Please Practice Safe Eating

We're recovering from a stomach bug. Desert Boy managed to escape it, perhaps because he uses safe eating practices. 

Desert Destination: Zion National Park

Every Monday we visit a desert destination.

Located at the junction of the Mojave Desert, Great Basin Desert, and Colorado Plateau, Zion National Park preserves over 200 square miles of exceptional terrain. Nearly everywhere you go, the views are stupendous.

Last week, Desert Boy and I headed to Zion to meet up with Uncle Andrew and his friends. It was hot, so we decided that the best afternoon hike would be in the Virgin River.

The river was flowing 43 cubic feet per second (cfs), and there had been no recent storms, so the water was clear and usually about knee high. But in some places the water was shallower, and in others deeper.

We hiked upstream with some of the other 2.5 million visitors that Zion receives each year. Some of the footwear was quite interesting--and some people chose to wear no footwear at all--ouch!

After a couple hours we reached the junction with Orderville Canyon. That canyon was narrower and the water warmer, so we headed up it. It had some interesting obstacles to negotiate.

Desert Boy didn't mind getting his toes wet.
And he delighted in playing in the water and sand.

Eventually we got to a place where we could go no further. So we enjoyed the view and headed back downstream.
The crowds had thinned out and we had a few moments where we felt alone in the impressive canyon.

The entire hike took about 5 or 6 hours, including many stops. It was a tiring but fun hike. Most importantly, we all came back alive.

Surviving the Desert: Don't End up like This!

This is Bobby. He made the unfortunate mistake of going on a hike with my brother. This is how he ended up. Before long the turkey vultures came in and started nibbling on him. Then they became more voracious and pulled pieces of flesh from his hot body. Coyotes made off with the camera equipment. And at night scorpions came and picked away at what was left of him. The sad thing is that it didn't have to happen. Here's how he could have prevented this terrible accident:

1. Don't go hiking with my brother.

2. Take plenty of water. And drink it. In the desert your sweat contains lots of salt, so consume some salt in the form of electrolytes in a sports drink like Gatorade. Or eat Cheetos. Seriously, they will help you from becoming hyponutremic (salt deficient).  (Good word for the day, see if you can use it in a conversation today). 

3. Dress appropriately. Keep from getting sunburned with long pants, long-sleeved shirt, and a wide-brimmed hat. Wear ankle-supporting boots. Use sunglasses (you got this one right, Bobby).

4. Be in good physical shape. Overexertion in the desert heat can tire you out even faster. Know your limits and don't exceed them.

5. Have a plan. Know where you're going and how to get there. If you don't arrive within a certain time period, have a preplan that your contact will notify authorities and start searching for you. Trust me, helicopters are better than turkey vultures flying overhead when you think you might be dead.

6. Don't go hiking during the heat of the day. Seek shade and do your hiking during the cooler hours.

7. Don't go hiking with my brother.

Memorials can be sent via the comment section of this blog. I'll be sure that they get passed on to Bobby's friends and family. 

Colorful Wildflowers

Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus)

Seeing the colorful fireworks last night made me decide to have a colorful blog post today. The wildflowers are going crazy. The ones on the valley bottom are mostly shriveled up, but as we head up in elevation, it just gets better and better.

Palmer's penstemon (Penstemon palmeri) is a tall flower, approaching 3 feet, with clusters of vibrant pink blossoms at the top of each stem. It's found along roadsides from sagebrush-steppe to pinyon-juniper. It's sometimes called balloon flower.

Firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatonii) are vibrant red and attention getting. I bought some seeds from a native seed nursery that I will plant this fall, and hopefully next summer I will be getting this color right in my own yard.

Thickleaf Penstemon (Penstemon pachphyllus) contrasts with the others due to its blue color. The penstemons have recently been reclassified from the Figwort (Scophulariaceae) family to the Plantain (Plantaginaceae) family. I'm wondering how they feel about that.

The Sunflower (Asteraceae) family has a huge number of flowers in it, many of them yellow. This one, Basin Butterweed (Senecio multilobatus), isn't too hard to distinguish with the many, small yellow ray flowers and the deeply divided leaves. 

Nodding Microseris (Microseris nutans) is widespread throughout the western U.S. It's less than a foot tall.

Northwestern paintbrush (Castilleja angustifolia) is found up to 10,000 feet, but is most common in the sage steppe. I bought some paintbrush seeds to plant this fall, but I've been warned that since this plant has a parasitic relationship with nearby plants, particularly sagebrush, it's unlikely that it will last beyond one year. Paintbrush is still in the figwort family. Are they lonely now that the penstemons moved out?

Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in the Desert

The desert holds lots of wonders: incredible sand dunes, amazing plants and animals adapted to harsh conditions, stunning views, and, of course, UFOs.

I've mentioned in a recent post that the desert climate is an excellent place to look at faraway stars, galaxies, and whatever else might be out there. And surely there is something else out there. And if these visitors from a distant place decide to come to our lovely planet for a visit, it only makes sense that they are going to come to an agreeable climate where they can see what's around them and won't have anyone sneaking up on them through the forest or swamp.

The deserts of the U.S. have had great UFO sightings. And I have to admit, I've gone and visited some of them. How could I stay away from Area 51 (or just outside it, since I don't have the necessary clearance to enter the highly guarded perimeter)? And I just had to see the alien on display in Roswell, New Mexico. 

Have I seen strange lights in the desert sky? You betcha. Have I figured out what they were? Nope. It's easiest just to explain them as military aircraft. After all, the military, like extraterrestrials, have figured out that the desert is a great place to be. But is the easiest explanation the correct explanation?

Take a close look at the photo at the top of the post. In it you can see a triangular shape. That's where a UFO crashed in 1953. It was such a catastrophic crash that the vegetation still hasn't recovered. If you look really closely to the right of the crash, you can even see a little alien face looking back at the crash. According to the website that reports this crash, the ET's that landed took refuge in the area.  I'm still waiting to see them, but if I keep looking hard enough, I'm sure one will pop up. 

I've always figured that Fourth of July is the perfect time for the extraterrestrials to come in their UFOs, due to the fact that any strange lights will be attributed to someone shooting fireworks. So have a happy Fourth of July and keep a sharp eye out. You never know what you might see.