My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I still had a few hours to kill so I hiked up another canyon.....



I climbed about 1,300 vertical feet before stopping.....there would not be enough daylight to continue upwards.....but the views were magnificent.....



Unfortunately I took a slip on a boulder as I descended and twisted my left knee quite badly (which was also bad news for my training regiment which has been going great since December 15th, 2018.....more on that at a later date).....



The remainder of the evening was spent with my dogs watching yet one more glorious sunset. Here's a few shots of that evenings setting sun.....









Sleep is great at the refuge.....no generators and nobody close by to mess with us.....the nights are eerily quiet and the stars are vibrant.....there's the occasional howl of the coyotes.....and then the morning arrives.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

With the recent addition of an ailing knee I decided that the best thing for me to do was to stay away from the canyons and the mountains for a few days and spend my time wandering the desert floor. That's a pretty tough decision to have to make since it is such a great place to explore, but honestly, now I can focus on other stuff.....long walks in the desert.....I swear it's like an informal meditation time for me.....





There are so many awesome plants to view and inspect while you wander around.....and the variety of plants have changed a bit from the northern desert, and most, of course, I have no familiarity with.....



Many of the flowering plants are either in full bloom or just beginning to display their colors.....





A local that I spoke with one day said that he had been coming here to Kofa National Wildlife Refuge for years and had never seen the flowers bloom so early in the season. And that's something I actually always hate to hear.....climate change and the warming of earth always on my mind.....and how could it not be with all that we hear from scientists as of late.....



Moss is a plant that surprised me when I saw it in the desert. I've always thought it's just too dry and hot for it to survive in this environment.....but there it was.....



There are quite a few trees in the low area where we've camped but this particular tree in the next picture was one of a kind. The needle like thorns on this tree are as deadly as they come and I suspose that must be why these tightly woven nests were only found deep within the branches of this particular tree.....



The nests (there were 4 of them in this tree) did not appear to be occupied but I couldn't be certain.....just getting the close up pictures that I got by sticking my hands and arms into the branches was painful enough.....there was no way I was sticking my head into that deadly tree for a closer look.....



It really is amazing how most desert trees and plants have developed some type of thorn for its protection. Someday I may have to research the reasons for that being the case.....without a doubt thorns dominate the desert plant life.....

 

[azken]

http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/deserts/facts.cfm
Because I've wondered as well..this article is rather elementary..then again at 75 that seems to be the way my mind works.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

azken.....thanks for the link.....and for following along.....elementary is the only way to go.....


So I'm out walking the dogs one evening and a woman I meet along the way says to me "have you been out to Skull Rock yet ? If you're lucky you might see desert bighorn sheep out there". The next day the dogs and I jumped into the Jeep and drove out to Kofa Queen Canyon to have a look at Skull Rock.....



The road leading to Kofa Queen Canyon was 5 miles of rough high clearance vehicle road just to get to the entrance of the canyon. Then there were still 3.5 more miles of extremely rough road (and calling it a road is really a stretch.....it's just a path up a desert wash).....



It was a perfect day to bounce around in the Jeep.....



But the dogs and I.....you know.....we prefer to walk.....



I saw a cave ahead and was thinking this is so amazing and then it hit me.....I was standing in front of Skull Rock.....



A few minutes later we were scrambling up the rocky slopes (oh my poor knee) wondering where the desert mountain sheep were grazing on this wonderful day.....



This rocky arch provided a rather unusual photographic opportunity.....I did my best.....



Further up the wash I meet a guy that was van camping (that van did not belong here !) and doing some climbing. It turns out that he's a climbing guide out of Moab, Utah and he had just hiked up to the summit of Signal Peak, a peak that I had seen on the maps, and one that I was also interested in climbing as well. He shows me the location of the trailhead and then he heads out.....



(By the way, this road is so much rougher than what either of the road pictures might indicate.....it sucked.....seriously).



Now fifteen minutes later I see this guy up on the rock arches waving and signaling me to pull over. This guy must have incredible eyesight is what I'm thinking as he points out along the mountainside for me to have a look.....

