  I was getting so used to seeing oddly shaped trees, I thought the rock was an oddly shaped tent!! 

These photos don’t really do justice to the rough roads we encountered.  When we hit the really rough roads, I was too busy hanging on and protecting my camera to take any photos!!  But these images represented the beginning of the wild ride!! 

At various points along the way, we’d stop to see (not smell) the flowers!!  These were all prickly pear blooms, and you can see the length of those thorns!!  And, they were equally sharp, too!!

Back at the campground, it was very common to see mule deer wandering around.  They were wild, but seemed pretty comfortable with people, as long as we didn’t try to get too close.  Here are a few deer noticing Max walking with Jeff.  Some took off at a pretty brisk trot to another area of the campground, while the others simply walked slowly, not at all intimidated by our Max, who was very well-behaved around them!

One of the deer displayed enough trust to get fairly close to me, as I sat at our picnic table.  I moved very slowly so as to not spook her, and I was rewarded with this lovely portrait.  Isn’t she sweet?  Look at those ears, though!!

When the deer were behind our rig, they stopped to munch, and a couple would even reach up to munch on the leaves of the trees.  I just sat there and watched them wander and graze.  So relaxed and comfortable with me in such close quarters.

Enjoy!

 

Gemini Bridges Road

 

Gemini Bridges Road

Our last exploration for this trip was down an off-road that is new to us.  It’s called Gemini Bridges Road and that’s exactly where it leads!

The road starts off hugging a tall rock bluff at times.  At first, we found ourselves following another Jeep, but she pulled over after a bit and let us pass her.  We never saw her again, so I sort of felt like she may have turned around.

And more spring wildflowers on this road, too!  Plus, there is this very tall rock formation (totally natural, not man-made) that is named the Gooney Bird Rock.  He sort of looks like he’s watching the land for food…except of course, he doesn’t eat!!  He reminds me of how ravens scope out the landscape, looking for small rodents and snakes to call a meal.

When we got to the point where the short trail to the Gemini Bridges were, I noticed this lovely tree that either hadn’t yet woken up to spring or was yet another dead tree standing.  I loved the shape of the branches.

And here we are at the Gemini Bridges.  If you look closely, you can see the one bridge in the forefront, and off to the left, the second bridge sort of peeking out from the first one.  An interesting note is the difference between a rock bridge and a rock arch.  The explanation is that an arch was eroded from a sort of rock alcove, with wind and sand wearing away until the arch appears.  A bridge, on the other hand, was formed due to water flowing beneath it, at least at the point in time when the bridge was formed.

The image on the left was taken as we walked on one of the bridges and looked at the “twin” bridge, right next to it.  The image on the right is looking at the bridges once we’ve crossed the one bridge and are looking back at the “twin” or Gemini Bridges.  Although the space between the two bridges looks very narrow, people are cautioned NOT to try to jump from one to the other.  Several people have tried, and the results were very sad and not successful.  So, enjoy the view, but no gymnastics.

Enjoy!

Willow Springs Road and Arches National Park

 

 Willow Springs Road and Arches National Park

On our second day at Moab, we decided to explore a road that we’d done before.  I especially like this because we get to walk right up to a piece of earth’s history!!

As we began our drive down Willow Springs Road, spring was certainly showing off once again – green throughout the flat plains type area, dotted with the wildflowers blooming!  Seeing this was such an unexpected gift!

Before too long, we came across some dinosaur tracks – just out in the wild for all to see.  These tracks were made by a species of dinosaur that roamed this area about 165 million years ago.  The human size predators that were in this area walked a shallow sea area that inundated the area around Moab.  When the sea retreated, these tracks were buried and preserved as the sands and muds turned to stone over time.

This is a close-up view of the tract of the dinosaur and an artist’s rendering of what it was thought to look like.  The name of this dinosaur is a sauropod, and although they were thought to be our size, I still wouldn’t have wanted to meet up with one!  To date, more than 2500 tracks have been found both on public land, as these tracks are, and also in Arches National Park.  We’ve not ever seen any that are in Arches.  What we found rather sad was that these tracks seem to be fading, compared to the last time we saw them.  Eventually, they will, most likely, disappear into history.

When I turned my back on the tracks, this was the view of the area where the sauropods once roamed.  Of course, it looked very different at that time, because at least some of this land would have been under water.  As a piece of information, the strip of turquoise colored rock running through one of the bluffs is either copper or uranium.

As we moved on, we began to see the familiar rock formations of Arches National Park in the distance, with the La-Sal Mountains behind them in one of these images.  We are still on what is very much a primitive dirt road at this time, especially when I took the upper photo, but right about now is when we entered Arches National Park formally.  We were fine to enter the park, since we were in a Jeep, but from the point when the road enters the Park, all other vehicles, such as ATV’s, UTV’s and OHV’s, even if they are considered street legal, are not allowed in the Park.  So, to enter the Park via this “back door”, you must be driving a more traditional vehicle.

