Description

I own no land, instead I have wheelestate. I’ve been a full time RVer since 1997. Working summers as a Park Ranger takes me to many beautiful places and playing during the winter takes me to many more. This blog is simply the story of my life's adventures.

Moved

Thank you for stopping by. Just to let you know, I'm still blogging but have moved to Geogypsytraveler. Hope you'll follow my adventures. Just click here.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Scenic Sunday – Balancing rock

a499 Balancing rock above Phantom Ranch GRCA NP AZ (1024x813)

The building blocks of nature hold strong until the power of erosion overcomes. From the floor of Grand Canyon one feels infinitesimally small in the scheme of life. Yet the energy that surrounds fills the soul.

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Friday, December 17, 2010

Sapquin

a2299 Pine sap sparkles on rock at Tuweep GRCA NP AZ

Blinded by the light. Or maybe just blind. Two days ago I got this hair brained idea about putting together a booklet of some 2010 blog posts in print form for my Mom for Christmas. Yea, I know you can pay people to do that, but…. Many hours later and only half way through the year at 28 pages I realized the cost to print this would be high. Then friend FabGrandma suggested making a calendar. Which would only require 12 photos, minimum. Great idea. I’m through September looking at the years 10,000s of photos. And I’m going blind. So what does any of this have to do with the sapquin? Just one of many images I liked along the way and hadn’t posted yet. This was taken when we went to Tuweep. And what is a sapquin you ask? Well, I’m sure you’ve heard of sequins, right. Caused by light reflecting on a shiny surface, like the sea. This is light reflected on pinyon pine tree sap sitting on sandstone. Did I mention my brain is addled?

Thursday, December 16, 2010

SWF – 14 minutes of change

01 Sunset Yarnell AZ 5-31pm (1024x768)

Almost every evening

02 Sunset Yarnell AZ 5-37pm (1024x768)

I’m sitting at the computer

03 Sunset Yarnell AZ 5-39pm (1024x768)

watching the sunset

04 Sunset Yarnell AZ 5-42pm (1024x768)

camera at hand.

05 Sunset & crescent moon Yarnell AZ 5-45pm (1024x768)

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Drakensberg hike to Brian Bush Camp - Day 1 of 2

01 Sunrise from Monks Cowl camp Drakensburg ZA (1024x768)

After two days of intermittent rain in the Bergs Joan and I woke up to clear skies above. And that’s where I’d be headed for my scheduled overnight hike lead by John from Vertical Horizons (son of Jo from memorable meanders).

02 Trailhead from Monks Cowl camp Drakensburg KwaZulu-Natal ZA (1024x767)

A good sign. ;) About 8.5 miles (14 km) to Brian Bush Camp. (Please correct me if I’m wrong about the distance. It felt like that far.)

03 Sandstone cliffs Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA pano (1024x459)

We initially walked up through a short stretch of indigenous forest, and then continued into bushveld, thick scrubby trees and bush in dense thickets, and eventually grassland.

 04 Crystal Falls Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA pano (559x1024)

I took a fall at Crystal Falls stepping onto a slippery rock to take a photo but was OK and saved the new camera from a soaking. Actually drank the stream water, delicious and no problems.

05 Champagne Castle, Cathkin Peak & the Sterkhorn Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA pano (1024x390)

Champagne Castle 3377m, Cathkin Peak 3148m & the Sterkhorn 2973m

A little further past the Sphinx the path winds steeply up the rest of the Little Berg and onto the plateau.

06 wildlife (1024x768)

Once on the plateau we stopped at Breakfast Stream for a snack and were entertained by a couple of sun lizards (top right).

07 Eye of the Needle Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA (1024x595)

The eye of the needle

The path lead us slightly uphill and down following the gentle contour of this lush plateau.

08 flowers (1024x768)

Even during fall there were a few flowers and we grazed along  the way on wild berries.

09 The Sphinx & valley view Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA (1024x768)

The mountains are capped by a layer of basalt approximately 1,400 meters thick, with sandstone lower down, resulting in a combination of steep-sided blocks and pinnacles.

10 Basalt with zeolites (1024x768)

Many of the primary minerals within the basalts have been altered to form zeolites, found in cavities in basalt. Looked like pale blue banded agate to me.

