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Great Salt Lake, Utah

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Got to stay at Antelope Island State Park in Utah. When I passed through the area last September it was full.

The second picture above is Bridger Campground where Bison sometimes roam. Opened the door of my trailer one morning to find a bison 10-15 feet away.  You just ignore them and they move along.

The bottom picture is the causeway from the suburb town of Syracuse out to Antelope Island.

There are lots of chukars on the island, but they don’t come out in the open a lot. I heard lots of them in the bushes near my campsite, but never saw any. It was just by luck when driving around, that I came upon the one above sunning itself.

A woman went walking up the hill next to my site early one morning. When she got to a ridge where she was somewhat hidden, I saw a bunch of heads bobbing up and down. Later found that it was a group of jackrabbits that had been surprised.

Meadowlarks are all over. You hear them all the time, but they, like the jackrabbits, don’t tend to stay still for pictures.

Have seen a number of coyotes. One evening was sad to see one go into the bushes where the chukars were.

Started seeing magpies as I got close to Utah. The one above is a young one.

Above, a horned lark. The first one I’ve ever seen.

Barn swallow at the Visitor Center.

The way here: Stopped a  night at a Manti-la Sal Forest campground near Blanding, Utah. Next day drove through Moab for the first time. It has to be the “Yellowstone” of Utah. It was so crowded. I had hoped to stay at a BLM campground along the Colorado River near Moab, but no such luck. All the campgrounds were full. I had been watching the weather in Salt Lake City and when I saw that good weather was forecast and there were campsites available on Antelope Island, I changed course to Salt Lake City.

Below, sunset on Antelope Island. Least I should paint the island as idyllic, it can be very buggy. Depending on the weather, time of day, location, and other factors there are varying number of nat like bugs.

Posted in Airstream, bison, Bureau of Land Management, chukar, coyote, lark, magpie, National, rabbit, Salt Lake City, State | Comments Off

Elephant Butte Lake State Park

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Spent some time at Elephant Butte Lake State Park in their desert campground at the north end of the lake. The weather was great, high 70′s during the day, in the 50′s at night. The nights were beautiful, with so many stars visible.

Not a lot of birds near the campground, but large flocks of white pelicans fished in the lake, along with grebes. The fish were really jumping. The campground was not crowded. Most of the people there had come to fish and had boats.

One night saw a blackhawk type of helicopter circling the mountain in the background. It was eerie because you just saw a faint blue glow in the darkness. Knew it was a helicopter from it’s sound and had seen the blackhawk (type) helicopter earlier in the day. Did see a blinking light when it sped away really fast. The next morning a fighter jet circled the mountain once.

When I went to the post office to pick up my mail, saw the above dog in the driver’s seat with the car motor running. Had to get a picture. You just have to imagine the sound of the motor.

Posted in Airstream, dog, Elephant Butte, State, sunset | Comments Off

Montana’s forests in peril

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Anyone who has traveled in Montana has seen all the damage beetles have done to their forests. Nowhere is this more evident than around the state’s capital, Helena. It looks like almost all the trees you see from the city are dead. The picture above is from a campground in the Helena National Forest. The red trees are dying and the gray trees on the right side of the picture are just skeletons. It looks like the policy is to let them die and blend in somewhat with the green trees.

I know in the Helena Forest, and in other parts of the state, patches are put on some of the trees to repel beetles. Some National Forests and BLM areas are using controlled burns on the worst sections. I’ve wondered why Helena doesn’t do this to all the dead trees that can be seen from the city. In Glacier National Park they say they are just spraying the more valuable trees that take centuries to grow.

Stayed at an RV park in Three Forks, Montana to wait out a 2 day storm. Wanted to have hookups and internet access if I was stuck inside.

I’m seeing a lot of this plant in the National Forests in Montana. It looks like spotted knapweed, an invasive weed that the Forest Service and BLM want to get rid of.

I stayed a few days in a National Forest campground on the edge of the Lolo Forest. It was a dry area near Missoula with mainly ponderosa pine and little understory.

Next stop was Aspen Grove Campground in the Helena National Forest.  On the third day at the campground I saw a least chipmunk jump onto one of my front truck tires. Bells went off as I realized it might be trying to nest in the motor area. Sure enough, on lifting the hood, the chipmunk’s head popped up several times. I propped the truck hood up about a foot, as I’ve seen other campers do to keep critters out of their engines.

On subsequently talking with a camp host in a Utah campground, found he uses the two-day rule. He moves his car every two days to prevent squirrels from nesting in the engine. In my case, my truck had been sitting for 3 days, leading me to believe there might be something to the two day rule.

Below, a hairy woodpecker.

Posted in Airstream, Helena, National, squirrel, Three Forks, woodpecker | Comments Off

Beartooth Scenic Highway, Oh My!

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Drove through Yellowstone National Park to get to Cooke City and a National Forest Service campground in order to drive the Beartooth Scenic Highway (US Highway 212). It is an unbelievably beautiful drive. I kept saying “wow” at every turn.

