Finding Frog Eggs

 A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to help the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) look for frog eggs in the West Desert. Above is a photo of a typical road in the West Desert. Actually, this is an excellent road in the West Desert. Many roads are just two-tracks. Wondering where the pavement is? There's a short section, about 100 m long. That's it. If you travel much in the West Desert, you invest in good tires. And you plan on a new windshield frequently.

I followed Kevin and Vanessa out into the marsh. We all wore hip waders and carried basic supplies in our packs.

We didn't see many frog egg masses at first, but I did like this snail shell.

The marsh alternates from alkaline soils to thick vegetation to springheads and channels. It makes walking a good workout.

While we were in the marsh, we heard aircraft. Dugway Proving Grounds is not too far to the north, and various military planes fly over this area.

Finally, some frog eggs! After frogs mate, the female lays a mass of eggs. Counting egg masses provides an estimate of the frog population. Each egg mass means two frogs. It's always amazing how many frog egg masses we find, because we never see or hear nearly that many adult frogs. Each egg mass has about 100 or so eggs. It takes a few weeks for the eggs to hatch into tadpoles.

We saw a number of these structures out in the marsh. The little white pipe holds a measuring device to measure the depth of water. Utah DWR is concerned about the water levels in this marsh because Southern Nevada plans to pump extensive amounts of groundwater south here.

Here's a view looking south. The highest snow-covered peaks are Jeff Davis and Wheeler Peak, part of Great Basin National Park.

The marsh is fascinating, with winding streams, a variety of vegetation, and quite a few birds. We also saw some fish: least chub, Utah chub, and speckled dace.

At lunch time I wandered over to a nearby spring. The water was an amazing color. Even more intriguing were the shifting sands on the bottom of the spring. The spiral soon changed into another shape. I could have happily sat in a lawn chair, drink in hand, under a sun umbrella, and watched that spring all afternoon.

I had forgotten to pack a lawn chair, so instead we headed to a different marsh to continue looking. Ahead of us was Gandy Salt Marsh Lake. Right now it has water, but by late in summer it's pretty much dry. Along its edge are numerous springs and marshes. It is an extremely hostile place, but even so, a remarkable amount of life can be found there.

We saw numerous northern leopard frogs.

We were mostly interested in Columbia spotted frogs, but we kept count of these guys, too.

I love being out in the West Desert. It is such a remote place, and I feel like I am in the wild. It is freeing, exhilarating, and just a little bit scary.

We had no problem finding frog egg masses in this area. One cluster had over 40 separate egg masses. That must have been one big frog orgy! (Or maybe they just all prefer the same habitat and feel the odds for their progeny to survive are best there. But that sounds a little boring.)

I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day, but it was well worth it. Hopefully these frogs and their offspring will be able to continue to enjoy the wilds of the West Desert for a very long time to come.

Last Hike in March - Part Two

After our foray into the stream gorge, we headed across the road and started climbing some rocks. Desert Boy pointed to a nearby hill and declared that he wanted to climb it. We agreed. The hill looked doable, but still a bit high for small legs. Desert Girl got to ride on my back, but the boys were on their own.

Evan found some rock climbing opportunities.

It was windy, but the wind was at our backs, so that helped a lot. The idea of a snack once they got to the top also helped.

At the summit, Anna found some small rodent bones. The kids were excited.

The views were really nice.

This photo is for G. Robison--recognize the trees in the right side of the photo?
For everyone else, this is an old homestead that has a beautiful location, with views of the mountains on both sides, two streams coming together and flowing by the property, great night skies, and plenty of peace and quiet.

This is the view from our hill looking southeast. I like how the stream meanders.
Those unfortunate big poles are from the Intermountain Power Project. A coal-fired power plant north of Delta, Utah provides power for Los Angeles. The poles happen to cross some really pretty places.

Looking north, we can see the kids back on top, with higher mountains in the background. Since we're looking at the south-facing slopes, we don't see too much snow.

The kids took a break out of the wind and goofed off. They know how to do that well.

Then it was time to head down. We decided to take a slightly different route back to the van.

Oops, one more photo of the great views (this time to the southwest).

Now it's time to head down. When we go past this hill, we can remember the fun hike on the windy day. We're glad Anna and Evan were able to join us for an adventure.

And so concludes March. Here's hoping that April brings many good things!

Last Hike in March - Part One

 We met up with our friends Anna and Evan at a yard sale this morning and decided to go for a picnic and hike. We collected a few picnic items, then headed down a back road. It was windy today, so when we found a rocky area down by the stream and somewhat protected from the wind, we decided to take advantage of it.

The only problem was that the stream was so attractive to the kids, it was hard to get them to sit still to eat! It was a really cool section, with water cascading down a rocky gorge.

 Who knew we had such a fun mini-canyon? The pool above was about three feet deep at one end--deep enough that we'll have to come back and test it out this summer. Hopefully there will still be water!

 We all had fun negotiating the rocks and trying to keep our feet dry.

 I noticed a spot of color, some desert Indian paintbrush. The red really brightened the landscape.

 This flower was fairly inconspicuous, a yellow member of the Mustard Family.

 Anna found a couple caddisfly larvae, with sand casings. It was neat watching them crawl around, with their houses on their backs.

 Evan and Desert Boy wanted to keep going down the stream, but we decided we wanted to keep our feet dry so we could go hike up a hill on the other side of the road. But we'll be back, when it's warmer and we want to get wet!

We probably never would have explored this area if the kids weren't with us. It's nice to slow down and enjoy these overlooked special places.

Coming next...the hike on the other side of the road...

Apricot Blossoms

 We have a couple apricot trees just covered with blossoms. They are beautiful and smell so good.

We'll have to see  if they survive the predicted snowstorm this weekend. The last two years we've lost most of the apricots due to early freezes. It sure would be nice to get some apricots this year!

Stunt Riding

Jenny and I took the kids for a little bike riding adventure last week. We went to this little terrain park that features small dirt hills. We figured it would be a good challenge for our four-year olds.

Going down the hill was exciting.

Apparently going across the mostly flat bottom was a good opportunity for sticking out your tongue!


Going up the hill on one side was a bit challenging, and the kids always had to walk their bikes up that hill. Even though it doesn't look big, it turned out to be a good workout.

We wanted to get everyone lined up to go at the same time, but it never seemed to work out.

More waiting to go at the same time. Desert Girl thought it was a blast and kept saying, "Again. Again."

It was a fun place to go.

Jenny and I liked that we were able to get a workout!

Finally Ava and Jenny were able to ride at the same time.

Up the near hill!

Way to go! We'll definitely be going back. And before long, we may be looking for some real mountain bike trails.