Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Horse Camp Wash

 Yesterday I got out early and rode up Horse Creek Wash starting off Highway 6 about 20 minutes south of Ely.

 The wash empties into Steptoe Valley as a wide and shallow grass and sage valley.

Higher the valley narrows and the Pinon Juniper Forest encroaches.

Bike and flowing water trough. The water was coming from a solar powered well.

Most of the best limestone formations were still in the shade early morning, but this little one was shining brightly.

Flowing water!


The cabin at Horse Camp Spring. Looks like it was in pretty good shape until relatively recently, but pack rats had gotten in the through the rotten planks at floor level and were making a mess.

Apparently unused corral.

The meadow at Horse Camp. As I rode up I saw a small herd of Elk including two young ones. here.

This is another meadow with flowing water just above Horse Camp Spring.

I got up to the pass between Horse Camp Wash and Cattle Camp Wash relatively easily, so I checked my maps and decided to take on the big loop by heading over the pass.

Small but attractive Limestone formations along the way.

Came across this old cabin about midway down Cattle Camp Wash. It is entirely fenced in preventing access (I reached through to take the photo). There's the remnants of an old mine nearby, but I can't find any other info on it.

Wide open scenery lower down with Mt Grafton in the distance.

The USGS topo map calls this the Lund Group Well. The windmill was operational. The school bus was not! Note the solar panels for running a pump in the well too.
 

There were three or four of these "troughs" made from giant tires with float valves in the middle which were protected by metal cages. Serious engineering!

By this time it was getting warm, so I wet myself with the water and rolled on. About an hour later I was at the truck. I'm loving the adventure riding out here!

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Great Basin NP

 Took a short but sweet trip out to Great Basin National Park with long time friends. 

Theresa Lake with Mount Wheeler back left.

No color enhancement on this one. Just nature's brilliance! No idea what it is.

Stella Lake

Hiking with Z was a hoot. Slow, but a hoot. Perfect for me. Feeling pretty slow myself.

Sweet sweet meadows.

Twilight vistas from the campground.

Early morning scene.


Mary and I hiked Wheeler Peak back in 2018. It was great to come back and remind myself just how beautiful it is here!

Saturday, July 20, 2024

Inside Passage Pt2

 We saw Humpback Whales every day of the cruise, but this day was extraordinary owing to the number of pods and unusual feeding behavior.

With just a cell phone it was pretty hard to get good photos but....

Nice pair of flukes

Humpbacks Bubble Net Feeding. Incredible to see several whales breaking the surface, mouths agape.

Later that day we sailed up Neka Bay, then boarded the Zodiacs for a trip up the lower stretch of the Neka River. Sighted a Brown Bear and early King Salmon.

Next stop was the Inian Islands. Here we neared the open ocean with more wind and swells.

Calming at sunset!


Glacier Bay day! Mountains, glaciers, fjords.






We were lucky to witness two large calvings here at the mouth of the Margarie Glacier

The peak back right is Mt Fairweather 15,325'. Ironically this range/peak is known for consistently poor weather, but we lucked out enjoying an ideal day.


Glacier sculpted granite

Zoomed in lower left. Mountain Goat!

The second to last night on the ship.

Orcas! Without a good zoom lens it was hard to get good shots. We were blessed to see babies frolicking, adults mating, and plenty of breaching.


 All good things come to an end and unfortunately for me this trip came to a crashing end, as I contracted COVID. Symptoms showed up the last day of the cruise and next day I was pretty sick.

It's been three weeks out and I still suffer from chest and head congestion, but those symptoms are still slowly diminishing.


Monday, July 15, 2024

Inside Passage pt1

 Yeah! Something completely different. I joined my sister for a National Geographic/Lindblad Cruise of the Inside Passage.

 We started in Juneau. Nice town wedged between steep mountains and the sea front.

Large cruise ships!

We arrived a day early, so we took the opportunity to ride the tram up from town to hike beautiful ridges.

Terrific flowers.

Clouds parted just enough for some nice views.

The next morning found us cruising up the Endicott Arm towards the Dawes Glacier



Hopped in the Zodiacs to get a close (but not too close!) view of the glacier calving. Saw two good sized ones and a few smaller ones. Sounded like thunder!



Intrigued by the vegetation pattern here. Hard to capture but really cool.

Next morning we sailed to Petersburg

Seal jumps in as we arrive.

Petersburg is a thriving fishing town. Season was just ramping up.



Went hiking near Petersburg. An insect eater!


Back on board. More amazing sea & mountain scenery.

Pulled into Security Bay for beachcombing and kayaking.