It is a lot of miles in a short time. There is a bit of excitement near the end of the trip as Kent manages to weave us through a front of heavy storms with grapefruit sized hail and 70 MPH wind. We run through some heavy rain but emerge unscathed.
It is our last travel night and we land in a bit of a throwback place, The Anchor Motel in Walsenburg, CO. It is a Mom and POP strip motel with parking right outside your door. Rooms are very small and sparsely furnished but it is comfy and mostly clean! Kent finds a great dining option, The Crafty Canary. It is actually mostly local brewery and craft cocktail joint with just enough food options to get by. Of course, we try the cocktails. Mine a lemon/sage/cucumber/herb spritzer and Kent a Whiskey Smash. It is a nice ending to the road trip.
It is Saturday and it is Farmers Market Day. It is early so not a lot of actual farm output. One has some spectacular looking mushrooms. They look too pretty to eat. We sample vegan blueberry coffee cake then head out to explore town. We stroll the Riverwalk along the Animas including a stop at the trout hatchery where we found tens of thousands of rainbow trout for stocking and dedicated tanks specifically for cut-throat trout, an endangered native species. We check out the Durango-Silverton railroad roundhouse museum. It has lots of other stuff but I enjoy the enormous steam engines. We stroll past a few historic homes then head home. There are thunder storms in the forecast and the sky is getting pretty gray.
We check out the town of Aztec too. The Aztec Museum and Pioneer Village is a fun stop. Outdoors we found a mix of replica and historic pioneer buildings: Dr Office, Sheriff Office, School, Bank, Jail, a print shop, blacksmith shop, dirt floor farmhouse and in-town house and more, each full of related (or not exactly related) relics. Scattered across the grounds we find tractors and other farm equipment. Indoors are clothing exhibits from various decades plus old-time toys and music instruments. They have a cyclorama of the Old West probably 20 feet in diameter. It’s fun just to wander through.
There is a lot of oil drilling stuff. We are in the San Juan Basin and it is one of the largest gas areas in the US. I would have guessed that. Stand anywhere out here and you can see multiple pumpjacks with piping between and rough dirt roads crisscrossing everywhere. It is not pretty.
Did you know: Back in the 1920s fracking was accomplished by exploding nitroglycerine in the wells. This museum exhibit claims that one enterprising sole even detonated a thermal nuclear device to create the required force. Yikes.
Even bigger did you know: Ever hear of Project Plowshare; the sanctioned Peaceful use of Nuclear Explosives in Cold War America. How is it we have managed not to annihilate ourselves?
We can’t pass up the A&W for lunch. Bummers, no frosted mugs!
The area’s other claim to fame is arches….I think they claim over 300 in the cliff and boulder remnants scattered across the scrub. They publish a pamphlet that provides pretty specific directions to a dozen or so of them. Armed with that, we head out on a sort of arch scavenger hunt. We spend a fair amount of time bouncing along gas well access roads and do a bit of scrub land bush-whacking to find a total of 6 arches, one with a bonus of some rock art. That’s enough fun for today.
Valleys are greening up and as we pass through areas of higher elevation pines are replacing juniper and scrub. Just west of Durango we spot our first elk. Small bands shelter along the tree line and individuals browse in meadows higher up the mountain slopes. They are beautiful creatures and I am always excited to see them when we find ourselves in their habitat. We are definitely still in the transition zone and find ourselves back into scrub for the final leg of today’s drive to Navajo Lake State Park.
We settle into camp along the shoreline all the while serenaded by the delightfully bright melody of meadow larks. At least two species of flycatchers dart from one grass tuft to another. Grassland sparrows add their tumbling song. Vividly attired white-on-black magpies dart around us. I open the window and screen, pour a glass of wine, put my feet up, and spend the rest of the afternoon watching the birds. I’m happy.
The next morning, we see new splashes of color. A pair of brilliantly orange bullock’s orioles moves among the scrub and we spot a mountain bluebird so blue it seems artificial. A band of deer make an appearance enjoying the grassy shore.
I think maybe we are about ready to move out of the desert.
The small town for us, Burns, Oregon. Start with a parade. Follow it with a free community BBQ. Throw in a grilled hotdog picnic supper. Wrap up the day with fireworks. That is a classic Independence Day. Parade highlights included Smoky the Bear and a BLM super soaker (a tanker truck with a huge pump and nozzle) that they sprayed along the parade route for the kids to play in. We skipped the BBQ and opted for another fundraiser lunch of ribs and the trimmings. The fireworks show was nicely done. It gets a few extra points since we could watch it from our lawn chairs in camp. Kent got a few pics.
Today we plan to make it a far as Hines/Burns Oregon. It is a nice distance to break up the trip
and they have Independence Day Celebration activities scheduled. I do love fireworks. US395 crosses mountain ridges and broad
valleys blanketed in scrub and hay fields, hugs the shore of several large
lakes, and passes through a few sleepy little towns. From high spots the view seems to go on
forever where the distant mountains meet the endless sky. We spot prong horn antelope along the way!
Thanks to the acres of wetlands, mosquitos are by far the
most numerous wildlife in MODOC! They
are so thick during an evening drive through that we don’t even get out of the
car. The coolest sighting of the evening
is all because of them, a huge flock of night hawks. Typically, we are lucky to get a quick
glimpse of one or two of these acrobatic buggers just before dusk but tonight a
flock of twenty or more swoops and dives through the bug filled air over pond
and wetland. It is an amazing
sight.
