Horse Canyon Hike

 We bumped our way up a really rocky road recently to go for a little hike. We were wishing that the new addition to our family was up to speed so we could get there in a little more comfort! Finally we arrived at the trailhead for Horse Canyon. I had been there before but had not hiked past the trailhead, and I really wanted to this day, despite the snow.

 So we trekked up the trail, which I found extremely beautiful. There were all sorts of things to look at, like this hornet's nest. I was glad it was winter and I didn't have to worry about them.

 Desert Boy thought it was fun to run. He had a lot of energy.

 He slowed down to get a stick. Why is it that every kid needs a stick to hike?

 We eventually got to the sign marking the Mount Moriah Wilderness. The kids thought that was far enough to hike, so they snacked with Dad while I went up the trail a little farther. I didn't want to turn around, it was so pretty. I will have to go back another day!

 They were still snacking when I got back. Snack breaks are very important.

 I couldn't resist a few candids of the kids.

 My, what big blue eyes you have, Desert Girl!

 On the way down Desert Boy wanted to run some more, so I went with him. (We teach the kids they have to stay in sight of us when hiking because we don't want them to become a mountain lion snack.) Desert Boy slid along just fine. When we got to this little branch across the trail, he decided he wanted to go under it. That required him laying in the snow, but he didn't seem to care.

When we got back to the two-track road that led to the trailhead, Desert Boy had so much energy that we kept hiking down the road, past the big, beautiful ponderosa pines. It was a really fun hike, more than any of us expected. It turned out that a little snow and cold didn't put a damper on the day.

A Last Glimpse of Fall Color

 We went with some friends for a hike on Saturday to enjoy some last fall colors. We're supposed to have a twenty-degree dip in the temperature on Tuesday, along with wind and rain/snow. An early October snowstorm turned most of the high elevation aspen leaves brown, so I was feeling like I had missed my opportunity to see the brilliant colors. When we got to the trailhead and saw the vibrant yellows, my soul just felt better. I needed that brilliance before we enter the monochrome winter.

 Rose hips dotted the bushes with little specks of red. At lower elevations, the scarlet skunkbush looked like little flames bursting through the brown grass. It was just a terrific day for color.

 Fortunately Jenny brought her good camera, so I can't wait to see what photos she got. Little Isaac was a patient helper.

 Jenny had suggested this hiking locale, and the loop trail was perfect for the kids. They raced to be the leader, hid in the bushes, ran back and forth from Nomi to the slower little kids.

 Here they are making a train. I was curious to see how this would work.

They chugged along in sync for a few steps.

Eventually the train decoupled and they ran up the trail, ready for the next game.

Then it was time for the inevitable question:

"Can we have a snack?"

We were ready for this, and told them they could have a snack at the bridge, which was the half-way point.

Before we got the snacks out, we asked the kids to sit for a photo. Here we have Isaac, Desert Girl, Charlie, Desert Boy, and Ava. Like how Ava is already barefoot? She had some plans.

It didn't take her long to convince Desert Boy and Charlie that they should join her in shucking their shoes and socks. They tiptoed through the cold mountain stream and commented on just how frigid it was.

Then Desert Boy fell in.

Fortunately Nomi had extra clothes he could wear.

Nomi was also the cuddle place, and the three bigger kids had so much fun cuddling in her lap.

Jenny and I took photos for a bit.

Then we got back to the bridge. Desert Boy had warmed up and wanted to go back into the water. I explained that we didn't have any more dry clothes, so if he wanted to go back into the water, he had to take off his clothes. He thought this was okay. Then Ava thought it was too. I sure hope this is a phase they will outgrow in a few years, and not a precursor to teenage behavior!

The underwear-clad little four-year olds hopped back into the creek and decided they would try to cross the rickety old log across the creek.

Their balance wasn't the best, but at least they didn't get any more clothes wet! The temperature was perfect, and we could warm up quickly, but not get too hot.

Isaac and Emma cooperated and laid in the leaves for a photo.

Then, after a lot of convincing, we got all the kids to lie down in the leaves.

I could have spent a long time looking at the fantastic patterns in the leaves. No two were exactly the same.