As we drew closer to the main road running through Arches, more things became visible to us.  The upper photo is of a formation called Balanced Rock, I believe, and if you look closely at the bottom photo, you can see an arch in among the other rock formations.

Once inside the Park, there were several sights to see.  The image on the left is the entrance to what’s called Devils Garden Trail.  We didn’t walk it this time, as we had Max in the Jeep with us, and dogs are not allowed outside vehicles in the National Park.  This path, leads to Landscape Arch, which is a very long, narrow arch.  The trail, which used to run right under that arch, is no longer open to the public, because pieces of Landscape Arch have broken off and crashed to the ground over the years.  Also along this trail is the place where another arch, Wall Arch, once stood.  That arch collapsed in 2008.  The middle image is of what I think of as Twin Arches.  From the angle of this image, if you look closely, you can see that you are actually looking through two arches right next to one another to see the sky beyond them.  The third image, on the right, is of an interesting rock formation.  Sometimes separate rocks seem to have formed butting right up to each other.  There were many rocks like that in this area, but there was an opening where we could see a smaller version of the famous Balanced Rock.

Another arch close to the road and easy to access is one called Skyline Arch.  The upper image is of the view from the parking area near the arch.  The lower image, though, is from the side.  In this image, if you look closely, you can see a smaller arch close to Skyline Arch.  It’s a bit more difficult to see because you are only looking at more rock formations when you look through it, and not the sky.

As we were driving out of Arches, we passed a rock formation that I like – Three Sisters – it always reminds me of my three nieces, all sisters.  Although we’ve visited Arches National Park several times over the years, I generally welcome the opportunity to visit it again, simply because of its relatively temporary nature.  Since all the formations and arches are made of sandstone, over time, they will all collapse, just like Wall Arch that I mentioned above, and how Landscape Arch is slowly breaking apart.  So, let’s enjoy this National Park while we can!!

Enjoy!!

 

Potash Road and Shafer Trail

 

Potash Road and Shafer Trail

In May, we visited Moab, UT, and had fun off-roading, Jeep style!  On our first day out on the “off” road, we took a trail we’d been down many times – it’s a favorite!!

As we drove down the main highway to get to Potash Road, I looked at the red rock bluffs and wondered how many people would look at these towering rock formations and not realize what fun lay behind them!!  So many adventures!

The start of Potash Road is very smooth.  The Colorado River is on our left, and sheet rock walls on our right.  There is a stretch of the road, about a mile in length, that is prime rock climbing territory!  Although you can’t see it in the photo on the left, there are several cars parked along this stretch of the road and people are in various stages of preparing for or climbing up and down the wall.  I can safely say this isn’t an activity Jeff and I will ever try!!

We had never been in Moab this early in the season, and one of the very pleasant surprises was how green the landscape was!!  I especially loved the red rocks in contrast to the greenery on the ground.  A different flavor of traditional Christmas colors!

Since we’d been down this trail many times, I did look for some different perspectives of sights that are now familiar to us.  This view of the Colorado River, up high on the red rock bluffs, was taken in a place where only a sliver of the river can be seen between the rocks.  It wasn’t a place I could ever remember being and the view felt like a secret pleasure.

It seemed like almost everywhere we drove, there were spring blooms – this was a vibrant red bloom.  It reminds me of a bloom I saw once called a bottle brush bloom – perhaps this is a variation that bloom, as the original bottle brush I saw was down in Australia or New Zealand!!

We turned the corner and came across a sight I never grow tired of – the Shafer Trail!  This road looks like it will run right into the sheer rock walls – and it does…sort of.  Instead of stopping, though, we will drive up that sheer wall!

How will we make that climb?  Switchbacks!!  Here are a couple of views I took looking down as we climbed up the wall – and how the trail looked in our GPS!!  Pretty twisty!!

And, here are the views from the top!  By the way, at this point, we’ve entered Canyonlands National Park, via a back route, so to speak!!  Here are a couple of views from the top, including one looking out over the off-roads, Moab and to the La-Sal Mountains beyond Moab.  This is also the first time we’ve seen the La-Sal Mountains with snow caps.

I’ll leave you with some different forms of beauty, all in this one image – green among the red rocks, the dramatic beauty of dead trees, still standing, wonderful open canyons and the mountains in the distance.  Choose your favorite or just enjoy them all!

Enjoy!

 

OHV 101 - Haystack Mountain OHV Area

 

OHV 101 – Haystack Mountain OHV Area

Our next adventure with OHV’ing was the following day, when we visited a very different environment.

But, before we got to the OHV area, we came across some pronghorn antelope on the road to the OHV area.  This guy was strolling down the middle of the road, but when he heard us, he trotted off the road, and then bounded (ever so gracefully) into the brush and out of sight.

