Desert Destination: Ash Springs

Just off Nevada Highway 93 in the town of Ash Springs, across from the Shell gas station, is Little Ash Springs. An unmarked dirt road leads to some BLM bathrooms, a parking area, and steaming water flowing underneath the cottonwoods.

Next to the parking area is a built-up area for soaking. 

Some signs give a little indication of what's going on: Ash Springs Recreational Site. No camping is allowed, and in fact the sign says that visitors are only allowed to stay two hours. The times I've visited I've only seen a few other people there, but I've heard that the place can be absolutely packed during weekends.

It's not much of a surprise--the water feels wonderful! The temperature varies between 88 and 97 degrees Fahrenheit, and the water flows from 17 to 23 cubic feet per second.

 
The springs originate from several orifices, although the BLM asks people to stay in the developed area to protect the rest of the spring habitat. With only 1.2 acres in the recreation area, there's not much space for so many people, and trampling and social trails are obvious.

During chilly winter days, the rising steam makes the path of the water especially obvious. The warm water not only attracts humans.

A tiny fish, the White River springfish, (Crenichthys baileyi baileyi) lives in this spring. In fact, it only lives in Ash Springs, and this endangered subspecies only survives where the water is warm, so it doesn't go very far downstream. There are at least three fish in the photo above, each about an inch long. Desert fish often don't get too large because they are limited by the small amount of water in the desert.

The fish swim all over the spring. The BLM held public meetings in November 2008 to solicit public input about how to better manage Ash Springs to reduce vandalism, decrease erosion, help keep trees from falling, and keep the springs accessible to the public. The Caliente Field Office will be writing a development plan for the site. The plan will be discussed at the June 25 & 26, 2009 Resource Advisory Council meeting in Tonopah.

Trying to keep good habitat for the White River springfish while managing the spring for heavy visitation is a challenge. But there's still another challenge--proposed groundwater pumping in nearby areas may reduce the water that emerges from the spring.

Life in the desert is always a little tricky, but especially at Ash Springs. So if you're on Highway 93 and about two hours north of Las Vegas, take a break and check out the springs. The fish are easy to see, the cottonwoods provide some shade in the summer, and the water is enticing. We just have to remember not to take it for granted. 

Odds and Ends

I've spent part of the last week in the Mojave Desert and have some fun blog posts coming up! 

From time to time I feature desert plants on this blog, and have recently been included in the Berry-Go-Round #13 Carnival, a collection of plant posts. There's a lot of great information there.

As I was reviewing some of my recent posts, I realized I never ended the January photo caption contest. The entries were fantastic, and each one had me laughing. I hadn't realized that my truck was quite so dirty!

And drum roll please, the winner is: Sarah! Her entry was: 

"Come on Henry- we've got a lot to do. The day's not a success until we blend in with the truck."

Congrats, Sarah. You are now the proud winner of two thumbs up! Accolades on the Internet! And bragging rights to all your friends. You never knew it could be so good, did you?

Sarah's entry reminds me that Desert Boy has been making a lot of dirty laundry lately. And Henry eggs him on. If Henry plays in the mud, Desert Boy plays in the mud. If Henry walks in water, Desert Boy walks in water. In the following photos, you can see the fun they have together--and how Henry encourages Desert Boy.

Henry's drinking water, why shouldn't I?

Maybe it would be more fun to throw a rock into the water--regardless that Henry is in the way!

Ah, waves, I threw well and got the rock into the puddle.

If I turn my back, Mom can't see me walk through the puddle just like Henry did. Besides, I'm wearing camo pants and they make me blend right in.

Fun Cows

I had fun watching cows the other day and caught some fun expressions. I love to imagine what the cows are thinking. They are obviously curious, but cautious at the same time.

They all line up, ready to begin their high kick. Okay, maybe watching the cows makes me get a little loopy. It must be the smell of all that sweet feed and manure.

As I check out this group on the other side, I see most of them are paying attention. Then I look at the back wall, and what's that I see in the window?

Why it's a cow, not wanting to miss any thing.

Ah, how can anyone resist a sweet face like this one?

Golden Eagle

Whenever I see a really large bird of prey, I know it has to be one of two species: bald eagle or golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Adult bald eagles have easily distinguished white heads and tails, which means that an all-dark big bird is usually a golden eagle (immature bald eagles are often mostly dark, too, but a little observation makes it fairly easy to tell them apart).

Upon closer inspection, it's easy to see that the head is indeed gold-colored. The wingspan can be six to eight feet. Having such big wings can be a disadvantage at times, though. One of the places I regularly see golden eagles is feeding on road kill. They are slow to move away when a car comes, and getting hit by a car is probably the biggest cause of their demise. So if you ever see a bunch of birds up ahead feasting on a dead animal on the road, slow down to make sure one of those birds isn't a golden eagle--it needs extra time to take flight.

Golden eagles will also eat the normal assortment of small mammals, reptiles, and birds. They mate for life, with the female larger than the male as in the case of most raptors. Similar to red-tailed hawks, golden eagles have eyes eight times more powerful than humans.

We see golden eagles year round in our valley, and thoughout western North America they are fairly common. They still are exciting to see, and generally whenever someone sees one they tell other people about it. There's just something neat about seeing such a large and majestic bird. Fittingly, the golden eagle is the national bird of Mexico.

Windmills in the Desert

Out on the desert floor I see a windmill, looking lonely out in the desolate brush. The windmill is a sign of early technological progress--a way to harness the wind to pump water from the ground and provide for livestock, irrigation, or other water needs. The windmill is an indication of a rural area, a place without electrical lines.

Over the last 120 years, the basic design of a windmill hasn't changed much. The fan (or wheel) at the top of the tower is turned by the wind. This rotary motion turns a set of mechanical gears that raises and lowers the "sucker rod," the rod that extends below the fan and down into the ground. The up and down movement of the rod (reciprocating motion) powers the cylinder pump located underground.

This cylinder pump is near the bottom of the well, which is dug or drilled into an aquifer. Perforations in the well casing allow water to percolate into the well, and then the pump keeps adding water to the bottom of the pipe, creating enough pressure that the water is forced upwards and out of the pipe. 

For this windmill, once the water reached the surface, it was put into this livestock tank. Today it's full of tumbleweeds, and none of the similar windmills in the valley are working. It's been quite a few years, even decades, since the last one pumped water to the surface. My husband says he can remember one working windmill as a child. 

So why aren't more of these windmills, with their simple technology, in use? With the arrival of electricity, brought by the Rural Electrification Association from the 1930s to 1950s, windmills all over rural areas went into decline because it became easier to pump water with a motor that had a steady power supply. Nowadays, with increased energy prices, more people are repairing, restoring, and installing windmills, and learning how to maintain them. 

This windmill is an Aermotor, made in Chicago. Aermotor windmills were first sold in 1888, and were made in Chicago until 1958. Today they are still sold, made in San Angelo, Texas. 

I had a little fun with lighting effects. The windmill is a fun subject to photograph.

The old timers were on to something, harnessing the free power of the wind to make life easier for them. Nowadays, more and more people are turning to the wind again, not so much to lift water from the ground, but to create electricity. The windmills that are used for electricity are called wind turbines, and we are starting to see more and more of those out in the desert.