To the Grand Canyon via Sedona, Arizona.

Monday, March 12, 2018 to Saturday, 17^th March; from Show Low to the Grand Canyon via Sedona.

Sorry for this six week silence, but libraries have been few and far between, or if present (not that I looked), inconvenient.  I have kept writing during this six week concentrated photo-recon journey through some of the greatest geologic wonders of the world, as the next several postings will attest.  I've also had (and still have) paperwork to do.  My phone also died on April 1^st, of all days, and while it was not essential to my blog postings, catching up on a couple weeks or more of emails was a time consuming slog.  When it passed on, I had been catching up on the ten days of emails accrued while I was at the Grand Canyon, where, like at Show Low, I had neither cell nor data connection!  It lasted me 2 years and 4 months … the guy at Wal-Mart, on April 13^th, said that was about right for a smart phone … is that true … anybody out there agree with that?  Since that was my first smart phone, I wouldn't know, but seems a little short to me.  He said old flick-phones lasted forever, as did my Tracfone, when I brought that up.  So, on to the first of my catch-up postings, from the public library at Springdale, Utah, just outside Zion National Park.

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It was later than planned, by the time I got out of that Show Low library, after failing to post my last blog entry.  I realized I had no time to figure out what was going on with the library Wi-Fi, so I headed west on State Hwy 260.  The road proceeds through the Ponderosa Pines on top of the Mogollon Plateau before dropping off the Mogollon Rim after sixty miles, and even after descending a thousand or more feet the Ponderosa forests continue.  Just before the descent is the Mogollon Visitor Center on the south side of the highway.  Here one has great views off the Rim to the south; there is also a forest road along the Rim to the southeast where there are even more viewpoints.

Montezuma Castle;
of course this dates from long before Montezuma
& had nothing to do with the Aztecs.

The Plasterwork shows how those ruins at Mesa Verde,
Hovenweep, Chaco Canyon, etc. might have looked.

Fourteen miles farther on I turned north onto forest road 64 for six miles, and just after entering forest road 198 I found my camp, for the night, with a view to the north of the Rim in the evening Sun.  About a half a mile before I found my campsite I surprised an animal in the road which proceeded to run down the road a ways before turning off into a ravine, much like the European Badger does.  Later, after much consultation with my Mammals book it was determined it was a White-nosed Coati; most likely a solitary male … another first!

Montezuma Well.

Leeches … yech!

The outflow from the well a couple hundred yards away.

The next day I was easily able to post my blog at the Payson library, twenty-one miles from last night's camp, and then move on down the road.  Payson is still within the Ponderosa zone.  Staying on State Hwy 260, it was a long climb back up onto the Mogollon Rim, and about forty-two miles from Payson the highway leaves the Ponderosas and into the Juniper/Pinion zone, as it begins its descent towards Camp Verde twenty-three miles distant.  Even though here at a much higher altitude than Payson, surrounded by Pondie forests as it is, the forest here transitions to the Junipers and Pinions … I wonder why that is?

Courthouse Butte.

My 1^st evening ...

... in camp ... 

... west of Sedona.

Well, I didn't want to camp in the Junipers and Pinions again, so I back-tracked three miles to forest road 9246R, and passing a camper near the highway I went on in another half mile and found a delightful campsite.  I took an evening stroll, a wide half circle through the forest, arriving back to camp in the opposite direction from which I had left.  A big Elk had passed through the area recently, according to the tracks; Coyotes were also heard howling off to the west, a quarter mile off, I reckoned.  I spotted Stellars Jays at this campsite; happy to know they are down here in Arizona as well; I like those black headed blue denizens … like sapphires of the western forests. In the morning, while breakfasting, there were other various birds passing by.  I recognized White-breasted Nuthatches.  There was a pair of birds that I could not find at all in my bird book, other than in the ‘visitors' section … a Clay-colored Robin, that normally lives in Mexico.  That is the second bird I have ID’d that has come north out of its normal range, according to my bird book, but since it is a couple decades old, I reckon global warming was less advanced when it was published.

