Spring Hiking with Kids

This is a long post--just warning you in advance! Yesterday I decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment hike, so we packed some "picnic snacks" and headed to a nearby trail. Desert Boy carried a little backpack of his favorite snacks and juice and "activities"--just in case he felt crafty out on the trail. (I figure if he's willing to carry it, he can take it--within reason.)

When we got to the trailhead, Desert Boy was ready to get going--in his two right foot shoes. He didn't seem to mind at all.

 We had fun looking at all sorts of things. Desert Boy really thought we should climb up to a cave and eat some food in a shelter. He was a bit concerned about the storm clouds. I told him we were going to keep going down the trail to the first stream crossing. That was about a mile up the trail and I figured a good distance for a beginning of summer warm-up hike.

The trail had a gentle incline, but I could feel it with Emma on my back. We looked for interesting things to talk about so that Desert Boy would keep hiking. Then we saw something very interesting:

A big gopher snake in the middle of the trail! It quickly slithered off.

The trail had some obstacles, like this fallen aspen tree. Desert Boy decided he'd rather go under it than over it. Going under required some belly crawling. But there were bigger obstacles ahead.

We reached the (first) stream crossing. Usually the stream is just a trickle, but with snow melt the stepping stones were submerged. So I crossed on the little log. Then Desert Boy gave it a try.

He started out well, keeping his balance. But the log was really narrow, and it wasn't flat.

Still, he hung on.

But then he started slipping.

And down into the stream he went. Then he tried again. How did it go?

Here's the answer.

We didn't need to go any farther, so it was picnic time! Desert Girl was glad to get down.

Desert Boy curled up in his sweatshirt and played rolypoly. We had seen some in the garden the other day, and he thought it was great fun to roll around like a rolypoly. He also enjoyed eating lots of snacks.

After our snacks I lifted the kids back across the creek and then it was time to head back to the van. Since it was down hill, I figured Desert Girl could walk--and she did, more than half way.

Desert Boy was now dressed in his sweatshirt and a rain coat wrapped around his waist. He liked leading the way. We had a little talk about how he had to stay close, where he could see me, because there were mountain lions around. He didn't like that because he thinks that since he is four years old he can do anything he wants, but after a little more talk about mountain lions, he agreed.

We reached the fallen aspen, and this time he decided to go over. Desert Girl thought it was a fun place.

Desert Boy was happily eating candy, so he was willing to pose for a photo.

Then it was time to walk again.

Desert Girl thought the flowers were nifty, and some just at the right height for closer inspection.

This walking outside is fun!

Desert Girl isn't exactly a great walker yet, so she bobbled and weaved and fell a few times. Even when she fell, she was all smiles.

A pollinator finding some food. Some time in May was Pollinator Week, but I missed it this year.

Desert Boy went behind a tree, so Desert Girl had to follow, even though the branches were low. After thrashing for awhile, Desert Boy had to go in and help her out.

Back on the trail, Desert Boy let out one of his ear-piercing train whistles. If any mountain lions were around, they knew we were there! I told Desert Boy if he ever gets lost, he needs to stay put and pretend he's a train. We should find him in no time.

Desert Girl found some colorful Indian paintbrush and investigated.

Then she found another flower. Still pictures don't quite capture all her excitement, so here's a little video-be sure to have your sound turned up to hear her talking (babbling):

Desert Boy had a little camera and he started imitating me taking photos of flowers. Desert Girl was there to help, of course.

Then Desert Boy found some old toys in his pocket and was absolutely delighted. That was almost all he talked about for the rest of the hike!

 

We crossed a bigger creek to get back to the parking area. The water is just starting to get a little brown. It should be getting a lot darker in the next few weeks as the snow continues to melt! The high mountains are still very white.

And that was the end of our hike. Desert Girl slept on the drive back, but Desert Boy kept talking and after a bath to warm up, we went to the playground to "help" the other kids pulling out weeds. Needless to say, he slept very well last night.

Desert Flowers and an Unexpected Sight at the End

I'm always looking for new (to me) flowers to put on my A Plant a Day blog. So when I took Desert Boy out to preschool last week, we went for a long walk/jog (a little training for a triathlon I might blog about soon). We had walked much of the same route two weeks earlier, but many of the flowers had changed. That's one of the challenges of finding all the plants in an areas--some aren't particularly visible for more than a week or two every few years.

