Thursday, February 5, 2009
Photos: Calico Tanks
And of course Rover was hiking with me! He was kind enough to pose for a photo on the hike back down the Calico Tanks trail.
Listen...
What an amazing sunrise! I was greeted with a sky painted in shades of pink, orange, and yellow this morning, a wonderful start to my day.
When I closed my eyes last night I still hadn't chosen which varation of red rocks would be the target of today's wandering. This morning's decision? Another day in Red Rock Canyon, a day where the rocks would show different shades of color than yesterday.
The air was cooler today than yesterday. I started with more (thin) layers, but by the end of the day I was down to a single sleeveless layer (again). The sky this morning wore gray, patterned with clouds. And then... as I turned to the north, I saw a band of bright blue emerging from the gray. That blue expanded and chased the clouds away; my last hike of the day was under that beautiful blue sky.
Calico Tanks beckoned this morning. The begnning of the hike followed a wash, curving through hills of colored rock. Easy walking, and then... walking in the wash changed to walking up red rocks, finding a path up the gentlest grade, with the most sure footing. I walked, and I stopped to play with my camera. I walked some more, heading up the trail, climbing up rocks, not looking down...
I followed, walked with, and chatted with two women on (what I consiidered to be a) dfficult section of trail. One of them shared my need to know that my feet wouldn't slip out from under me, and the other did a great job of scouting out gentler descents for all of us. Both women were from Las Vegas. Our conversation opened my eyes to life in Las Vegas. I was wondering why I saw so many people hiking and biking during what I thought were normal work hours. Well, those Monday to Friday daytime hours are regular working hours for many of us, but that's really not true for those employed in the casino industry. I wonder why that never occurred to me before.
And then... I started following a trail heading to the south and east, pulled by the two-colored rocks, a strong red over or under a lighter color. As I walked, I kept wandering to look at low-lying cactus, to try to capture the wisps on the edges of the yucca. It was quiet, and then... I heard a sound, a very distinct sound. I looked up, looked out, and saw a stellar's jay, flying. The sound I heard? It was the jay's wings moving through the air. Next I heard chirping, and saw a low bush teeming with birds, small birs, gray in color with rosy highlights.
The sounds weren't finished. I heard the distinctive sound of a hummingbird's wings. I looked, and looked, and saw a hummingbird hovering, soon joined by a second hummingbird, flying, dancing.
My day continued with a wander on the beginning of the Ice Box Canyon trail, and then with a walk on the First Creek Canyon trail. By the time I started First Creek Canyon the sun was shining. The beginning of the trail was in the sun, and then I entered the shadow of the mountains. The air cooled, but walking kept me warm. And that shadow? It covered much more ground as I headed back out, as the sun dropped lower in the sky, hiding behind those mountains.
Earlier, the sounds that decorated the day were the sound of birds. Coming back out of First Creek Canyon, I heard the sound of the wind, howling.
Just after I turned back on my last out-and-back hike of the day, I saw a beautiful 4-legged creature standing on the trail, looking at me. After I asked him if he was alone (yes, of course I talk to animals), he looked at me a little longer, then he turned and started walking in the same direction that I was traveling. Then he cut off of the trail, off on his own. Oh, you want to know who I saw? He was a beautiful coyote.
Tomorrow? It's time to see the Valley of Fire.
When I closed my eyes last night I still hadn't chosen which varation of red rocks would be the target of today's wandering. This morning's decision? Another day in Red Rock Canyon, a day where the rocks would show different shades of color than yesterday.
The air was cooler today than yesterday. I started with more (thin) layers, but by the end of the day I was down to a single sleeveless layer (again). The sky this morning wore gray, patterned with clouds. And then... as I turned to the north, I saw a band of bright blue emerging from the gray. That blue expanded and chased the clouds away; my last hike of the day was under that beautiful blue sky.
Calico Tanks beckoned this morning. The begnning of the hike followed a wash, curving through hills of colored rock. Easy walking, and then... walking in the wash changed to walking up red rocks, finding a path up the gentlest grade, with the most sure footing. I walked, and I stopped to play with my camera. I walked some more, heading up the trail, climbing up rocks, not looking down...
