ventana canyon trail - sun, 18 nov 2007

picacho peak part II - people pics

picacho peak - sun, 11 nov 2007

ok, this is part one. the place.

it was only my second time ever to picacho. to mix it up, we took the longer round about way to the top. we started later than anticipated, and talked more than hiked. therefore, the last mile or so back was traversed in total darkness. once we made it back to my jeep, we were able to revel in the wonders of the night sky / milky way galaxy.

all around: an amazing day, an amazing hike, an amazing time.

ventana canyon trail day ender

here is a close up of that rattler that ended my progress on that trail.

ventana canyon trail - ants and a bee

i finally went on a hike today! To ventana canyon trail. i started late, i knew it was going to be a short hike. it was getting to be almost 3. gray clouds were gathering above. then all of a sudden, i heard a lazy rattle. three slow shakes. i look down to my left. what i see is represented in the final picture. yes, a rattler! i stopped immediately, and took one large step back. if it were earlier, i would have continued on cautiously. but i had other things to do. i could feel sporadic raindrops. and a venomous animal stood in my way and silently proclaimed "NONE SHALL PASS". i decided it was time to turn around.

overall, it was a great day none-the-less. so much has changed since i last went hiking. life and death. lizards galore were out, as well as tadpoles in the flowing streams. i did see a harmless gray snake earlier. all the green. despite the few scattered clouds, the sky had not been the awesome shade of surreal blue in a long time. on my way back, i was fascinated by the red-black ants who were attempting to drag a dead bee to their hive. there were many partcipants in this endeavour.

a good day indeed.

finger rock trail - feb 18, 2007

i love the sun behind the clouds shot.

it is late. i will be back.

Douglass Spring Trial - during the snow

you can see a few of my patches i have been feverishly sewing on saturday nights lately. there still is much work to do in that area.

as for the hike: it was definitely an 'experience of a lifetime'.

Douglass Spring Trial - before the snow

NOTE: i did not build the heart, i just stumled upon it by a stream just slightly off trail.

Mt Wrightstown - from the top

hopefully you read the first section first, then i can say 'fooled you!'. of course i would include pictures from the top. it was so spectacular! i took over 50 pictures, and even narrowing the field down to 11 pictures was rough.

the first picture was taken about 3/4 - 1/2 mile from the peak. i like how you can see the trail we traversed to get this far.

the second picture was taken about 2.0 miles from the top, but it fits the panorama theme.

the third picture was taken from damn near the top. i love the wrinkled mountains down below.

the fourth picture is of the rounded top of mount wrightstown.

pictures five and six are more awesome panoramas taken as we were heading back down.

i did not post any pics from the top. the reason: the wind. it was WICKED! wickedly strong, and wickedly cold. i did take some pictures, but only one came out ok. it was of the sign of the lookout that used to stand on top of the peak. now, only the base of the structure remains. the three of us just layed down inside the remains to escape the bitter winds. doing so made staying up there barely barable.

we left our heavy packs 1.0 miles from the top. we were all glad we did so. we eat our lunches at this spot. there we encountered a 71 year old solo hiker who was coming down from the top. 71 years old, and still hiking. we salute you. i hope i can say the same when i am that old.

the three of us also discussed plans to decorate our packs with patches of our trips and conquests and things that interest us. now, i just need to learn to sew.

Mt Wrightstown - sun 03 dec 06

i am only including five pictures from this hike, all on the way up before reaching the top.

the first is mt wrightstown peak from below.

the second is of a deer hanging out by the start of the trail. that definitely seemed like a good omen to see a deer just as you start hiking, and it was so. there was another spot about 1/2 -1.0 mile in where we saw 4 deer, but they were further away, and the pictures did not come out as well.

the third is of bellows spring, about 1-1/2 miles from the peak. yes, it was cold up there.

the tree is pretty self explanatory. this was the biggest tree we saw along the way. there were many pinecones 'littering' the landscape all the way up. but there was one spot about 2-1/2 miles from the top where we saw the biggest pine cones i have ever seen. each of us snagged two on the way down.

the last picture was taken about 2 miles from the peak. i took many picturess of this spired and mossy structure.

there were only three of us for this hike. there were no group pictures taken for this time.

we each carried a minimum of 4 L of water and other extraneous supplies to practice carrying weight for future hiking / camping trips. we were asked by many along the way where we were camping. we replied we weren't, that we are just crazy, that's all :)

Ventana Canyon - sat & sun - 17 & 18 nov 06

once again, of my 'pick six': i chose sart, 'mid' (from the window on sunday), and ending pics of the whole gang. they did not appear in the order i had hoped for. more pics and a write up to follow.