 

[longhorn1]

Awesome

 

[Ace Brown]

Just returned from five weeks in Baja and catching up on your posts that i always enjoy. I spent several days in Kofa just about a year ago. I too was missing the palms until I was told to look up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

JD.....the desert bighorn sheep are truly awesome. I feel very fortunate to have spent a few minutes observing those guys. And by the way, after getting on Google and researching them, I do believe that this group of seven sheep were all males (guys). Apparently that's how they travel, and, in addition, the males have the much larger curved horns that you see in the pictures below.....

Ace.....thanks. I replied to your PM last night. The odd thing about the location of those palm trees is that the sign actually points upwards but the brain says looks downward because they must be in that little valley. Safe travels.....


The reason that I mentioned the rock climbers incredible vision is that initially this group of desert bighorn sheep are quite a distance away. I just couldn't imagine how he could have spotted those guys.....they blend into the landscape so well.....



So for my eyes I needed to have a closer look. With the dogs waiting in the Jeep I hiked up the side of the mountain.....



Once I was within maybe three hundred feet of them they started to take notice of me. They were never alarmed, and continued to feed on the mountain plants.....



When it comes to animal viewing I always try to respect the fact that this is their world, not mine, and that I'm a guest in their landscape. Therefore I'm gone after a few pictures taken, and after a few minutes of viewing.....



Wandering around the desert can be a very painful experience for the inexperienced desert hiker such as myself. It seems that I need to be reminded of that fact repeatedly. Returning to the dogs and the Jeep I picked up this cactus in my leg (not my first). These things seem to penetrate the skin without too much pain, but removal is damn near excruciating. I finally was able to remove this thing by repeatedly yanking on my jeans. Each pull (there were many) really, really hurt.....



The next picture is a poppy (or so I'm told) and these flowers blanketed the desert floor of this canyon. There seemed to be several varieties and several colors. Combined with all the other flowering plants, it was.....magical.....



It was a perfect day.....



Darkness was coming as we headed back to the campsite.....



We finished the day with a campfire.....



And a late night walk in the desert.....

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Jerry, glad to see the adventures continue.

On cacti wounds, I have spent a fair amount of time removing them. Tweezers/pliers for the big clumps- pulling the jeans works as well. ( many are barbed like tiny fish hooks, some excrete a substance that numbs the area going in)

Other things that will help, heat packs/warm water this will open up your pores. Its common for some of the splines to break off under the skin.

as weird as it sounds, also something that is widely used is a thin layer of glue over the area, once dried it should*pull up the remaining splines as well. I have seen and used duct tape to do the same in a field environment, but its not highly recommended, as in some people the tape causes a rash. But would recommend the glue...

case study:

https://www.woundsresearch.com/article/cactus-spine-wounds-case-report-and-short-review-literature




PBS- on the damage they can do to tissue

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/cactus-spine-can-lift-pork-shoulder/

 

[longhorn1]

Big Horn Sheep are my favorite. Great pictures. jd

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

PNWY.....I sure do appreciate that information but I was actually long gone and healed by the time I had made that post. But thank you.....

JD.....I neglected to mention that on the way out of that canyon the climbing guide spotted two additional desert bighorn sheep on the opposite side of the canyon. This might be a good spot for you to hang out.....nine desert bighorn sheep spotted in one afternoon.....



That night while lying in bed I couldn't help but recall how much the climbing guide had said he enjoyed the climb up to the summit of Signal Peak (4,877') and before falling asleep to the sound of the distant coyotes I had decided that I'd give it a go the next morning.....even though the left knee was throbbing.....



The weather forecast was for partly cloudy skies, sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph, and gusts to and possibly exceeding 40 mph, with rain moving in late in the day (the weather is an important ingredient of this short story). The next morning Tanner and I took to the Jeep early and hit the rough road for about an hours ride to the trailhead.....



The trail was a truly mixed bag as we ascended the wash towards the peak. There was really not a well marked trail, yet stone cairns seemed to be everywhere. No matter since it was impossible to get lost.....



The trail became much steeper as we ascended the mountain trail.....



