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| Bristlecone pines - Great Basin National Park |
As of July 10, I was out of work... do not worry, I am out of
work by choice - retired. It has been a
long time coming, 34 years. I kept
thinking about it and events over the past few years have led me to this
decision. I plan on keeping up this blog
but it will change yet again. Last year
it morphed from a day hike, photography, fishing blog to a multi-day camping,
hiking, photography, fishing blog with the addition of my truck camper. The camper allowed me to go farther staying a
few days at the location of choice. Now
my horizons will expand even further by going for longer periods of time. My/our goal is to visit all of the National
Parks within the United States. There
may be a few other places thrown in from time to time.
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| Canyon de Chelly |
Great Basin National Park (GBNP) has been on my list since I
saw a story about it on CBS Sunday Morning a few years ago. It is a ‘dark skies’ park meaning no light
pollution. I don’t ever remember seeing
the Milky Way growing up in Wisconsin, even doing lots of camping. Ironically, my introduction to the Milky Way
was while I was at work at a very remote location. I kept looking at this light thin cloud in
the sky that never seemed to move…
“That’s the Milky Way”, I was told. Since
then I’ve had several posts with images of the Milky Way. I hope to post a few more from this trip.
I’m travelling alone this time.
This trip is to try out some of my camper improvements in anticipation
of longer trips.
I use Google maps to help me pick routes. I don’t necessarily use them but it gives me
a start. I am happy to see several
different routes taking me from Albuquerque to GBNP. I have driven the I-40 route past Flagstaff
several times, I don’t want to do that ride again if I don’t have to. One of the options is to get off I-40 at
Gallup taking 2-lane roads across AZ, UT and NV. Since I don’t have a tight schedule to
maintain I chose this route. The roads
are good; quite empty at times, but that is a good thing. I chose to leave in the middle of the week
hoping to bypass families out on their weekend trips. I neglected to think about families on their
summer vacations.
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| Stella Lake - Great Basin NP |
Taking the two lane roads makes me feel more attached to the
landscape. I’m riding along with the
landscape, not just following multiple lanes of endless flat pavement racing to
the next destination. I didn’t stop at
many roadside attractions but that was by choice. I did see parts of each of the states I would
not have seen from the interstate; Canyon de Chelly, Navajo National
Monument, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam and part of Monument Valley to name a
few. Many of these spots will be visited
again when they are the focus of my trip.
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| Tree reflections |
Day 1 – Exiting I-40 at Gallup continuing northwest the
landscape drastically changes. I never
would have guessed a great green expanse of pine forest along the road. Each time I would come around a curve there
would be something different to glance at; I am still driving so no more than a
glance. From the forest the road drops
into valleys followed by climbing back to the tops of mesas. At Chinle, AZ I make a detour to visit Canyon de Chelly. The mouth of the canyon starts
out as nothing spectacular but continuing along the top of the canyon the walls
reach to heights over 1,000’ above the canyon floor. Looking down from the scenic overlooks reveal
man’s presence; two track dirt roads, a few houses and tilled soil.
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| Canyon de Chelly |
Continuing on from Canyon de Chelly more rock formations
appear on the horizon. One looks like the
Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. The
highway is taking me to Kayenta, AZ, one end of Monument Valley. Looking off in the opposite direction from
where I am going I see several spectacular rock outcroppings - another
trip. Rain comes and goes as I pass
Kayenta. The visitor center of the Navajo National Monument is closed for the night when I arrive. There are a number of historic sites to see
at the bottom of the canyon, all led by park rangers. Finding a campsite in the Canyon View
campground I have dinner watching the shadows dance across the canyon walls.
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| Navajo National Monument |
Day 2 – From Navajo National Monument I continue towards
Page, AZ. Landscape changes continue, it
seems the only thing not changing in AZ is the red rock. Once crossing from AZ to UT the rock
landscape becomes predominantly cream colored.
Continuing on brings more and different colors. Following US89 north through a long valley I
divert west again through Dixie National Forest. The passes are up over 9,000’. Once crossing to the western half of UT it
seems that all human habitation disappears.
The valleys become immense, 10 – 15 miles across. Noting that I have 60 miles to go I cross
into a valley, looking ahead; “That must be GBNP”, nope, as I drop into another
valley, looking the same as the one I just exited.
Finally arriving at GBNP I was informed that the Wheeler
Peak campground is pretty full even for a weekday. I was taken aback by that statement and
subsequently decided I would see the visitor center some other time in hopes of
getting one of the last campsites. They
went on to say there is pretty much no chance at getting a site coming on a
Friday or Saturday. Leaving the visitor center at ~7500’ elevation and +85° I
started the 12 mile journey to the campground at 9900’ and cooler temperatures;
65 - 70°; more to my liking. I did a
quick drive through the campground finding three sites left out of 35. On the second go around made my choice.
On the way up to the campground I had seen a doe feeding alongside
the main road. I saw yet another feeding
in the campground near one of the campsites.
All evening long I saw deer roaming through the campground not spooked
by humans. Today, in all I saw at least
a half dozen in and around the campground.
I am camped on the side of a mountain, as I said at almost
10,000’. The mountains surround us are
12 – 13,000’ so I am looking at mountain peaks above the treeline. Clouds surround us so no Milky Way or star sightings
tonight.
Day 3 - The next day I woke to light to moderate rain. I was reminded how fortunate I am to be in my
truck camper. I prepared my breakfast;
eggs, hash browns, bacon and juice in dry comfort listening to rain patter on
the roof. The rain came and went through
the early morning and I finally decided to hike the trails anyhow. I have the gear to do it. I was reminded of one of my favorite
photographer’s sayings ‘Bad weather makes for good photography’. I have experienced it so I went out with that
in mind. I was the first one to sign the
registration book at the trailhead.
Along the way to the alpine lakes I saw six deer feeding in the meadows,
they looked over in my direction as I passed by but none of them took off as I
am accustom with deer.
The glacier and rain fed lakes are quite low, part of the general
drought this part of the country is experiencing. I was the only one to see the calm lakes, the
usual midmorning conditions before winds make their appearance. Approaching the second lake I came upon the
stream feeding it. The stream seems to
erupt from the steep wall of rocks continuing its flow into the lake.
The alpine lakes trail meets up with the bristlecone pines
trail. I continued on to see the
bristlecone pines. The trail ascended a
few hundred feet wrapping around the side of the mountain to a small valley
ending up at the foot of a remaining glacier.
Before arriving at the glacier there is a spot where these pines decided
it would be a great place to live and grow.
The conditions seem harsh; all rock, very little soil, a narrow valley where winds funnel through, and no real source of water other than the glacier runoff. Yet these trees have lived here for hundreds to 3000+ years. Some are still living with
what appears to be branches full of bottlebrushes. Interspersed with the bottlebrushes are red
colored pine cones releasing small clouds of yellow pollen when the branches are disturbed.
Returning to the camper I hear distant rumbling in the sky. Later that evening the rumblings got louder and the rains returned. I fell asleep to a hard rain.
Stay tuned for part 2
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
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