Next day the rain rolls in.

Showers … heavy at times…

… not always on me …

… many times over there …

… or over there.

From this camp, which I hesitated to leave, I dropped off the Mogollon Rim, again, down to Camp Verde over three thousand feet below!  The low altitude (3200'), of the Verde Valley might explain the high altitude for transition between the Junipers/Pinions and the Ponderosas.  Since I was so close, I visited a cliff dwelling misnamed Montezuma Castle; Montezuma lived centuries afterwards and had nothing to do with this finely preserved antiquity.  The builders were a different culture from those at Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde and Hovenweep.  These people had been in this area for a long time before they constructed this structure, c.1250-1400.  The Chacoans had abandoned theirs by this time, and moved east towards the Rio Grande Valley, not southwest to here.  Up until the sixties you could go through these structures, but now it can only viewed from below.  Evidently most of the rooms still retain their roofs/ceilings … that would be something to see.  Eight miles up the road is Montezuma Well, a limestone sink, fed by continuously flowing springs.

Sun …

… & Shadows …

… & even bits of Blue Sky.

… and Rainbows …

… & yet more Showers ...

North through Sedona then west on State Hwy 89A, a few miles, to forest road 525, which I turned onto, ending up proceeding north ten miles, finally finding a campsite on forest road 525C.  There were a lot of other campers closer to the highway, and others deeper in, and I passed a couple of possible, but I’m happy to have continued on, for I found great views, a level spot, and no neighbors.  I have heard about the red rocks of Sedona, but the reality is quite astonishing, even after the wonders of the Moab area of Arches and Canyonlands.  The town of Sedona is plunked down in the middle of all this, and a cursory glance as I headed through to find a campsite 15 miles along, is of a similarity in affluence to Aspen, CO.  I'd like to spend time in this landscape, but this time will have to be scout only.

… all day long …

… until …

… the Light …

… of Evening cometh.

I managed supper about dark, in spite of the wind.  In the morning it was warm enough for only a sweater, but by mid-morning the rain and sleet showers began to roll through, and more layers were needed. I stayed put all day, writing this post and continuously jumping out to take photos with the ever changing light and showers varying the landscape every few minutes … in out, in out, in out!  Sometimes these are the best days in spite of chill winds and showers.  Late in the afternoon a flock of Western Bluebirds came through, and I was able to get a couple of photos, albeit through the glass of the side window of the truck.  Towards the end of the day the showers desisted, but the lighting effects continued until sundown … more photo ops.  I’m of two minds about Sedona … while the landscape is stunning, so many of the great views have a bloody town in the middle of it!  Perhaps if I were to spend more time here, I would find views without the bloody town.  But there is snow coming to the Grand Canyon and I want to be there for it.

Western Bluebird
(through the glass of my side window.

So, up through Flagstaff, and twenty-six miles beyond it, found my campsite for the night in a grove of Pondies, a half mile in on forest road 523, with a view of Kendrick Peak.  Windy all night, but before turning in I had a great view over the meadows of Venus and Mercury setting in the west; definitely the best apparition of Mercury I’ve ever experienced.

South towards the Needles.

Friday, 29^th December_Tuesday, 2^nd January, 2018; South of Moab, Utah.

C1650

“Canyonlands Snow”

(Utah)

Oil Sketch on Centurian Oil Primed Panel

5” x 7”

Click here to make this your Own

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

Libraries are few and far between in these parts … so much for the delay in getting this post out.

Oil change in Moab and finally heading south, but not so far, as it was late in the day.  I revisited the Dinosaur track way I had helped to excavate back in October, as I wanted a few more reference photos of the landscape.  The road in is a difficult one, so I parked at the first washed and hiked the last mile in, following a pair of two or three day old coyote tracks all the way, and arriving within seconds after the lowering Sun went in behind the late afternoon clouds.  It came out again, but the closer ridges were now in shadow; I had wanted them in the golden light of evening.  As I hiked back to the truck the Sun set and a waxing gibbons Moon hung above the La Sal Mountains to the east.  In the gloaming I found a campsite a couple miles in from the highway. 

