A Quick Trip to the Magic Grove near Mount Washington

 We had some visiting ecologists who were interested in setting up a limber and bristlecone pine monitoring program in Great Basin National Park. Since I do a lot of the high elevation botany/ecology, I went with them on a recon trip to one of the potential sites, up in the Mt. Washington area. I love going up the west side of the park, it is always so remote and beautiful. I took all these photos with my phone.

Jules joined us and brought along the telemetry gear to try and hear the collared bighorn ewe. We didn't hear it from down in Spring Valley, but we did hear it later in the day.

The traditional first stop up the road is the Wheeler Mine, where water comes out of the old mine and we can still see some of the mining structures. I'm not quite sure what this structure was used for.

Then we drove up the tight switchbacks up to near the top of Mt. Washington. We hiked the last 150 meters into the clouds.

Then we went down the other side to the northeast to check out a grove of bristlecones that has been dubbed the Magic Grove. The name isn't on any map, but it's stuck locally.

The moving clouds lent a very different air (double pun intended!) to the grove.

Wildflowers were scarce, but we could see there remains, like this Silene acaulis. In the summer it has brilliant pink flowers.

I found this four-trunked tree interesting.

Recognize this tree? It's on the Great Basin National Park quarter. It's a very cool looking tree from every angle.

The clouds were moving so fast. Thunderstorms were predicted for later in the day, so we knew we couldn't stay too long.

One of the cool things about bristlecones (and there are a lot of cool things!) is that often times the tree roots are above ground. These roots are so old that the ground has eroded out from around them, leaving the roots in air. This is an example where the biology can be used to help date the geology.

The bristlecones had some cones on them, so the life cycle continues. Those bottlebrush needles can live for 40 years!

On the way back down, the clouds lifted enough that we could see the marvelous patch of aspen on the other side of the canyon. A wildfire in 2000 burned part of Lincoln Canyon, making some great bighorn sheep habitat and regenerating a lot of aspen.

 It was a quick trip up and down the mountain, but lots of fun with good conversation about forest ecology and field work. The clouds made everything look so different. The Mt. Washington road requires high clearance  and four wheel drive and is one of the toughest roads around. The super tight switchbacks require three-point turns for longer vehicles.

Exploring the New Basin and Range National Monument, Nevada

About a month ago I joined some friends and acquaintances to do some exploring in the new Basin and Range National Monument, located in south-central Nevada. This national monument was designated in July 2015. It is managed by the BLM and is huge--about 704,000 acres. There is no visitor center, no amenities, few signs, and few paved roads (Nevada Highway 318 goes through part of it.) Here's a link to the BLM website with a map and more info.

We had topo maps, 4WD vehicles, and a sense of exploration.

The fossils in the Joana limestone are terrific, with lots of crinoids.

This crinoid stem had a nice star shape in the middle.

The northern end of the national monument is in the Great Basin desert, but at the southern end it is a transition zone to the Mojave desert, and cholla appear.

There are a few homesteads on the monument, including this abandoned sheep ranch.

This is a corral in a different part of the monument, when I approached from Highway 318 north of White River Narrows. I liked the series of mountain ranges framed by the corral entrance.

Most of Coal Valley is encompassed by the monument. I thought the sagebrush looked really healthy in much of the valley, and there wasn't much cheatgrass, which was nice.

There is cattle grazing in the monument, and I spotted this water tank by one of the hills.

We put up tents in a leave-no-trace makeshift campsite and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

The next morning it was time for some hiking.

We loaded up our packs and started heading up into the mountains. Note the lack of trails.

The number of fossils was amazing. This entire rock is covered.

We were also lucky to see some claret cup cacti blooming. They are so gorgeous!

Numerous holes dotted the cliffs. This one went in about ten feet, enough to get a fun view.

We kept hiking up and up and eventually made it to the top of the Golden Gate Range, the mountain range in the center of the monument. We found a survey marker and some assorted equipment that made us wonder what had been there previously.

To the west we saw Garden Valley and the Grant Quinn Range. It looked even more impressive the next morning with a fresh dusting of snow.

Here I am on the windy summit! It got so windy that day. My tent didn't do so well with all the wind.

We did some more hiking along steep slopes. Again, no trails. This place is wild!

Then we rappelled off the side of a mountain and into a cave.

It looked like we made the first footprints into the cave.

It didn't go far, but it had some nice speleothems.

The entrance was nice and wide and tall. It was fun being in a cave that didn't require crawling the entire time.

Some birds make their home there too.

I also saw some of the most amazing midden ooze that day, very orange. It looks soft, but it was actually very hard.

Later we were walking around some other cliffs and found this climbing rope dangling. It looks like climbers are putting up new routes (but I sure wouldn't leave my rope there, it wasn't that far back to the vehicles!).

It will be interesting to see how the monument is managed. They are currently working on a management plan.

A marker glued to the wall. Maybe this is the Scorpion King wall?

It is a gorgeous area. I really liked the cliffy mountains, abundant fossils, small caves, healthy sagebrush, numerous wildflowers, and isolation. We saw about eight vehicles all weekend. If you go, take supplies to stay overnight even if you're not planning to be there over night, as it's really remote and you may or may not run into someone else. Good tires, plenty of water, maps, and a good sense of direction are also helpful. I'll be back to explore!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Christmas is almost here and we've been getting ready in various ways. We've limited the decorations this year but sure enjoy looking at what others have done.

The school Christmas program included some music and then two plays, one from each of the elementary schools. There are ten students in grades K-2, and their play was about the different states they have been studying.

They did a nice job and had quite a few lines to memorize.

There are a few more kids in grades 3-6. Their play was a musical, and Desert Boy really enjoyed learning the songs. His part was king, and he also really enjoyed wearing a crown.

They learned some choreography for the songs, including a bit of swing dancing. It was fun to watch them.

We made three kinds of Christmas cookies this year. One was a dud, but the other two came out well. Desert Girl turned out to be pretty proficient with a rolling pin for these sugar cookie cutouts. She also loves sprinkles!

The kids had dress rehearsal for the Nativity Play. Desert Boy is Joseph and Desert Girl is Shepherd 1. We've been working on memorizing lines, and they fortunately catch on pretty quickly.

Shepherds' Hill includes some attitude and wandering sheep. It should be an entertaining production!

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!