Sand Hill Cranes nest here in wet meadows. Seems they feed in shallow water too. I have always thought of these big birds as
plains feeders and dwellers but today I see one wading. It looks so out of place but it seems this is
typical behavior during breeding and nesting.
Learn something every day!
Mule deer graze on high grass and doe shelter young fawns on
islands, smart. California Quail scurry
about and from their perches atop scrub brush send out alarms. The distinct calls of cranes and geese fill
the air along with the warbles and rasps of red-winged and yellow-headed
blackbirds. Waders and ducks add to the
noise; not in the large numbers seen during migration but many different types
are still represented. We even manage to
walk a short trail during the cooler morning hours before the mosquitos really
get going.
It is late for us old folks but around 10PM we pack up coats,
hats, gloves and camera and head for the overlook to check out the magnificent night
sky. It does not disappoint. We have an unobstructed view with the milky
way streaked across horizon to horizon. Kent
grabs some great pictures while I just stand and gaze in awe.
Boot steps are nearly silent on the needle covered trail a
we make a slow climb through thick stand of pines. (One would think that if trailheads are at
5000 ft + at least some trails would be downhill or at least flat – not so
far!). Patches of snow cling in
sheltered spots in the woods. We had been forewarned there was still heavy snow
cover on the trail just 2 weeks ago and we find the first on the trail at about
½ mile in. We are across it in just a
few steps. No big deal. Split log bridges, fallen logs, and stepping
stones aide multiple crossings of first a tiny stream and later the larger Hat
Creek. Bird songs occasionally punctuate
the forest silence. Snow patches become larger
and more frequent. There is a bit more
detouring and a lot more careful stepping but it is still passable. We rest a spell beside a Hat Creek waterfall
then find our way to the trail destination. Paradise Meadow.
The creek meanders across a broad meadow backed by rocky
cliffs. Even ¾ snow covered it is a
beautiful serene place. We scan for wildlife
and I check out birds then find a sunny place to settle and soak it all in. Sounds mingle. Shadows and colors play off one another as
the grays of winter make way for the bright colors of spring. Cold wind off the snow blasts in stark
contrast against my sun warmed skin. The details meld together to create a unique
feel for the place. It is beautiful now
and will surely be splendid when the wildflowers come into full bloom…a few
more weeks.
We take a detour at a fork in the trail in search of a
vantage point that allows us to keep watch on the meadow while basking in the
sun. We cross a split log bridge that
has seen better days. The heavy snowpack
has taken a toll; hope it holds together for our return trip! Wildflowers are popping up in sun warmed forest
glades. It is a beautiful continuation
of our walk but doesn’t bring us back around to the meadow. We bask in the view for a bit then start back. As we near the last curve in the trail we
hear the telltale sound of an ax wielded by pretty ambitious hands. Could it be someone working on the bridge, our
only path out. Sure enough; a trail crew is hacking away at
the bridge. They have thought it through
though and let us pass on the one still mostly sound log. Looks like it will all be good as new by the
end of the day. The crew reports that this
one was less than two years old….guess Mother Nature wins pretty much all the time!
We end our stay at Lassen with a stroll around the Lilly
Pond trail. At only ½ mile and close to
the visitor center you might be tempted to skip it but it is a nice walk with a
well written nature guide.
Did you know: if you sniff the bark on the trunk of a Ponderosa
Pine it smells like vanilla!
Erosion alters and forest cover camouflages the classic
volcanic shapes of many of the peaks around Mt Lassen but our hike today is
unmistakably volcanic. We climb Cinder
Cone at Butte Lake on the north side of the park.
First hint, enormous ridges of volcanic boulders deposited over thousands of years, most recently just 370 years ago. At the trailhead, our feet crunch on the sharp, black grains of volcanic sand. To our left, a long wall of jumbled rock, now named the Fantastic Lava Bed, that is the cooled remains of slow flowing A’a lava that escaped from low on the cone.
Black sand is several inches deep now and we are slowly climbing. The forest abruptly stops and before us is a steep trail cut into the side of the 35-degree cinder cone
Inside the CinderCone
. This will take a while! The steep angle and deep loose rock make for tough going but we make it. From a height of 850 feet above the surrounding forest the view is impressive. Check it out: Fantastic lava Field, Painted Dunes, Mt. Lassen, Butte Lake, Snag Lake, and a dozen other peaks that are remnants of the violent volcanic past of the area.
Painted Desert
Just because, we decide to take the back trail down off the
cone. Yikes, we thought he up-slope
trail was bad but this one is even steeper and loose rock deeper than boot
tops. We make a semi-controlled decent
as we ride mini avalanches down the first section of the trail. We manage to stop to admire amazing wildflowers
and are greatly relieved to arrive at a more manageable slope on the lower
trail. We stop to empty sharp rocks from
our boots then make our way on to the trailhead.
It is hard work but I definitely recommend the hike. Take your time and take lots of water. Kent says walking sticks are a great idea
too.
On our way to the hike a rare Sierra Nevada Red Fox crossed
the road in front of us and a doe with two very tiny spotted fawns made an
appearance along the forest route.
As we head toward home we check out a National Forest
overlook with a great view of the two most prominent mountains: Lassen and Shasta. It is spectacular. Note to self, this would be a great place for
dark skies viewing of the milky way.
