I Climbed a Mountain

...it doesn't get any better than that, until tomorrow.

I have been pondering how to catch everyone up with all that I have been doing this past year, and it just seems overwhelming and I don’t know where to start… so I will just start with NOW.

The Rock Club season ended the last week of March, so I left Quartzsite, AZ and went to visit Cibola Wilderness Area, Oxbow Lake and met new friend Judy Crawford who is a camp host there.  She takes marvelous wildlife photos, and I’ve been wanting to visit her.

She also makes these wonderful beaded hummingbirds, and one day I must own one of them. Visit her FB page. Judy Gail's Creations – Gift Shop.  These are really wonderful.

While there I kayaked the full length of the Oxbow Lake and back.  Nice to be back on the water again.  I’ll write a blog post on that as well and update with a link here later.

Then I picked up a couple things in Quartzsite and headed Eastward, knowing I didn’t have the money to go too far. My goal is Florida to visit family and friends, and then return to AZ via Arkansas Diamond Minds by September or October.   Made it to City of Rocks and Rock Hound State Park.

A neighbor camper likes rock hounding as much as I do. We hiked both days together, he even slowed down to accommodate me.

We are headed up there…. and I believe we got to about the middle of the photo, just below the rocks/where the slope starts.

Ran into several of these... Greater Earless Lizard.

They are really neat.

And this is Yellow Bird of Paradise.

Another of the same kind, very tame.

It's that amazing?  I liked him so much, I designed and printed new business cards for myself, using his photo.  (Or should I call them non-business cards? Image at the top of this page.)

And rocks, found lots of rocks.  Way more rocks than it was sensible for me to collect.

Another Yellow Bird of Paradise.

Up is better.  Have you ever seen a nicer trail?

Poppies of some sort, everywhere.

The range of colors was amazing.

Orange  and ….

Golden yellow.

I accidentally uncovered a nest of baby mice... and then re-covered them as quickly as I could.

The purple flowers smelled really great.

Most wonderful Yucca plants.

We went a little higher than this and got into very rocky areas, where we had to actually climb up and down to go on.

The far white dot on the left in the parking area below is my big white SwankieWheels van.

Here I zoomed in on it for you.

This one really large rhyolite rock had inclusions of Jasper, Agates, Small Thunder Eggs, and other stuff.... amazing so many things could all be mixed up in one big rock.

Same rock, pink jasper.

Photo by:  Campground neighbor, Bill.

This was about as high as we went... I was pretty spent by then... and knew getting back down with 40 pounds of rock on my back would be a challenge, so I refused to go higher.

Another lizard, this one is a Collared Lizard.  "Collared Lizard is the probably Clark's Spiny Lizard. It looks like the ring goes nearly all the way around it's neck, where the Desert Spiny only goes across the top of the neck. I have the Desert Spiny out here."  (Thanks Judy Crawford for teaching me so much about the Desert.)

It was a really great hike for me, challenging me in prep for the AZ Trail Hike. Thank you neighbor, Bill, very much for your company.

While staying at Rock Hound State Park, I also visited the Visitor Center were there is a small Botanical Garden and a Labyrinth. I had a slide show here, but with the failure of LiveWriter, I had to remove it. I will post them separately. Photos of Visitor Center.

I believe I will be spending a lot more time in NM State Parks after this year.  I’ll get the Annual Camping Park Pass for Out-of-State is $225, and spend my Summers exploring NM until I tire of it… if such a thing is even possible.

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Take time to smell the rocks?

Today I ran away from home to go out and smell the rocks. urrrr flowers??? No, I smell rocks – guess I’m suffering from rock withdrawal, afterall, I’ve been in a city for a month now. Thought I needed a little desert time... so I followed my nose and ended up at Lake Pleasant Regional Park north of Phoenix.

Really, I shouldn't have spent the gas money that way... but just thought I deserved it. It's called "re-creation" (oh, wait, I even have a degree in that, and I should use my degree, right!).

Having spent the past month, parking lot hopping… it was good to get out and walk in the fresh air and sunshine.  We had almost 24 hours

of rain.  Things were blowing everywhere.  And that’s all the desert needs… to turn green.

This is near the Visitors Center at Lake Pleasant Regional Park… and NO, it’s not irrigated.

I understand they also have about 300 head of wild burros here as well, and I’ve seen proof of that, but no real animals sited.

Photo from: Taos Unlimited

They also have Satellite towers here… so I’ve got good internet.

OK, one of those is a Satellite tower.

The rock wall is a desert tortoise enclosure.  They are not out yet, too cold.  For more about this go to next page on Desert Tortoise.

It doesn’t get any better than this, until tomorrow.

Too much wildness???? Is it possible?

A couple nights ago I cooked that rainbow trout I was given, thinking I could not eat it all… but I ate the whole thing.   Yummy.

Yesterday, as I wrapped up my work day, I heard a helicopter.  I went up the ridge above my campground to spot the landing site.  One guy was on the ground, doing something, I figured out later he was hooking up the water bucket.  There were drawing water from the Lake below my campground, and flying it out S.E. about 3.5 min. and then 3.5 min. back again.  They made about seven bucket loads… and then loaded up the bucket and left.  I was on my way to ask the guy on the ground if I needed to be concerned, but they were done before I could get around to that side of the lake.  I could not see any smoke, but we have had a lot of thunder and lightening the past few days.

I have escaped the wilderness to escape some crazy wild people out there. One camper refused to keep his three vehicles in the camping space he rented and paid for and then when he left, he stole a whole pile of firewood from another camp site.

Last night, July 9th, 6pm.

 

This morning, July 10th, 10:30am.

You are suppose to have a Permit from the Forest Service to remove any wood from the National Forest.  Signs are posted and clear.
And another day-use group got upset about having to pay five dollars for the day use area... they caught 9 fish and had a tailgate party, used the bathroom facilities and dumped their trash... but tried to get out of paying $5 saying "we are just passing through!"   How do you catch 9 fish as you pass through an area????

What is wrong with these people? It's like they are immoral, or psychotic? Or what????

Well, as for me, today and tomorrow I am not going to worry about it. And today, on my way out, there was a large sheep herd at the same area... complete with shepherd on horseback and two border collies.

I tried to talk to the man (either Hispanic or Columbian?) and all he could say... is "sheep herder." Well, duh... that much I knew.
Coming down the mountain I took a number of other photos of switchbacks, the mountains, cattle and flowers… for your viewing pleasure.  It’s a nice drive.

		On the way to town… VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

OK, tonight, just going to enjoy the internet, Diary Queen, and Laundromat and a hot shower. Yahhhh!!!
I like being in the wilderness… but would like it better if I was ALONE.