Along the Way!

 

Always interesting to see what folks come up with out here on the road!

MONO LAKE, CA

When Kim & I were in Yosemite a few years back, I wanted to visit this place, but the passes from west to east were still closed, so we moved on south to Death Valley. 

Nestled at the edge of the arid Great Basin and the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains in California, Mono Lake is an ancient saline lake that covers over 70 square miles and supports a unique and productive ecosystem. The lake has no fish; instead it is home to trillions of brine shrimp and alkali flies. Freshwater streams feed Mono Lake, supporting lush riparian forests of cottonwood and willow along their banks. Along the lakeshore, scenic limestone formations known as tufa towers rise from the water's surface. Millions of migratory birds visit the lake each year.

I came in from the south and east through a great high pass loaded with big fir and remnants of the logging era. Several interpretive plaques explained the role of the lake area in early wood production. Although all the "big" trees are long gone, there were a few older ones that were impressive.

Further along the Tufa area appeared, a very interesting trail near the shore through all the formations!

I found a nice quiet County park on the north end of the lake, great place to boondock for the evening.

A three mile walk the next morning led me to a high plateau overlooking the lake, with a small community graveyard.  Most headstones were either modest or "hand-made".

I did some birding that morning, predominantly robins & cowbirds, along with a few Wilson's warblers.

Nearer the shore, I saw a few of those birds the lake is well known for:

Later that morning, I drove back along the highway and enjoyed even more the backdrop of the Sierras in the morning light!

FIRST SNOW!

Decided to jump over to Hwy 395 which parallels the east side of the Sierras, great choice, probably one of the most scenic highways in the west.

Yosemite is just over the mountains!

Along the Road - Up Hwy 95 from Vegas

Just a few interesting sights:

An artist decided the outdoors must be graced with a nice place to sit, so this beautiful mosaic was the result!

MOre!

Rhyolite Ghost Town

 

Very interesting stop along the way, just east of Death Valley NP about 30 miles is this old ghost town that flourished between 1904 & 1908 then was abandoned after the short-lived gold was gone.

As one first enters town, you can't help but notice an interesting, more modern structure off to the right.  Since Kim & I had done some bottle wall construction both at Mike Reynold's Earthship community, and on the Mermaid Cottage we worked on in Del Norte, CO, I had to take a closer look!

 

 

Walking up towards what appeared to be the main part of town the place was absolutely deserted!

 

It felt strange walking up what apparently was "Main St." with so little left now compared to the town at it's peak!

FIRST NIGHT @ LAKE MEAD

First night found the Boulder Beach CG just north of the dam.  Beautiful spot for dry camping, right on the lake.  Very nice paved spots next to the beach, only $5 a nite with your Senior Access card!

ON THE ROAD - ALASKA 2014!

OK, so this is the first post in a long, long time!  I'm back on the road again for the summer - yep a bucket list thing primarily to fish in ALASKA AGAIN!

The start of the trip was loading the big Dodge MegaCab truck up with lots of good stuff for the trip.  Of course, the Lance camper on the back is stuffed to the gills also:

RINGO - the Ring-Tail Cat!

Friday, a week ago. I noticed some scat in the house on the steps going up to the hamshack.  First assumption was a skunk, since we’ve had those around before.  So other than hearing a few noises at night, everything seemed ok until last Monday morning.  I got up as usual, and was sipping my coffee in front of the fireplace, when out from the bedroom onto the stair landing, walks a beautiful ring-tailed cat (actually a member of the raccoon family). We both stood frozen in amazement staring at one another for about 10 seconds, after which he went behind a kitchen cabinet and disappeared. It appeared that the only way out was either behind the cabinets, or perhaps in back of our refrigerator.

 

Last Tuesday morning when I got up and walked down the steps,  I found he’d pulled a bunch of 5 bananas off the kitchen table and had eaten half of them, (the remains were on the lower step, just below where I'd seem him before)!
 

So, Jacinto, a friend who helps me on projects, was out here Wednesday and Thursday helping me on a water line project.  When we finished that, we found a couple of potential entry points in the pump & water heater shed in back of the house where the critter could be getting into the main bathroom downstairs through a tiny slot behind the shower.

 

Yes, when Jacinto & I looked in the hot water heater closet out back to see about closing the hole in there, (where the critter had pushed the existing chicken wire out of the way to get thru into a small crawl space behind the lower bath shower, and thereby into the house) I saw the last 6 inches of his tail as he went back into the house!  So, as far as we could tell, he was now captive inside the house, with exits/entrances now sealed with fiberglass insulation behind chicken wire and diamond lathe. 

 

I bought a trap large enough to catch him, have it baited with bananas, some peanut butter, and a raw duck neck (I ate the rest for supper Thursday night)... 

 

Friday morning (now a week later!) Kim heard strange noises from behind the bathroom wall.  We went out back and opened the door to the hot water heater closet, and sure 'nough, Ringo was in the just staring at us!

 

 
Although his face looked like a weasel or small dog, his feet were very cat-like.  If I had only seen those, I'd have sworn this was a big ole tabby up in there!

 Since he showed a liking for bananas, I tried holding a piece out towards him, and although he was interested, he wouldn't leave the security of the water heater closet with it's close-set logs.

So, I placed the banana pieces outside on the sidewalk in his view, left and went aroung to the bathroom window inside. 






It didn't take him long to come on out and get the a small piece of the sweet fruit then run back to safety.  On his second trip, he surprised me by grabbing the peel rather than the rest of the banana.

 But he wasn't going to leave that big chunk behind, and when he came for it, I was ready for a pix of that long tail.

 

That afternoon, we left the door to the water heater hutch (where he was this morning) open, so he  could leave if he wanted too, we were almost hoping he would stay, but by Saturday morning, he was long gone

 

BUT, there’s always that possibility that he’ll find his way back into the house once again, and snuggle up under the covers with us tonight!

 

I’ll keep you posted,

 

Sam

My first attempt at video editing was today, a short segment on the arrival and morning of the first day of our recent trip to Quito Ecuador.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAagF7Q09bs&feature=plcp

Grand Isle Birding

It's Tuesday and a front has passed through last night, making for a north wind today - favored conditions for a bird migration "fallout".  So, we head down to the coast, Grand Isle for a day of birding.

Turns out that the fallout didn't occur, and we struggle to see a few species of migrating warblers.  The highlight of the day was back at the "Exxon ponds" on the east end of the Island.  Here we were delighted to find many of our old shorebird friends.

Watching the Reddish Egret do it's dance while hunting for fish is always a treat, but the best shot of the day was this one, where in a single frame we have the Reddish, a Little Blue, a Tricolor, common Egret and several Snowy Egrets - Wow - all five at once - unusual indeed!