Above, pictures of the summit, at close to 11,000 feet.

The above picture is a view from the road around 25 miles from Cooke City. All the time I was there, it was clear and nice in the mornings, but in the afternoon a thunderstorm would pass through. The storm would pass after a few hours, only to have another one come through in the late afternoon.

Large hail I encountered on my first drive on the highway. Not tennis ball size, but large enough that at first I thought rocks were hitting my windshield. Couldn’t figure out where they were coming from, as no other cars were around. Pulled to the side of the road and waited for the hail to stop. Felt sorry for all the motorcyclists on the road. It seems to be a favorite road of theirs and they had to ride in a lot of bad weather.

Beartooth Lake

The road on the “Cooke City side” as it starts to climb to the summit.

The road on the Red Lodge side of the summit.

I would not want to be driving on the Red Lodge side during an earthquake. There is a lot of loose dirt and rocks.

A marmot seen when I pulled over to take some pictures.

The original campground I had planned to stay at was closed at the end of July because of increased bear activity. The one I stayed at stopped allowing tent camping because of a bear sighting.

Above are marks on a tree at my campsite where a bear had torn off bark to get to the inner bark that they like. Never saw any bears though. Darn!

Had originally planned to stay at the Mammoth Hot Springs campground in Yellowstone. When I got there, however, I found it to be hot and crowded, so I proceeded on to Cooke City.

Above, a picture of the town of Gardner near the entrance to Yellowstone.

The landmark entrance to Yellowstone. Always wanted to get a picture of it.

It was still early when I passed through Lamar Valley in Yellowstone, where there is a large herd of bison. It is the season for male and female bison to co-mingle. The male bison were making growling sounds and sticking out their tongues, while staying close to a female bison. Passed a pair of bison walking down the middle of the road towards Cooke City, out of Yellowstone Park. A ranger said they do not go after them. The female bison had a tracking device around her neck though.

Posted in Airstream, bison, Cooke City, Gardiner, marmot, National | Comments Off

Wisdom, Montana

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Stayed at a National Forest campground near the town of Wisdom, Montana. Really liked it as the daytime temp was in the 70′s (being more than 6,000 feet elevation) and it was uncrowded. It is around 200 miles west of Yellowstone and has a lot of the same features, like lots of streams. Not many birds here. Maybe the summer season is to short. Did see a few pairs of sandhill cranes. No shortage of flying insects here though.

Lots of wildflowers. The dirt road I took to take the above picture is along a route that was taken by the Nez Perce Indians and Lewis and Clark.

Posted in Airstream, National, Widsom | Comments Off

Camas National Wildlife Refuge

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

I’m visiting Camas National Wildlife Refuge along the I-15 in Idaho, southwest of Yellowstone Park. Eared grebes at the refuge are pictured above. Last year when I was here, there were baby eared grebes riding on the backs of a parent and baby coots. I’m earlier this year though, and winter weather is continuing longer than usual. The corridor along the I-15 between the small villages of Roberts, Hamer, and Dubois, remind me of the Bishop area along #395. It is a desert area with snow capped mountains to the east, west, and north. I plan to stay here till after Memorial Day. Hopefully by then the winter weather will be gone, along with most of the snow from the mountain passes.

Besides Camas National Wildlife Refuge, there are two wildlife management areas here that I hope to visit: Mud Lake and Market Lake.

Yellow-headed blackbird

A hawk holding on to a branch in 30-35 mph winds.

At my campsite, there are two killdeers that use the broken wing ploy every time I step outside, most likely to draw me away from where they have a nest. Would love to see some baby killdeers. They start walking around as soon as they hatch.

Driving home from the refuge on a rural road late one windy day, two sandhill cranes flew in front on my truck, making me slam on my brakes. I was the only one on the road and was driving slow, so I didn’t hit them. Have seen 3 or 4 pairs of cranes and one pair of swans.

Below, clouds passing through the area. They did not bring any rain, just snow to the mountains and cold temperatures at night.

Posted in Airstream, black bird, Dubois, grebe, Hamer, Roberts, sandhill crane, wildlife refuge | Comments Off

Carrizo Plain National Monument

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

Have wanted to visit Carrizo Plain National Monument for a long time. One hundred miles north of Los Angeles, it encompasses an area 50 miles  north to south, bordered by the Temblor Mountains on the northeast and the Caliente Mountains on the southwest. It is managed jointly by the Bureau of Land Management, California Fish & Game, and The Nature Conservancy. The San Andreas Fault travels through it and the area is supposed to be one of the best places to study it.

Top picture, flowers seen driving over the Temblor Mountains to get to the Carrizo Plain.

Second Picture, dirt road looking back at the Temblor Range.

You don’t just happen upon the monument, you have to plan your visit. You are warned not to use a GPS. There is currently only one reliable road, Soda Lake Road. Eighteen miles of the road is paved, the remainder is dirt. The dirt road ranges from very good to areas of mild to moderate washboarding.