And here’s an example of how different the terrain is at Haystack Mountain vs. the dunes where we were the day before.  This area overlooks the Pecos River, although we never did get to see it this time around.  There are over 1900 acres of trails to ride, although similar to the dunes area the day before, there wasn’t any sort of map to show us the trails that would be appropriate for us. 

As we started out, I had a chance to take photos of the lovely flowers that manage to grow in the rocky terrain.  In a way, it was not a good preview of what we came across.  We did run into a very rocky, steep incline that we went down, and then, in just a few yards, an even more extreme rocky and steep incline.  We decided this trail was beyond our capability and backtracked to find another trail.

As we drove slowly down the next trail, we came to this area, and weren’t sure if we were looking at an overlook or the edge of a steep downward incline the likes of which we’ve never seen!!  Thank goodness it was just a very pretty overlook.  We did see some other trails, but felt that somehow, we needed to get a better idea of what were actually trails and how they were rated.  Again, another lesson learned about what we didn’t know!!  But we’re not going to give up!!

Enjoy!

OHV 100 - Mescalero Sand Dunes

 

OHV 100 – Mescalero Sand Dunes

New Mexico has a number of trails established especially for OHV’s (Off Highway Vehicles).  The area around Bottomless Lakes State Park has two, and the Mescalero Sand Dune area was the first that we visited to start our self-taught lessons on OHV’ing!

The Mescalero Sand Dunes is made up of more than 610 acres of dunes that can reach 90+ feet high.  No, we didn’t see any of those where we chose to start!!  The dunes are made up of quartz particles and are constantly changing, as dunes have a tendency to do!!

Here is Jeff in his Toy.  We started out weaving around various grasses and clumps of sand and vegetation.  Jeff kept going faster and faster, and it was fun, even not knowing exactly what we were doing!!

Jeff got more and more adventurous as we drove closer to the dune grasses and sort of plants that were in that area.  He asked me if I wanted to drive, but I was too busy shooting our adventure!!  The area is supposed to have large cottonwood trees, too, but we didn’t see anywhere we were.  Jeff just kept whipping around the sandy curves until…

…we got stuck in the sand!!  And it was remarkably easy to do that, so if there was a quiz on doing that, I’m sure we would have scored an A!!  After we were already pretty well buried, Jeff asked me to get out of the Toy to hopefully lessen the weight enough to let him get out (I chose not to get into the artful way he expressed that – not!!).  But, as you can see from the photo on the left, we were buried almost up to the door.  In fact, when I got out, I could have just rolled evenly out of the Toy and onto the sand – no drop whatsoever!!  Since we were fairly close to the small road leading through the area (thank goodness!), Jeff went to get the Jeep to help get us out while I stayed with the Toy.  I was originally on the other side of the Toy, in what turned out to be very deep, very soft sand, and I had quite the mini-adventure getting up to the point where I was able to stand and move easily and where I got the second photo.

When Jeff got back, he used the winch on the Toy to hook up to the Jeep, and then used that winch to pull himself out of the grip of the sand!!  You can see all the sand kicking up as he did that!  In all, we were very glad we were so close to the road, as we never saw another person out on the dunes and considered this a lesson well learned!!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Camping at Bottomless Lakes State Park

 

Camping at Bottomless Lakes State Park

For our first camping trip of the season, Jeff and I decided to visit Bottomless Lakes State Park, here in New Mexico.  We decided on it for a couple of reasons – one is that we haven’t been there in a few years, and secondly, there are Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Trails not far from there where we could try out Jeff’s new Toy, but more about the second reason in another couple of blog posts.

Here are a couple of views of the campground from the ridge above it.  The second (lower) image has an arrow pointing to our rig in our campsite. The lake is called Lea Lake and is the largest of about 8-9 lakes.  As we drove in, it looked like the other lakes were fairly dry at this point.  The lakes are technically sinkholes, so maybe that’s the reason some seem dried up.  Lea lake always looks very blue, and that is due to the aquatic plants that grow there.  The lakes range from 17 – 90 feet deep.  My assumption is that Lea Lake is not only the largest, but also the deepest.  The state park is open to canoeing, kayaking, fishing, picnicking, swimming, hiking, birding (at the right time of the year) and scuba diving!

Here is a closer view of our campsite – large enough to hold our complete entourage of vehicles – the RV, Jeep and Jeff’s Toy!  The lower photo is the view we had while sitting outside the rig enjoying the warm weather (80s).

Ah, the lake is Max’s favorite!!  He loved it when Jeff would toss just any old stick for him to swim out to retrieve.   And, if Jeff didn’t toss a stick, Max would wade into the water and turn around and look at Jeff as if to say, “Let’s get with the program!”  Sometimes he’d just start swimming off in the wrong direction from where the stick was and would then spend a lot of time swimming around trying to find it, often in vain!

But mostly, he would retrieve the stick and then (eventually) bring it to Jeff to toss again.  I think for Max, some of the fun of retrieving is to not quite completely retrieve it!

Enjoy!!  More to come!