Rover's right of course. I've never liked going down steep terrain. It was a bit of a scramble getting up, which meant that coming back down again made me a bit nervous. Actually, I sat and slid down a couple of the steep slick-lookng sections. It would have been quite safe to walk like a normal person, but sometimes...Hey, Rover here... I tried to tell Denise that I would bouce up a bit further to take pictures and that she might want to stop climbing up. She really doesn't like coming back down steep places. you know that about Denise, don't you? She didn't listen to me though. I'll let her tell you the rest of the story...
I followed, walked with, and chatted with two women on (what I consiidered to be a) dfficult section of trail. One of them shared my need to know that my feet wouldn't slip out from under me, and the other did a great job of scouting out gentler descents for all of us. Both women were from Las Vegas. Our conversation opened my eyes to life in Las Vegas. I was wondering why I saw so many people hiking and biking during what I thought were normal work hours. Well, those Monday to Friday daytime hours are regular working hours for many of us, but that's really not true for those employed in the casino industry. I wonder why that never occurred to me before.
And then... I started following a trail heading to the south and east, pulled by the two-colored rocks, a strong red over or under a lighter color. As I walked, I kept wandering to look at low-lying cactus, to try to capture the wisps on the edges of the yucca. It was quiet, and then... I heard a sound, a very distinct sound. I looked up, looked out, and saw a stellar's jay, flying. The sound I heard? It was the jay's wings moving through the air. Next I heard chirping, and saw a low bush teeming with birds, small birs, gray in color with rosy highlights.
The sounds weren't finished. I heard the distinctive sound of a hummingbird's wings. I looked, and looked, and saw a hummingbird hovering, soon joined by a second hummingbird, flying, dancing.
My day continued with a wander on the beginning of the Ice Box Canyon trail, and then with a walk on the First Creek Canyon trail. By the time I started First Creek Canyon the sun was shining. The beginning of the trail was in the sun, and then I entered the shadow of the mountains. The air cooled, but walking kept me warm. And that shadow? It covered much more ground as I headed back out, as the sun dropped lower in the sky, hiding behind those mountains.
Earlier, the sounds that decorated the day were the sound of birds. Coming back out of First Creek Canyon, I heard the sound of the wind, howling.
Just after I turned back on my last out-and-back hike of the day, I saw a beautiful 4-legged creature standing on the trail, looking at me. After I asked him if he was alone (yes, of course I talk to animals), he looked at me a little longer, then he turned and started walking in the same direction that I was traveling. Then he cut off of the trail, off on his own. Oh, you want to know who I saw? He was a beautiful coyote.
Tomorrow? It's time to see the Valley of Fire.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Photos: first glimpses
A feast for the eyes
It was a long ride to get here, an early start, five and a half hours in the air, and I was at Red Rock Canyon before 11 this morning. Time to hike!
As I drove to the north, I could see mountains topped with white. Snow! Later, I saw a light coatng of snow deep in a valley. Luckily that was all of the white stuff that I saw here; the temperature was quite reasonable for a February day. I suspect it was in the 60s, a nice change from winter in the northeast.
I stopped at the visitor center to talk about the trails, to talk about splitting my time between Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire State Park. I chatted with someone from California who said he's been coming here to hke for the past 23 years. And he also recommended spending a day at Valley of Fire.
There must be something in the air here. I was standing at a viewpoint, soaking in the beauty, when a couple hopped out of their car. I overheard the statement “I've fallen in love with this drop-dead beautiful place”. Funny, that's how I feel too.
Knowing that I was tired from today's travel, I headed out on one of the Calico Hills trails, thinking that I'd stick with an easy trail. The trail closest to the road was an easy trail, but those red rocks called to me to wander a bit closer. Closer, up, down, no trail, just wandering in the “right” direction. My outbound journey was a sometimes walk, sometimes scramble. Coming back? Yes, I did stick to the trail.
A beautiful day... here's hoping for more to come!
As I drove to the north, I could see mountains topped with white. Snow! Later, I saw a light coatng of snow deep in a valley. Luckily that was all of the white stuff that I saw here; the temperature was quite reasonable for a February day. I suspect it was in the 60s, a nice change from winter in the northeast.