I stayed one night at their KLC Campground. A lot of people brought their horses and donkeys to ride. As usual, I managed to visit on a holiday weekend. It was not crowded, but I’m sure there were a lot more people than usual. Many were here to see the wildflowers in bloom.

You could hear meadowlarks all over. Saw one pronghorn elk, which are being reintroduced into the area.

The west entrance to the park (where I exited). The road on the left is Soda Lake Road. In the middle of the picture is Elkhorn Grade Road. The San Andreas Fault runs right next to Soda Lake Road here. The fault is supposed to be clearly visible near Wallace Creek, which I didn’t visit. Now that I know my way here, plan to return, hopefully in a less rainy year and not on a holiday weekend.

The way here: A blog I follow happened to mention a way to bypass a lot of Los Angeles Freeway traffic by taking the I-15 to the Cajon Pass, getting off on California 138 west to connect to the I-5 near Gorman. As it was the Friday before Easter, this was a good choice. As a bonus, it passed the poppy reserve in the Antelope Valley (picture below).

Posted in Airstream, Bureau of Land Management, meadowlark, Taft | Comments Off

Joshua Tree National Park

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Stayed at Black Rock Campground in Yucca Valley for a few days. Not sure when the next time I will be in the area during the prime winter, early spring time frame, so wanted to take advantage of it. This campground has great Verizon evdo coverage. Not sure when I’ve had a faster internet connection.

Ten miles south of the campground is Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It is on an earthquake fault where a spring comes to the surface for a short distance. It is just beautiful and worth a visit. Their land borders on Joshua Tree National Park and is managed by the BLM. They have a goal of making a large corridor for wildlife, so they are not boxed into a small area surrounded by developed areas.

Talk about developed areas, houses have been built right up to Black Rock Campground. So glad Joshua Tree National Park has their land. Otherwise, you know houses would have been built all the way through the park and up to the hilltops.

An antelope ground squirrel.  Have wanted to get a picture of one of these small squirrels for a long time. This guy had a burrow under a yucca plant next to my campsite.

Black tailed jackrabbit.

Cactus wren

Male and female Gambel’s quail

Scrub jay. Also saw a large flock of pinyon jays. They are the only jay that travels in a flock. Didn’t get a picture. Drats!!

A titmouse, either a juniper or oak titmouse, not sure which.

Noticed that it became very quiet after around 3:00 pm most days. That must be predator time. A coyote walked through my camp one day during this time.

Stayed at Salt Creek Campground on the Salton Sea prior to coming to Joshua Tree National Park. Not many pelicans there yet. There is a 10-15 degree temperature difference between the Salton Sea area and Black Rock Campground at 4,000 feet elevation.

Posted in Airstream, Bureau of Land Management, cactus wren, jay, National, rabbit, Salton Sea, sunset, titmouse, Yucca Valley | Comments Off

Snow in Texas. Who knew.

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

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Stayed in El Paso, Texas at Hueco Tanks State Park for three days. After heading south from Socorro, heard that a cold weather front was headed to southern New Mexico and Texas. I stayed at Hueco Tanks last February and remembered there was a propane dealer and Flying J gas station on the way to it. The bottom picture above was looking north after the first rain and light snow storm. The pics above it were after it snowed. Very pretty, but it required a lot of propane to keep the trailer warm.

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The view towards the Hueco Tanks rocks. Again, the bottom one was before it snowed. When I left the day after it snowed, it was pretty much back to looking like this and the rock climbers were back.

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Posted in Airstream, El Paso, State | Comments Off

U.S. Route 395

Monday, October 12th, 2009

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Drove down U.S. Route 395 again, going south. A fellow camper once made the comment that you should always take the 395 when traveling between Southern California and Northern California. The road is a lot better and there is less traffic than the I-5, and the I-101. The road is better because it doesn’t get all the damaging truck traffic. When you get to Inyoken, however, you have to choose between taking highway 14 to get to the Los Angeles freeways, or to stay on the 395 where it becomes a two lane highway through the desert until it meets the I-15. There is again heavy truck traffic in this stretch and always the threat of sandstorms. Not sure why they don’t create more turnouts. A truck or car is always breathing down your neck and there are very few places to pull over to let them pass.

The first time I  drove the 395 I stayed at an rv park near Lone Pine. Next time I discovered Inyo County’s inexpensive parks. This trip I drove 6 miles west of the town of Independence to Upper Grays Meadow, a National Forest Campground, at around 6,000 feet (picture above). The creek that flows through it can be heard throughout the campground. There is a trail the runs along the creek between Upper Grays Meadow and Lower Grays Meadow. Lower Grays Meadow Campground is for smaller rv”s and has a tight turnaround.

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Mono Lake from a vista point with the 395 heading towards Lee Vining.

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A yellow-rumped warbler and two American avocets seen at Mono Lake. Not a large number of birds there this visit.

Below, a butterfly at Upper Grays Meadow. The birds around the area were really good a hiding in the brush. They know if they are out in the open they could be targeted by predators.

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Posted in Airstream, American avocet, Independence, Lee Vining, Mono Lake, warbler | Comments Off

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