Wildlife at the Watering Hole

 The days are getting warmer, so the kids asked the other day if they could go to the swimming hole with their friends. Sure, why not?

A little garter snake was hanging out there.

Desert Boy asked if he could catch it, and I said yes. He quickly captured it.

 It wasn't very big.

Desert Girl came over to check it out. Do you notice what she's wearing? It looks like she wants to go swimming.

Ava gave it a try, but it was cold!

Desert Girl's expression is what mine would be if I got in the water! Needless to say, there was a lot more time on the beach than in the water. We're approaching high water now, so the streams are up and dirty. That should give us a nice sandy bottom in part of our swimming hole. We like the sand a lot better than the silt when we're walking in the pond!

Hendry's Creek Pronghorn Trap

After we looked at the burned area in Hampton Creek, we drove across the bench to Henry's Creek.  We didn't have a specific destination, and while my husband and I were talking, the subject of the Henry's Creek pronghorn trap came up. I had found some information about it for my guidebook of the area, but never had had the chance to investigate it.

According to pioneers, the Shoshone Indians built a V-shaped trap between a couple ridges and would herd pronghorn into it. About fifty Indians were needed to make this work, and they would smoke themselves with sagebrush to hide their scent.

We decided to hike over to the trap, as my husband knew where it was. I looked it up on Google Earth later so I could see it better. I outlined the trap with the red line below--look just inside it and you might be able to see the rock wall.

The boulders were still in place, but the willow branches my husband remembered seeing in his youth were no longer there.

The bottom didn't look much like a V to me, more like a U. I'm guessing the boulders used to be higher, or at least the branches, because they aren't very high walls now.

 

It was pretty cool seeing this remnant of a different culture out on the landscape.

Rambles on the Ranch

 One Sunday in early April we went out to explore an old homestead on the ranch. Part of the barn was in good shape.

Desert Boy was eager to climb it.

Inside the kids used the metal detector to look for "treasures." They didn't really find anything, but they liked using some different technology.

For some reason there was part of an airplane nearby. I liked the patterns.

Then it was time to walk along a ditch and search for more treasures. I was hoping to see some wildflowers and interesting birds, but it was a little early in the season.

We found some old irrigation structures that aren't used now.

Seeing these old homesteads makes me reflect on our lifestyle. Even though we live in a place most people would consider really remote, we have it easy. We have Internet access, good roads, and UPS delivery five days a week. The pioneers lived such a different lifestyle, as did the Native Americans who first came to this area about 12,000 years ago.

I don't think I could live much more remote than I do now, I like to interact with different people. Although a few months out in the total boonies would probably be okay. How remote a spot do you think you could live?

Hello, Snow

 When we got to school the other day and Desert Girl saw snow on the car of the bus driver who lives 1,500 feet higher than we do, she immediately exclaimed, "After school, can we go skiing or sledding, Mama?"

"Yes," I replied, delighted she wanted to be outside. And so after school we packed up and headed up the mountain. I wasn't sure what we would find, but when we got above 7,500 feet, it was still snowing.

We wandered around Upper Lehman Campground a bit and found a lot of sticky snow on the picnic tables.

Desert Girl was in full winter attire and ready to catch some snowflakes.

And eat them.

This weather has been so crazy, but we sure do appreciate the moisture. It will be a great wildflower year, even if some of them are covered with a little snow right now.

Swimming in April

We had a few days in a row where it was getting in the upper 70s, so the kids asked if we could go to the swimming hole and invite some friends. I figured the water would be too cold to swim, but the sandy beach is a lot of fun. Plus we had a little boat they could practice rowing.

The swimming hole is a settling pond for the ranch. Stream water, running off the high mountains, slows down as it enters the pond, dropping first rocks, then gravel, then sand, and then silt. Then it goes down a grate, up a bubbler and through a screen to remove more materials, and then down a pipeline to the pivots more than a mile away. The settling pond also makes for great swimming, as there is a shallow part, where the stream starts slowing down, and a deep end, where it deposits the silt. The shallow part is usually quite pleasant with sand, but since it's before runoff and the pond gets dug out every year, it was silty everywhere.

The kids didn't care. They couldn't wait to get wet!

They took turns in the boat and swimming. When they got cold, they came up on the beach and played in the warm sand.

It was a nice day to be outside. I went into the water up to my knees and found that it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. But it wasn't warm enough to make me want to swim!

We played and talked a long time.

Then Jenny found a garter snake.

Desert Girl couldn't wait to hold it.

It was good we made the most of a beautiful day. It might snow tonight! The joys of spring.

Osceola Ditch Hike in Great Basin National Park

The Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive in Great Basin National Park recently opened to the Osceola Ditch, so I took the kids up one day to go hike the trail. I had mentioned the Osceola Ditch in my April Nevadagram post, and I wanted to see it again. The ditch was built from in 1889-1890 and covered 18 miles, from Lehman Creek, around the mountain to Mill Creek, Strawberry Creek, Weaver Creek, and over to Osceola. The ditch had a slight downhill grade to keep the water moving in the desired direction. Wooden flumes were built over rocky sections, and a tunnel was blasted through a hill near Strawberry Creek. The ditch managed to get water to Osceola for gold mining operations, but it didn't last long. Mild, dry winters meant less water for the ditch in 1892, and by 1901 the Osceola Ditch was abandoned. 

Today it's a nice trail from the pull off on the Scenic Drive to Strawberry Creek. The hike is 5.2 miles one-way, but we planned to just go as far as we wanted (or as far as I could get the kids to go). I enticed the kids with the promise of a snowball fight.

We found snow immediately, and the kids were delighted.

I got pelted, but had fun returning some snowballs.

Desert Girl also made a snow angel.

After we hiked 1/3 mile from the trailhead, we met up with the ditch. Most of the trail is easy, but Desert Girl wanted to take the hard way.

If there's an obstacle, she's there.

It's easy to imagine water running along the ditch. There are reports of miners fishing the ditch. The ditch probably helped Bonneville cutthroat trout get from Lehman Creek into Mill Creek. Decades later, Mill Creek served as a source population of Bonneville cutthroat trout for reintroductions into several other creeks.

Desert Boy found a fun rock outcropping along the way.

We took a time out for a grass fight.

I also enjoyed the flowers, like this tiny Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parvifolia).


Nearby was its frequent companion, slender phlox (Microsteris gracilis).


We kept hiking until we found snow blocking the way. Then the kids spent an awesome 20 minutes playing in the snow. It was at least a couple feet deep and they loved jumping into it and then unburying themselves.

On the way back we admired some of the wooden flume, now just pieces of wood.

It's a great trail to hike. It's one of the few that isn't steep, so that really makes it stand out. The history behind it is also fascinating. If you get far enough, a road parallels (or is on top of) the ditch, making the hiking even easier. Large snowdrifts often persist into early June. I'm thinking I will return to this trail later in the summer and see how it works for a trail run.