I stopped at the visitor center to talk about the trails, to talk about splitting my time between Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire State Park. I chatted with someone from California who said he's been coming here to hke for the past 23 years. And he also recommended spending a day at Valley of Fire.
There must be something in the air here. I was standing at a viewpoint, soaking in the beauty, when a couple hopped out of their car. I overheard the statement “I've fallen in love with this drop-dead beautiful place”. Funny, that's how I feel too.
Knowing that I was tired from today's travel, I headed out on one of the Calico Hills trails, thinking that I'd stick with an easy trail. The trail closest to the road was an easy trail, but those red rocks called to me to wander a bit closer. Closer, up, down, no trail, just wandering in the “right” direction. My outbound journey was a sometimes walk, sometimes scramble. Coming back? Yes, I did stick to the trail.
A beautiful day... here's hoping for more to come!
Flying high
Shhh, quiet. Denise is sleeping. Wow – she usually has trouble falling asleep on airplanes, but today? I think she must be really, really tired. So I'm writing and bouncing around the plane while she sleeps.
Oh! You haven't read one of our journals before? My name is Rover. I'm a little red dog, and I wander with Denise. I like playing with words, so Denise lets me share the writing. For those of you who don't know me, here's a photo of me from our visit to Zion National Park last spring...
OK, back to today. The alarm startled us out of a sound sleep this morning. It was early since that big bird was scheduled to take off at 7 AM, and Denise didn't know if the roads were going to be covered with snow, so she figured it might be best to leave a little earlier than usual. The roads weren't too bad, although there were sections of highway where only the right lane was totally clear. It did take a little longer than usual to get to the airport.
And then, we flew through the sky. We flew fast enough to land 30 minutes early, and we only needed to wait for 5 minutes for the gate to be available for our big bird.
Ah, the ground is dry, the sun is shining, and the morning relative cool is slowly giving way to a warm day. Hiking time for Denise, bouncing time for me!
Oh! You haven't read one of our journals before? My name is Rover. I'm a little red dog, and I wander with Denise. I like playing with words, so Denise lets me share the writing. For those of you who don't know me, here's a photo of me from our visit to Zion National Park last spring...
OK, back to today. The alarm startled us out of a sound sleep this morning. It was early since that big bird was scheduled to take off at 7 AM, and Denise didn't know if the roads were going to be covered with snow, so she figured it might be best to leave a little earlier than usual. The roads weren't too bad, although there were sections of highway where only the right lane was totally clear. It did take a little longer than usual to get to the airport.
And then, we flew through the sky. We flew fast enough to land 30 minutes early, and we only needed to wait for 5 minutes for the gate to be available for our big bird.
Ah, the ground is dry, the sun is shining, and the morning relative cool is slowly giving way to a warm day. Hiking time for Denise, bouncing time for me!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Dreaming, exploring in my mind
This trip is going to be a very quick escape from a winter that seems to bring cold white snow to us every week. In fact, it is supposed to snow tomorrow. Ah, I'm ready for some red rocks!
I think I'm going to wander in two places. I whet my appetite with a quick morning visit to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area late last year, and I left there that knowing I would return, probably many times. There's another park I've been meaning to visit too. Valley of Fire State Park is about 50 miles east of Las Vegas, and it has been calling to me for a visit. The last two times I've visited Zion National Park I've though about stopping at Valley of Fire on my way to the airport, but somehow it never felt like I had enough time.
It's time for a little bit of warmth, and a change in color. I'm looking forward to leaving snow and cold behind for a few days, to filling my eyes with visions of red rocks.
I think I'm going to wander in two places. I whet my appetite with a quick morning visit to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area late last year, and I left there that knowing I would return, probably many times. There's another park I've been meaning to visit too. Valley of Fire State Park is about 50 miles east of Las Vegas, and it has been calling to me for a visit. The last two times I've visited Zion National Park I've though about stopping at Valley of Fire on my way to the airport, but somehow it never felt like I had enough time.
It's time for a little bit of warmth, and a change in color. I'm looking forward to leaving snow and cold behind for a few days, to filling my eyes with visions of red rocks.
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