New Astronomy Amphitheater at Great Basin National Park

Great Basin National Park has been building a new astronomy amphitheater, and I recently got to experience it. I went to the very first program, on a Tuesday night near the end of May.

Ranger Charlie did a fantastic program, weaving together stories about the Forgotten Winchester rifle, the amazing dark sky, and what we can do to see into the distant worlds better.

Following the program, the rangers got the telescopes focused on objects. Because it was the first program of the year, this took a little while.

This gave me some time to walk around the amphitheater. It's lit with red lights to preserve your night vision. The lights are dimmable, so they can be brighter before and after the program and dimmer during.

The mountainous backdrop is gorgeous, and the amphitheater is situated so that you shouldn't see car headlights. Parking is at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center, and then you walk down the road to the picnic area to the amphitheater. It's best to arrive 15 minutes before the program start time to allow for this. In addition, the capacity is 200, and the programs this past week had over 175 people, so it's possible that some people may have to be turned away in the future.

While we waited, Charlie pointed out some of the first things we were seeing appear in the night sky. It's fun to see the stars start off few and far in between, and then before you know it, they are dancing across the sky in a packed arena.

Two telescopes were being set up that night. It was also the night of a full moon, so the first place to look was the moon. If you've never gotten a close up view of the moon and its lava fields, it is an amazing sight.

It's also a bit blinding, as the moon is so bright!

With the telescopes situated, it was time to line up.

Everyone was really patient.

After each person got a view, they went to the back of the line. Once everyone saw the moon, it was on to the next night sky object.

The astronomy amphitheater is a great addition to the park, and I highly recommend attending a program. They are on Thursday and Saturday nights throughout summer. In June and July they are at 8:30 pm, and then starting in early August change to 8 pm. 

When it's time to go, you follow the red lights back to the parking lot. There are even stars on the road, what a nice touch!

Great Basin National Park is an International Dark Sky Park, and now there's an effort to make the gateway town of Baker into the first Dark Sky Community in Nevada. 

At the Farmer's Market on Saturdays (next to the church in Baker) there's a fundraiser to help with this effort. A local who has made a variety of beautiful glass has his entire collection being sold off.

The glass takes so many forms, some I had never even seen before.

Hopefully the exceptionally dark skies out in this remote part of the world can be saved. And here's hoping we can restore the dark to many other parts of our world. This is a solvable problem, and better lighting benefits us all. 

If you like astronomy, I hope you get a chance to visit the new astronomy amphitheater. For more on Great Basin National Park's Astronomy Program, check out their website. 

A Visit to the Swamp Cedars, White Pine County, Nevada

 

Located in Spring Valley in White Pine County, Nevada, the valley bottom is dotted with trees. Other nearby valleys are devoid of trees, as it is too dry for them to grow unless they are next to a creek. What's going on here?

Apparently a clay layer under the surface helps to retain water and allows Rocky Mountain junipers (Juniperus scopulorum), otherwise known as swamp cedars, to grow in the valley bottom. 

They are found both north and south of Highway 6 & 50, which bisects the valley. 

In addition to being of biological interest, the swamp cedars have a cultural and historical context. The local Shoshone tribes and their ancestors have inhabited the valley for thousands of years. Numerous springs made it an attractive spot, and the local tribes were known to have 16 villages in the area, according to a report by Julian Steward in 1938. 

 The people at the villages harvested pine nuts, held festivals, and traveled to visit relatives and friends in nearby villages. Starting in about 1859, hostilities began with the US cavalry and others, and at least one battle and/or massacre occurred in the swamp cedar area, with many Shoshone killed. 

Some Shoshone say that each swamp cedar represents a Shoshone who has died. This year, the Nevada legislature passed a resolution AJR4 to recommend to Congress that the area be made into a National Monument or be added to Great Basin National Park so that this story can be told. 

Time will tell what will happen to this Swamp Cedar Natural Area, most of which is currently on BLM-managed land.

We decided to take a visit to the swamp cedars. We see them from a distance when we drive across the valley on the highway, but we wanted to get close to them. We turned off the highway onto a gravel road and then onto a two-track road. We could see the swamp cedars in the distance as we traveled west.

In wet years, we would not be able to cross the valley here. The ruts showed where people had struggled before. But due to the drought, the ground was totally dry.

As we got closer, we were a little surprised by just how many swamp cedars we saw.

We stopped near a springhead to take a closer look. It was really cool to see the water bubbling out of the sand. A small weir had backed up water a little bit, making it more impressive.

The spring brook then flowed through the swamp cedars.

I spotted a variety of wildflowers in the vicinity.

The swamp cedars have some personalities.

The blue iris dotted wet places. It was a very cloudy day, which is unusual for the Great Basin.

I believe these are monitoring wells. 

The swamp cedars are a special place, and I definitely feel a desire to get to know them better. 

It will be interesting to see what happens with the swamp cedar area. Here are two articles that give a little more information about the area. 

Spring Valley swamp cedars - more than trees for Western Shoshone | Sierra Nevada Ally

 Nevada resolution to protect swamp cedars reverberates across Indian Country | Sierra Nevada Ally

Kalamazoo Road, White Pine County, Nevada

For some Sunday exploration, we decided to try out the Kalamazoo Road across the Schell Creek Range in White Pine County, Nevada. You reach the start of it about 38 miles north on the paved Highway 893 in Spring Valley. We weren't sure what the conditions would be early in the season, but it's been dry, so we figured we would be fine.

The turnoff is well-marked. There are camping spaces 4 miles up the road (plus many more that are scattered), and McGill, NV is 26 miles away.