We found water about half way up as well as signs that the desert bighorn sheep hang out here.....



We continued upwards and the going was tough on that bad left knee.....



This cave thing was pretty cool. Actually there are tons of caves in this canyon.....some would definitely be worth exploring as they looked to be deep into the rock.....



As we continued to ascend the winds really began to increase in intensity and eventually we were high enough up to be into the clouds.....



Close to the summit the clouds are racing by and the winds are whipping pretty darn good.....



It's becoming quite an interesting summit.....not something that I'd expect on a desert peak.....



We're finally very close to the summit and things get a bit crazy.....

 

[ITTOG]

It definitely looks like a cool trail and oh man, what a cliff hanger!

Do you ever feel Tanner is trying to tell you to hurry when he is always looking back at you? Or are you staging those pic's?

 

[furbucket]

...and then???

Must really be good cause you usually don’t make us wait!!


via Tapatalk on an evil pocket calculator with a flashy screen

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG.....neither of those I think. I'd say he loves to explore even more than I do, so he's constantly running around checking out the surroundings. His energy level is off the charts. Regarding staging pictures, the only staging I can think of that I do are the summit shots when I try to get a picture of either of them sitting down at the summit. Just my thoughts, but I think Tanner has a knack for good picture taking.....

Furbucket.....sorry about that. I'm actually starting to journal elsewhere in a private account so it's a lot of journaling. I've been thinking lately about moving off of this site, or posting much less. I've always felt a bit like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole here. This is a vehicle based site, mostly about builds (which is actually how I found this site.....my friend building his rig and journaling about it here). I'm in the early stages of planning and training for a 6 month trip that won't involve a vehicle so maybe soon is the right time. But it's premature to make that decision.....


We finally reached the summit and it's every bit as amazing as the climbing guide had said it would be.....



But the winds were coming up from the valley below, mostly concentrated in one of the canyons from the south / southeast and they're really zipping right on by us.....



The summit of this peak was large.....plenty of space to wander around and the views were 360 degrees of awesome.....



I stumbled onto the summit register (I had no idea this peak had one).....



Tanner and I used the rock cairn that was built around the summit register as a wind shield and we laid down for a snack and a bottle & bowl of water. These are without a doubt my favorite times in life.....



After nourishing our bodies and taking in the views for maybe ten minutes, I decided to have a little walk around the summit and that's when I noticed the brass monument marking the actual highpoint.....



I leaned over to take this photograph, Tanner standing several feet away, when this incredibly powerful gust of wind roared by, actually moving my body to the northwest. I looked to my left where Tanner had just stood, and Tanner was gone.....blown away I had assumed. I could hardly believe my eyes and couldn't even believe that it was possible. I started racing around the summit thinking he must have wandered off but in my heart I knew it wasn't so.....



Of course the winds were blowing in the direction of the steepest drop off and I looked over the ledge and saw nothing. I was immediately sick to my stomach and completely freaked out.....



I worked my way around the mountain summit and found a route down to where I thought he might be. As I rounded this massive rock formation there was my best buddy, maybe two hundred feet away, working his way back up the mountain. Honestly, he seemed a bit disoriented and his fur a bit disheveled, and he had a mild limp on his left front paw, and other than that, all seemed well. I have no idea how far he flew but what a memorable summit that was for us.....



I gathered up our things and we headed down that mountain quite quickly I'd say. Tanner's limp disappeared on the way down, but my sore left knee now became my sore left leg.....my pain now extended from knee to ankle. It felt sooooo good to return to the valley and put this climb behind us.....

 

[ROKTAXI]

That first picture is stunning! ..... bet Tanner slept well that night! Good to hear he didn't suffer any significant injury.

 

[furbucket]

Can’t believe he literally got blown off a mountain top- glad he’s alright and hopefully no lasting damage...

If you do start a blog elsewhere, make sure you leave a link here in case we all want to keep following along. Vehicle or no- I find your travels interesting, plus dogs getting to be dogs in nature will never get old


via Tapatalk on an evil pocket calculator with a flashy screen