Oh my goodness, so much country to explore! For us, discovering hidden treasures in this vast and rugged landscape is a Real Delight. Experiencing the wildness and a solitude that stretches as far as the eye can see is the best part of being Out and About in the West. With no time frame, no task master, Jimmy and I are truly fortunate. We love being out here.
This morning dawned clear and cloudless, which equates to hot by Noon. We elected to drive down to Warner Wetlands, looking for birds. Spring migration is long-gone, with a few diehards remaining. Lots of blackbirds, a lone White Pelican soaring above Hart Lake, the usual Canada geese, grebes, but otherwise, not noteworthy. We continued on, eventually traipsing along on a dirt road toward one of the lakes, seeing not much of anything, so we turned around ... back to the car.
The header photo is a chow hall built by the CCC guys, who operated in the newly-established Hart Mountain NWR from Oct 1936 to July 1941. Their rock works, especially, are always identifiable in their strength and beauty. The chow hall can be seen above, too, in the distance.
There's our Tergel!
This swallow nest (with babies) was in an unused info kiosk.
After lunch and a nap, we drove to the top again, close to the VC, where we picked up the Petroglyph Trail ... go for a little hike, doncha know. We didn't exactly read the above sign, just the Petroglyph part, which meant we were surprised to see the lake (hidden treasure). BTW, we're surprised a lot!
Lupines and yellow-I-don't-know, trailside.
Besides Jimmy, do you see anyone else? A tiny dark speck on the horizon is a tree, with a volcano-looking cone far in the distance. It was hot. Mosquitoes were a nuisance. But a person can breathe in this boundless wilderness. We could've easily stepped off the trail and walked till our legs gave out. Funny thing about wilderness, though: About the time you think you're the first people to ever set foot on a square of ground, you can look down and spot a ball point pen or some equally weird item!
We followed this two-lane trail through the sage, skirting a few mud puddles, observing a mule deer (big ears) observing us, till we neared the water, then the trail became a single path. We guessed the petroglyphs would be in the dark, rocky overhang to the left of the lake.
And they were! We had to clamber over rocks to get close, and we didn't go very far due to a skeeter swarm as we neared. Those things are FIERCE. Satisfied that we saw the petroglyphs we came for, we backtracked down to the lake.
But first, I startled this cute li'l bunny wabbit. Seemingly unafraid, we visited for a minute or two before it scampered away, and I found my way over the rocks down to the water where Jimmy was.
There he is, way down there.
More 'glyphs.
We'd noticed a pair of elegant-looking American Avocets wading in the shallow water. They're long-legged, handsome birds, who forage for yummy tidbits by swishing their upturned bill in the shallows. Jimmy and I decided to walk along the lake shore to regain the path.
As we strolled along, one of the Avocets seemed to follow us in the water, and then we saw the above behavior, but we weren't really paying attention. We thought it was kind of cute. (yeah, right)
When it finally "ran" out of the water and charged us on land, we realized we were trespassing, and it was telling us to KEEP AWAY. Okay, okay. We moved along, and the Avocet calmed down. Back to the car and down to our camp site. We literally can't step outside without skeeters attacking, so we didn't put our chairs out in the evening, though it cooled down nicely.
No rain clouds, no storms. With no one around, we leave our windows open and the shades up. I woke up sometime in the dark of night and crawled up on Tergel's dash to look out that wide-screen windshield. Overhead were the gazillions of stars and a bright Milky Way that most people in the world can't ordinarily see. It was breathtaking. Sometimes being awake is a good thing.
You've been discovering some interesting places!
ReplyDeleteAvocets are amongst my favorite birds.
ReplyDeleteThat is my very most favorite thing about Hart Mountain, and what we missed on our trip last month. We didn't have mosquitoes, but we had clouds that came in during the evenings and at night, and we had no stars. I remember stars when Mo and I camped up at Hot Springs Campground that were so intense and bright even on the horizon that it was surreal. I want to go back for more stars, but I might wait until after frost now that you have informed me there are hordes or mosquitoes, which we have never experienced there.
ReplyDelete