The next day was warming and was getting up to just under 50°F, so I took advantage of that and stripped down to the waist and gave myself a much needed haircut, beard trim and shaved, where necessary, and trimmed my moustache.  The Sun on my body felt warmer than the ambient air temperature actually was.  Anyone visiting that campsite will be wondering what animal left those chunks of fur in the dust!  Winter is a difficult time to find the right temperature to do a self inflicted haircut, so I’m happy that everything aligned just right … January and February might prove difficult.

 

I had Internet access where I was so the last day of the year was spent as a lazy day clearing emails and doing online research.  And that evening the Moon rose full, over the La Sals, the Man in the Moon, directly upright, looking to the left.  An odd thing about this camp was that, save for a couple of ravens, there was no wildlife observed.  There were tracks of deer and rabbits, and even a hopping bird, in the snow, but only the ravens during the three days I was there.

New Years day was spent finishing the above Oil Sketch I had begun up on Island in the Sky, and on the 2^nd I headed for the Needles, but was sidetracked to the Needles Overlook.  Three miles from there I found a great spot to camp, right on the clifftop with distant views of the Needles, Indian Creek Canyon, and Junction  Butte at Island in the Sky, and of course beyond them all the Henry Mountains to the southwest.  I expected no lights anywhere, but as evening grew darker, there was one dim light to the west, almost as dim as a 5^th or 6^th magnitude star.  Once the Moon arose, I could only find it with my binoculars.  The next morning by using map and binoculars, I worked out that it must have been someone at the White Crack Campground at the southern point of the a White Rim Trail, over in the Island  in the Sky section of Canyonlands NP.  Evidently that is quite a back road, being a hundred miles of dirt road for high clearance, 4-wheel drive vehicles.  I believe that a Jeep is not necessary, as one would want when going to the Maze section of Canyonlands.  I was tempted, but the icy conditions when I was on the Island in the Sky, made my decision for me; besides, I would have had to go to Moab for petrol first.  But someone was over there, during my first night in my clifftop camp.

Snow in the Desert

Wednesday, 20^th December_Thursday, 28^th December, 2017; Canyonlands N.P., Utah.

The day after my last posting, revisited a couple of trails, and a new one from the Devil’s Garden Campground to Tapestry Arch to the back side of Broken Arch, through that one, and circling back through some fins to my car.  I had done the walk to Broken Arch from the front side earlier in my sojourn in the Arches National Park area.  On this last walk the day’s overcast was beginning to clear away allowing some wonderful late afternoon light to flood the landscape.  By the time I reached my SUV it was about 45 minutes to Sundown, so I prepared and ate supper in the picnic area at the Devil’s Garden.  Here I was also able to fill my water bottles, the only available water in the Park other than at the Visitor Center near the main entrance.  By the time I returned to my dispersed campsite, it was dark, and so I put on my headlamp, turned to the red light setting, and scanned the sagebrush, looking for eyes … there were.  I turned the light to bright white in time to spot the Bobcat that had strolled through my camp two days before, and who now scurried off when I said “I see you!” 

The far side of Broken Arch.

Sun breaking through as I came out of the Fins.

I had checked the Weather Underground on my way back to camp and there was a bit of snow in the forecast, amounting to about an inch.  I wondered whether we would get any as there were lots of stars poking through the cloud breaks, and the sunset had been good.  When I awoke on the morning of the 21^st, and looked at my watch, I was thinking it should be a bit brighter than it seemed to be.  Snow covered all my window; four inches of it I soon discovered.  There was a bit of a break, but while I breakfasted, it began anew, and when it lightened up at about 13:00, another four inches had fallen.  I gingerly drove out of camp the 3-1/2 miles to the primitive loo at the Klondike Bluffs trailhead.  It was fairly straightforward driving through the virgin snow, only needing my 2-wheel drive through the 8” snowfall. On my return journey I stopped at the usual spot where I had Internet access, and dashed off a few emails, and checked the Weather again … the snowfall was over, and the next day was set to be sunny.