When a gust of wind blew, the leaves fluttered down to the ground. Desert Boy tried to catch a leaf, but didn't quite manage it.

Then it was time to start heading back, which meant heading downhill. Desert Girl and Isaac, despite missing naps, were eager to hike.

I followed the older kids, who were still full of excessive energy. They tore down the trail, enjoying the several bridges. Then Charlie tumbled on the trail and came back with a worried expression on his face. I checked out his scrape and told him Desert Boy had a first aid kit.

Desert Boy was eager to get out his first aid kit, which he had packed that morning. He had a handful of bandaids and a few gauze pads. He had wanted to pack more, but I had told him that would be enough. He also really wanted to pack treats for his patients if they were good, but I convinced him that really wouldn't be necessary.

Desert Boy patched up Charlie quickly.

Then they discovered that Ava had an owie. And it wasn't just any owie, it was a blood owie. That definitely required a bandaid.

Ava got patched up too. Then Desert Boy improvised. He didn't have the suckers for his patients, but he did have some chips, so they all ate some chips for being such good patients/first aid providers.

All us moms were trying not to giggle too much as the whole scene unfolded in front of us. It was infinitely adorable how they were solving their own problems with such calm.

Then we went back to hiking.

I found more beautiful leaves.

The leaves were coming down quickly, so we were all happy to have had our outing to commemorate the beautiful fall. The hike was especially fun because we were able to do it with friends. Now it will be a little easier to face the coming of cold weather.

Camping at Navajo Lake

My husband couldn't go on the previous camping trips, so we decided to go on another one so he could appreciate all the joys of camping. (He doesn't like hard ground, sleeping in the cold, dark evenings, all the noises of camping, but he'll still go along once a year. He's a good guy.)

After shopping all day in Cedar City (it really wasn't supposed to be all day, it just sort of ended up that way, along with a long stop at the Aquatic Center), we got some food for camping (as we really hadn't managed to pack anything) and headed up the canyon. We checked out one campground along the way, but it wasn't too appealing, so we headed up to Navajo Lake. It's late in the season, so they only had part of one campground open, but it had spots available.

So while my husband went off to scavenge wood from the woods, I borrowed a can opener from nearby campers (bean soup was part of our menu--Desert Boy's favorite food). Those campers thought we looked in a pretty sorry state, so they gave us some of their wood, too. We did manage to get our tent up just fine. The campground had been nearly clear cut due to all the beetle kill, so all the campers could see each other quite well. We could also see the lake really well, and I had to keep taking trips down to it to enjoy the changing colors.

For the kids, I think the highlight was the fire. Like how Desert Girl is trying to get into the match box?

Desert Boy can't resist throwing in an extra stick.

Desert Girl was willing to put up with a hat because it helped keep her warm. Navajo Lake is up fairly high (maybe 9000 ft?), and I was concerned that it would get cold that night. Maybe Desert Girl was a little concerned too. She has that eyebrow furrow down perfect.

We had a beautiful sunset.

Then we sat around the fire for awhile and talked and roasted marshmallows. When we decided that no one actually liked the marshmallows, we had fun tossing them into the fire and watching them burn.

The next morning the kids had us up before it was even light. It was really cold, and there was mist coming off the lake. As we made breakfast, we found frost on the picnic table.

So after eating we went for a walk, where we found some folks fishing. We wished we had brought our fishing poles! We saw a lot of fish rising.

On the way home we took a detour by Cedar Breaks, with the beautiful cliffs. The trees weren't as colorful there, so we headed back to the canyon. It was a quick trip, but such a nice getaway, and there were so many gorgeous trees along the route. Welcome, autumn!

Cleve Creek Canyon

 Friday night I took the kids to Cleve Creek Recreation Area for a night of camping with coworkers and friends. I was looking forward to exploring the area, as I hadn't seen much of it previously. It's located in the Shell Creek Range in White Pine County, Nevada. We accessed it via Spring Valley, off paved Highway 893. Then we turned onto a good gravel road for two miles.

The campsites were beautiful, with big shade trees, neat fireplaces, and the sound of the creek soothing our senses. It was time to relax and eat some delicious food!