11 Gaelyn at Blind Man's Corner Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA (1024x768)

Day hiking is not recommended beyond Blinds man corner…

12 Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA (1024x768)

…a great place to stop for lunch and enjoy the views.

13 Dragons Teeth & Eye of the needle Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA pano (1024x449)

As we continued towards the Dragons Teeth it seemed the breath of the dragon began to roll in.

14 Stream Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA pano (839x1024) 

Suddenly a monster storm rolled over us with loud and energetic thunder and lightning dropping buckets of water until we were soaked.

15 Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA (1024x768)

Just as quickly, the storm moved on and the earth smelled freshly washed.

 16 Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA (1024x768)

Soon after the squall passed we turned a corner and saw Monks Cowl towering above Brian Bush Camp.

 17 Keith Bush Camp Drakensburg hike KwaZulu-Natal ZA (768x1024)

And in only a bit farther--seemed like forever at that point--John had camp set up and hot water on for tea and cocoa. He’s a great guy and guide. We basically dried fast after our drenching yet as the sun disappeared I was glad for dry poly and warm supper. John walked down to the stream and took a dip before retiring but not me. I like hot water down my back, which would happen the next day after our hike back.

Monday, December 13, 2010

MWT – Two lifers this week

OK, so I don’t Really consider myself a birder. I do like to watch and try to identify them. Even take a photo when able. (Birds are usually much faster and flightier than I.) I don’t count the birds. But I have a treasured old field guide which I’ve marked in for years.

01 Red-breasted Nuthatch on feeder Yarnell AZ - Copy

I’ve been seeing this little bird flit in and out, so fast it’s very difficult to get a clear look let alone a photo (sorry this one’s not good).

02 White-crowned sparrows on water bowl Yarnell AZ (1024x458)

At first I thought it was a tiny White-crowned sparrow because of the black eye line. But it’s much smaller, with a buff colored belly and blue-gray upperparts.

02 Red-breasted-Nuthatch-cb1270502676 range map

Central Arizona seems to be at the edge of its winter/summer range. According to National Geographic the red-breasted nuthatch is “common to abundant. Breeding: northern and subalpine conifers, particularly spruces and firs. Occasionally breeds south of mapped breeding range, usually in conifer plantations or residential neighborhoods with conifers. Migration: irruptive; often moving in 2- to 3-year cycles but variable. Northernmost migrate annually; southernmost are generally resident.”

03 red-breasted-nuthatch_16814_435x580 illus by H Douglas Pratt 

Illustration by H Douglas Pratt

The local plants are oaks and manzanita, not too many conifers. Maybe I’m just being more observant this year, but I don’t remember ever seeing this little sweetie before. Sure hope it returns to I can try for more photos.

05 Female Williamson's Sapsucker Yarnell AZ

Then Sunday morning a mid-sized bird swooped onto the top of the phone pole. I zoomed in to see it pecking at the wood. Appears to be a female Williamson’s sapsucker. She sat with her back to me but later flew off showing the soft yellow belly.

06 male & female Williamson's Sapsucker

According to wikipedia: “The female is completely different in appearance: mainly black, with a pale yellow breast, a brownish head with black streaking and fine barring on the back, breast and sides. Originally, the female was considered to be a different species and named the Black-breasted Woodpecker by Cassin.”

07 Williamson's sapsucker range map

They are permanent residents in some parts of their range and migrating birds form small flocks traveling as far south as central Mexico. Yet again central Arizona is at the edge of their winter range.

08 Female Williamson's Sapsucker Yarnell AZ

The species took its common name from Lieutenant Robert Stockton Williamson, who led a survey expedition to identify the best route west for a railway to the Pacific Ocean and collected the first male of the species.

So now I’m researching what it takes to ebird. I’m not really good at numbers…but if I start keeping track, these are two lifers.

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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Scenic Sunday – Where’s the trail?

01 Rock cairn & view N from Cedar Ridge overlook along S Kaibab trail GRCA NP AZ (1024x766)

Pay close attention to that rock cairn. Bad place to make a wrong turn. The trail to a dead end overlook at Cedar Ridge is off to the right. Sure got great views looking west over Grand Canyon from here. One of many photo ops along the South Kaibab trail.

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