Wonders of US-50

I've spent a fair amount of time on US-50 through Nevada and Utah.  Some highlights include a large windfarm just east of Ely.  It looms on the horizon for miles, and at night, each windmill is topped with a red light that blinks.  It would be a confounding sight if you only ever saw it at night.

Driving back from Capitol Reef National Park, I wanted some ice cream.  There is very little in terms of human habitation and services along much of this route.  I finally came upon this gas station-Dairy Queen-Pettting Zoo combo in Utah.

Gas station-Dairy Gueen-Petting Zoo Combo.

Complete with a zebra.

The Sevier Lake Bed can be seem from miles

Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef National Park was my destination for this break.  I chose it for the cool temperatures, minimal crowds, interesting geology, and human history.  It exceeded all my expectations.  I especially liked the contrast of the lush green orchards of Fruita with the many shades of rock.

New Mammal Sightings: Yellow-Bellied Marmot

View from the Fremont Creek Trail.  Fruita is in the background.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot!  In the picnic area

View from Chimney Rock Trail.

View from my favorite trail, Cohab Canyon Trail.  Fruita is in the valley.   Notice the black, egg-like rocks, which were transported here by ancient glaciers.

On the Cohab Canyon Trail.

Grand Wash Trail.  Scale is lost in this photo, but these cliffs are at least 100 feet high.  Not a good place to be in a flash flood.

Mule deer in the picnic area, which they seem to own.  I saw at least 6 every time I drove or hiked by.

View from the picnic area where I took a Siesta.

Hitch 2: Duck Creek Basin

Another great week working at Duck Creek Basin and camping at Timber Creek Campground in the Humboldt-Toiyobe National Forest.  Out Pinyon-Juniper reduction project is helping to restore sagebrush habitat and also creates a fire break.  Our project sponsor is the Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition.  

Olivia holding a baby pinyon tree we pulled up.  She is holding it at the above-below ground point.  Long taproot!

Lunch tree on our last day.  Trees that had crowned were left standing.

Lots of large anthills like this one.  So far I haven't been bitten, but they often form around the trunks of the trees we are cutting

Felling a small tree.

Our crew and our partner crew pose on our final day after we load the trucks.

Red Canyon Mountain Biking

I stopped by Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest on the way back to Ely from Bryce Canyon to do some mountain biking.  

Another biker on the trail ahead of me.  I seem to have inspired him to get out his camera.

What's wrong with this picture?  I don't think that's what clipless pedals are supposed to do . . .

Luckily I had my first aid kit.

View from the trail.

100 meters after Shoe #1 blows up, Shoe #2 felt left out.  Time to restock the first aid kit.

Bryce Canyon National Park

I decided to go to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah for this break.  I was able nab a spot in the park campground for a few nights.  While I was there, the Annual Astronomy Festival was going on.  I went to several interesting talks on the myths behind the constellations and how to use a Planosphere. Dr. Amy Sayle, a planetarium educator lead these presentations.  It turns out that Dr. Sayle works for the Morehead Planetarium at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I went to college.  One of my friends actually works for her at the Planetarium.

New Mammal Sightings: Pronghorn Antelope (I saw this briefly from the shuttle bus), Mule Deer

View from the rim.

Another view from the rim.  I have dozens of these . . .

On "The World's Best 3 Mile HIke" down into the canyon.

I watched 2 of these lizards on the trail for at least 10 minutes.  They would skitter around one another and every few minutes one would make a lunge at the other, but the other would always have scrambled away.

Fairyland Point

Along the Rim Trail, one side provides near constant overlooks into Bryce Canyon, but the other side often appears as this.  Beautiful but overshadowed by the canyon.

Hitch 1: Duck Creek Basin Pinyon-Juniper Removal

We had a great first hitch!

The week started out very cold.  It was snowing when we arrived at our campsite and pitched out tents.  By the time we got to the worksite, it had turned to a cold rain, which sounds miserable but was actually fine.  Sawing is hot work, so the cold was not an issue.

Our campsite.

Road in front of our campsite.

Lots of interesting plants in the area.

View from campground

 There was wildlife to be seen.  We saw several deer from the truck as we drove from the campsite to the worksite.  I also saw a female sage grouse.  Insect activity went from non-existent to swarms of flies and mosquitoes after the first mild night.

Female sage grouse.

Cows at our worksite.  They were not at all wary of chainsaws.

A day's worth of gear to haul: chainsaw, chaps, 4 liters of water, lunch, raingear, dolmar (the gas and oil container), and sawbag with tools.

I was impressed with how hardworking my crew was.  Working 8 ten-hour days in a row is no easy feat.

On a break.

Posing with gear.  NOT about to saw through the gas can.  The ground seen here has already been cleared of juniper and pinyon.

The foreground has been cleared, but you can see the edge of the treeline where we were working.