I didn't try to take any photos, as the light was soon dim and the kids were a handful. At nine they wanted to go to bed, so I took them to the tent. Then they resisted going to sleep long enough that I was tired, too, and just stayed in the tent. It was probably a good thing, as Desert Girl started getting fussy at 3 a.m., despite the surprisingly warm evening. By 6 a.m., I had decided we had better get out of camp or everyone would be upset with us! So we piled into the truck and headed up the canyon.

The road forded the creek several times, so I was glad we had four-wheel drive and high clearance, as the creek was still running high. In fact, according to the nearby USGS gauge, it was about 13 cfs. The long-term record on this creek made it a study site for University of Nevada-Reno scientists to study the climate of the area, comparing pinyon pine growth to streamflow. You can see the interesting abstract for their article "A 550 Year Reconstruction of Streamflow Variability in Spring Valley, Nevada, USA" here.

I was very intrigued to see that most of the water in the creek was coming from the north fork of Cleve Creek. The road stayed to the west fork. I just had my Nevada atlas and not a more-detailed map, so I didn't know too much about what I was getting into. Sometimes it's more fun that way!

The atlas indicated pictographs, but we never could locate them. Instead, we did find an old cabin with tailing piles nearby. We got out to explore.

 We wandered around a bit.

 Near one of the tailings piles we saw an old mine entrance and this sign explaining about the importance of bats.

 A bat gate and culvert had been installed above the old mine entrance. According to the Geology and Mineral Resources of White Pine County, Nevada (Smith 1976), the Cleve Creek or Kolchek District was small and centered around the Kolchek mine. Miners searched for gold beginning in 1923 and found enough to construct a 4-ton amalgamation-concentration mill. Mining didn't last long, and the 15-person district soon was forgotten. In 1951, when tungsten prices were high, miners returned. They didn't find a tungsten ore body until 1953, but they did make a few shipments of gold in the meantime. The total recorded production of the district was 234 tons of gold ore containing 86 ounces of gold and 363 ounces of silver and 32 tons of tungsten ore.

 The single cabin was the only building we saw in the area, and the sun was just rising high enough to light up the canyon beyond.

The kids were taking their time, which gave me the opportunity to shoot some additional photos as the first rays of sun light touched the cabin.

 It would have been a beautiful place to have been a miner, at least for a few months each year. The rest of the time it would be beautiful but cold!

 While I was searching for other angles, I noticed some bees clinging onto this grass. I'm not sure what they were doing.

 One more cabin photo! I liked the old trees nearby. Most were poplar, but there was one locust.

Then we continued up the canyon on the rough road, rarely reaching 10 mph. It was 6 miles from the campsite to the end of the road. I hiked up what looked like the most-used route (it couldn't really be called a trail, as it was fairly indistinct and there was no trailhead, sign, or map). I soon reached the wilderness boundary marker (but it didn't say what wilderness).

I'm guessing this area is used by hunters more than any other interest group.

I scampered up the hillside to get a better vantage point. Two other vehicles were sharing the parking area with us, and one had passed us as we had been exploring the cabin.

Here's part of the road, where the tributary creek has jumped its channel and flowed down the road for awhile.

On the way back down, we stopped at the Kolchek Trail 078 trailhead. I'm guessing the trail goes back into the side canyon behind the Kolchek mine, but there was no map at the trailhead and my map didn't show a trail. If you know, leave a comment!

There were several side canyons that looked fascinating. A good excuse to go back and do more exploring. The fishing is also supposed to be good, but we hadn't brought any gear.

While some of the rock looked metamorphic, I also noticed quite a few limestone cliffs, and some had holes in them. Hmmm, caves?

The zoom showed that these holes might go back a body length or more. The kids weren't interested in checking them out. I don't know why not!

By the time we got back to camp, everyone was up (and some had left). We went over to join them for breakfast.

The kids and I had grits for the first time. I have learned to appreciate that camping is all about the food, and I sure enjoyed the culinary experience!

Desert Boy and Erik had a serious conversation. Desert Boy was certainly serious about how many marshmallows were in his hot chocolate.

Nice hair, eh?

The adventures continued soon after...