Snow in the Desert on the 21^st.

My Campsite the day after the Snowfall.

Where I’ve come from …

   … where I’m going.

And it was.  I decided I had better try to get out of the snowy wilds as the wash the road passed through to get to Klondike Bluffs, from the main Park road, was said to be impassable when wet.  I debated whether to go the 10 or 12 miles north to the highway, which I had never done, or attempt the usual route through the wash and up the 3 mile long hill to the main Park road, near the Devil’s Garden.  I headed along the usual route, following my own tire tracks past Klondike Bluffs, then through the powdery virgin snow, stopping now and then to study animal tracks crossing the road.  The snow was too powdery make identification, other than those rodent tracks heading to and from their burrows, a few bird tracks, including wing impressions at the entrance to one burrow … I wonder if the denizen of the den was captured. The larger trails I suspect were of deer.

 

Then down into the wash for several hundred yards, and now for the first time, I put ‘er into 4-wheel drive as began the long incline up to the blacktop.  It was quite a slog, but I made it to the top, and found the gate closed as I had feared it might be.  On close inspection, I discovered that the padlock had not been closed; it only looked so from a little distance.  I passed through and replaced the lock as I had found it.

Snowy Fins.

Skyline Arch.

The Wall of Elephants.

Delicate Arch from the Garden of Eden,
several miles away.

I had the Park all to myself for 5 hours, taking snow photos, as they had closed it for snowplowing.  No wonder those snowplows I waved to as I passed by looked at me strangely.  I saw my first car, and then a second, and then a flurry as I neared Balanced Rock.

Balanced Rock.

Park Avenue.

The next two nights were spent on Willow Springs Road, where I had spent a few nights in early November.  The intervening day was spent going to see “The Last Jedi,” which I found very enjoyable.  The second morning I awoke at this new campsite was cold … about 8°F … but it must have been a damp cold as it felt so much colder than it was.  When I climbed up to the visitors center, in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park, I discovered that it had been only down to 28°F that morning … 20 degrees warmer than down below!  Evidently, it often is warmer in the Winter up there than down in Moab, a couple thousand feet below, in its bowl where all the cold air flows down to and settles.  That made up my mind for me … I would stay in the National Park Campground, at Willow Flats (as opposed to Willow Springs Road), over Christmas.

View down onto the White Rim,
from the Grand View Trail, Canyonlands,
with the La Sal Mountains beyond.

Closer …

… and closer still.

Still on the …

… Grand View Trail.

 Island in the Sky is a very irregular mesa top, with an altitude averaging 6000’, with overlooks into the canyon systems of the Colorado and Green Rivers, whose confluence lies a few miles to the south.  There are a few actual glimpses of the Green.  Funny to think I was near the headwaters of the Green but four months ago when camping at Mosquito Lake in the northern Wind River Range, and it was the same Green that passes through the Gates of Lodore, and Split Mountain, both of which I saw when in Dinosaur National Monument.  The colours on the cliffs, in the sunlight, seen from these various Canyonlands viewpoints are wonderful, especially early or late in the day.

The Green River Overlook.

Closer still to see the Green River ...
the formation on the center right is the Turks Hat.

The most interesting trail for me is the one to the Upheaval Dome overlooks.  In a nutshell, there are two theories of its origin.  One says that a salt dome pushed up and cracked the rocks above, and the other is that it was formed by a meteor strike.  I plump for the latter, because of the double ring surrounding the hilly mass in the center, highly reminiscent of the craters on the Moon.  It was discussed with others at the first overlook and we decided … definitely a meteor!  Take note, you at the National Geological Office.  Next is the Needles district of Canyonlands.

Upheaval Dome from the 1^st overlook …
definitely a meteor strike.