The pink penstemon above is a common one, a young Palmer's penstemon (Penstemon palmeri), one of only two pink ones in the area. Even though it isn't new to me, I sure enjoy seeing it again!

 I went on a different road and climbed up on this rocky hillside, where I got a nice view of the valley and cloud-shrouded mountains on the other side.

 One of the many flower species on it were these dancing yellows, called nakedstem sunray (Enceliopsis nudicaulis). I enjoyed seeing them--they brightened the desert hillside so much!
They are just little bundles of sunshine.

 I saw this plant as I went skipping down the hill. It looks a bit like out of a Dr. Seuss book, but only a couple weeks earlier, it had nice little flowers on it that you can see on the Shockley's rockcress page.

 This tiny plant, only about 3 inches high, is called browneyes. It blooms more at night than the day, so I was glad it was overcast so I could see more of it blooming.

 I also found lots of Cryptantha, a genus in the Borage Family well represented in this area. From a distance it doesn't look too impressive.

 Close up, I was amazed at how many hairs protect each little white flower.

Our walk continued, with Desert Girl saying hi to the curious cows at the dairy, Henry wanting to chase after stray cats, and then to a fork in the road. I had a little time left before Desert Boy finished preschool, so we took the longer route.

 The playa that is usually dry was full of water, with some shrubs submerged. This wet spring has certainly been a nice change.

The flooded playa seemed a little boring, until I noticed something moving about on the other end:

Birds! An ibis, American avocets, and a couple ducks were probing for food. It was a wonderful treat to get to see them in an unexpected place.

A Walk Down the Channel

A couple weekends ago I walked down the overflow channel above town. During high water, the biggest creek from the nearby mountain range swells with snow melt, spilling over the diversion ditch. This year we have a high snow pack but due to the cold weather, the snow is slow coming off the mountain, and we're just at median stream flow levels. That means once it warms up, we're in for quite a flood.

Right now the water is still fairly clear, not washing down much dirt. Nevertheless, it's gradually rising, enough to inundate this western wallflower.

The top part of the overflow channel was lined with dense-growing willows, making the banks hard to traverse. My trusty dog Henry decided he'd rather ride back to town then go bush-whacking with me. I hoped there weren't any hungry mountain lions hanging out in the thick brush. I usually depend on Henry scaring them away, so I felt like I was really on an adventure without him.

As I got farther downstream, the water dwindled, sinking into the alluvium. The riparian vegetation changed to sagebrush shrubs gradually, although I still found willow thickets. I stopped looking over my shoulder quite so much as I got to more of the sagebrush!

The looming clouds over the mountains threatened more rain. I really enjoy overcast days like this, since we get so few.

Eventually the water dried up, less than one-third the way down the channel. It takes a lot of water to make it all the way down to town. Nevertheless, in the next couple weeks this dry streambed will transform into a raging river. It's exciting, but also scary, especially when you can hear those boulders rolling along the stream bottom due to the power of the water.

Part of my excuse for walking down the channel was to look for flowers. I found a couple I hadn't previously identified, so that was exciting. I also saw a lot of this rush. I have a hard time getting excited about identifying rushes, sedges, and grasses, but they probably make up over one-third of the vegetative species here.

I'd just say that it was a great day to be outside!

Then it got even better when I stumbled upon this patch of Erigeron, or fleabanes. They really lit up the rocky ground.

I didn't see them anywhere else except that one big patch. I think I like surprises like that. When you have to work a little harder to find nature's beauty, you appreciate it more.

I also saw lots of birds and even managed to capture a decent photo of this black-throated sparrow. I'm already ready for the next exploration trip.
Happy trails...

A Spring Walk in the Desert

It's been snowing most of the day, so it's nice to look back at these photos taken on Saturday, when it was sunny and in the 70s. We saw this horned lizard blending in oh-so-well with the desert floor.

I really wanted to find some new flowers for my A Plant A Day blog. That turned out to be a more difficult task than I was expecting, but I did spot this colorful butterfly on the cryptantha.

Another view of the butterfly.

Desert Girl really likes being mobile and stopping to check things out when she wants to.

Don't you wish you could squat like that? I do!

 

Desert Girl liked this Astragalus (milkvetch).

Time to keep on hiking and see what's next.

The globemallow just started blooming last week.

I liked this white astragalus, growing in between the purple flowers.

The Townsendia flowers are small and short, but such a welcome burst of color.

And finally I found a blooming cactus, a mountain ball cactus. It won't be long till many more cacti are showing their colors!