The road is gravel but well-maintained. As you can see in the photos, it was a bit of a stormy day.

No one was camping at the campground area, but we did see a camper that had been left. A bathroom marks the location along with some picnic tables and grills. Kalamazoo Creek is nearby.

The road continued higher and soon we were seeing lots of white firs and aspen. And snow. Snow in late May!

We didn't think much of the snow until the road narrowed and curved around the side of the mountain.

We were in the clouds. And it kept snowing. One vehicle came from the other direction. That gave us confidence if he had made it over the mountain, so could we. Or at least we hoped.

This was the worst patch of snow, it was slick and a little deep. On the right is a steep drop off.

Fortunately we made it past and could look at the switchbacks we had just come up.

Some of the mountain mahogany were getting frosted.

We knew we were getting to the pass and were feeling good.

The wind was blowing so hard that we didn't even get out of the truck to read the sign!

As we started down into the Duck Creek Basin on the western side, we couldn't see much.

Fortunately, just a little bit down the clouds cleared and we saw an amazing display of wildflowers. I jumped out to snap a photo.

It was so beautiful!

Looking back up the mountain, we couldn't even see the top.

Before long, we crossed a cattleguard and started seeing some big houses. Soon we were back on pavement.

From there we headed through McGill to Ely, where we did some grocery shopping and headed home. To make a big loop from Ely would take about three hours, but it would be wise to plan on a whole day because there are so many fun things to stop at and explore. 

A few suggestions if you were to do this whole loop:

Comins Lake

Cave Lake State Park

Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Site

Cleve Creek Recreation Area

Swamp Cedars in Spring Valley

Kalamazoo Road overlooks 

McGill Swimming Pool

McGill Museum

Lots of great attractions in Ely (Nevada Northern Railway, Aquatic Center, Ward Mountain bike trails, Ely Art Bank, Renaissance Village, Garnet Hill, and more!)

We hope to go back, the Kalamazoo area looks so interesting, and we'd like to explore more when the weather is a little better!

Backyard Birds 2021

 For the past several years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) we've been keeping track of the birds in our backyard. It's been a way to teach the kids more about birds, teach ourselves more about birds, and just get to know our backyard better. 

For the first several years, we got about 35 species a year. Then in 2019 we got 45 species, and in 2020, with more time at home, we got 47 species! 

Here are some of the highlights.

Red-tailed Hawk (a pair nest nearby, so we see and hear them frequently)

Yellow-rumped warbler (arriving before the leaves!)

Canada Geese (they can be super noisy!)

White-crowned Sparrow (they hang out all year, but start singing in the spring and become a lot more noticeable; they love our bushes, including this currant bush)

Here's our list from 2020:

1. Black-billed Magpie (1.2.20)

2. European Starling (1.2.20)

3. Eurasian Collared Dove (1.2.20)

4. Red-tailed Hawk (1.3.20)

5. Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (1.6.20)

6. Common Raven (1.15.20)

7. Northern Flicker (1.15.20)

8. Great Horned Owl (1.20.20)

9. Canada Goose (1.29.20)

10. Pinyon Jay (1.2.9.20)

11. White-crowned Sparrow (2.10.20)

12. Bald Eagle (2.16.20)

13. Golden Eagle (2.16.20)

14. House Sparrow (2.19.20)

15. American Robin (3.10.20)

16. Western Meadowlark (3.10.20)

17. Sandhill Crane (3.12.20)

18. Say's Phoebe (3.17.20)

19. Turkey Vulture (3.22.20)

20. Belted Kingfisher (3.25.20)

21. Killdeer (3.25.20)

22. Pine Siskin (3.23.20)

23. American Goldfinch (4.3.20)

24. Yellow-rumped Warbler (4.9.20)

25. Red-winged Blackbird (4.8.20)

26. Brewer's Blackbird (4.10.20)

27. Wild Turkey (4.15.20)

28. Barn Swallow (4.16.20)

29. Western Kingbird (4.21.20)

30. Evening Grosbeak (4.26.20)

31. Great Blue Heron (4.28.20)

32. Swainson's Hawk (4.30.20)

33. Yellow Warbler (5.1.20)

34. Bullock's Oriole (5.3.20)

35. Black-chinned Hummingbird (5.3.20)

36. Violet-green Swallow (5.3.20)

37. Common Poorwill (5.3.20)

38. Western Wood-Pewee (5.12.20)

39. Northern Mockingbird (5.27.20)

40. Common Nighthawk (5.29.20)

41. Long-billed Curlew (6.2.20)

42. House Finch (6.8.20)

43. Broad-tailed Hummingbird (6.8.20)

44. Brown-headed Cowbird (6.22.20)

45. Chicken (6.22.20)

46. Black-headed Grosbeak (7.14.20)

47. Nuthatch (12.20.20)

In 2020 we had owls nest in our backyard. The literature says they don't often reuse a nest, but in 2021 they are back!

Great Horned Owl and Owlets

We're doing the challenge again in 2021, and it's not too late to join. Spring is a super time to see lots of birds as some migrate through and the summer arrivals come. I've really enjoyed seeing how the birds interact with the blooming trees and flowers. 

Cassin's Finch and apricot blossoms

American Goldfinch

More American Goldfinches on silver poplar tree

I've also kept my feeder out later, and that has attracted a Lazuli Bunting, such a beautiful bird!

Fuzzy Lazuli Bunting through the window

Join us in the quest for backyard birds. What are you seeing in your backyard?

We're hoping we can beat our 2020 record. We've already had a couple novel sightings this year (like Great Egrets), so it's possible.