The Desert Year

[LDMGOLD]

YES....Kate Lee was a true lover of Glen Canyon and that plateau country. Many years ago she made a presentation for me at the Arizona Lecture Series here in Apache Junction on Glen Canyon and the Plateau Country including Canyon Lands National Park. We had about 500 people attend her presentation. Marshal Trimble had recommended her for the program. Sharon and I are planning on a trip down the Green River late next spring if all goes well. She has run the Colorado River three times now and wants to explore more of the upper Colorado and Green Rivers. Again thanks for sharing the photos with us and Desert USA.

Tom K.

[yuccahead]

Sharon and I are planning on a trip down the Green River late next spring if all goes well. She has run the Colorado River three times now and wants to explore more of the upper Colorado and Green Rivers. Tom K.

My wife and I are going to do a Green R. canoe trip next year as well. We generally favor the late summer season for canoe trips - less people, no bugs, the river is warm, low and slow and it's easier for us to get the time off around then.
Which section were you thinking of running?

[LDMGOLD]

YH,

To be honest I am not sure. She likes the Colorado more for name sake then anything else. I would like to do the Green River personally, but we are looking into outfitters at this time. I like the idea down the river in a canoe and back up the river in an jet boat. I am thinking five or six days on the river will be enough for me. We have a Yellow Lab that goes everywhere with us, but I'm not sure we can take him on the river. I know dogs are forbidden on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. We would appreciate any suggestions. Sharon, my wife, loved the rapids in the Grand Canyon. I like calm water with no rapids personally. I would rather look at scenery and look for wildlife.

Tom K.

[yuccahead]

Tom, here's a link to area outfitters
http://discovermoab.com/tour.htm
Compare prices etc. but you won't go wrong with any of them.
The Green R. sections are 1) Desolation Canyon, a raft trip with Class III rapids
2) Labrynth Canyon and/or Stillwater Canyon, flatwater canoe/kayak or raft. You can rent a canoe and gear or go with a guided trip.

On the Colorado R. you can canoe flatwater about 60 miles down to the confluence or
do a raft trip through Cataract Canyon and raft the same flatwater section plus the Cataract rapids.
A lot of this is in Canyonlands NP and they won't allow dogs on the river. Commercial outfitters won't allow dogs either. There are a couple of kennels in Moab that you could use.

[LDMGOLD]

YH,

Thanks a lot for the link. I will definitely check it out.

Take care,

Tom K.

[yuccahead]

It's been kind of slow out in the local deserts. The weather has been much different than last year. At this time a year ago we had 8" of frozen snow on the ground and lows into the teens and single digits. Other than one light snow a couple of weeks ago it's been pretty nice but the wildlife are getting more difficult to find. Tracks and sign are just about the only way to tell who or what is out there.
A few walks have turned up some interesting mosses, the only green things out there right now except for the pinyon/juniper trees.


Packrat middens are still keeping me entertained. A partial jackrabbit skull and beer can in this one.


And, what looks like part of a snake spine from another


A walk in Arches turned up the mandible of a muledeer


But the big surprise came this morning at the Matheson wetlands. I hadn't been there in a while because they had been working on the trails. What was once a narrow primitive trail is now a graded, widened pathway. New gravel had been laid down and only a few people had walked on it when I got there this morning. I was watching for birds and not paying a lot of attention to the new trail but after a bit I started noticing tracks in the soft, new dirt. At first I was thinking "dog" but as I got to some clean, fresh tracks it became frighteningly obvious I was looking at fresh mountain lion tracks. In fact there were three different trails from the same cat, coming, going and coming. I hung around there for a long time measuring and photographing the cougar tracks.
Full set


Left front

[reptilist]

Wow, that's a textbook lion track... Good picture!

[TradClimber]

YH - Those lion tracks don't look too old. Probably a day or two at most.

I see lion tracks often in the Santa Rosa Mountains. However, I have only spoted a lion once in 35 years in the Santa Rosas.

Lions are outside of my comfort zone.

Be careful out there.

TradClimber

[yuccahead]

Wow, that's a textbook lion track... Good picture!

There were so many...it was easy, but thanks.

YH - Those lion tracks don't look too old. Probably a day or two at most.


TradClimber

They were very fresh TC, probably the night before or early that morning. I went back out this morning after 2" of snow fell but there was nothing new. I was fortunate to go out there when I did. The Preserve lists the mtn. lion on it's list of mammals but I really wasn't expecting this right in town. The area is good muledeer habitat so it shouldn't be a huge surprise. I should have paid more attention to the scat sign I saw before the tracks appeared. It was a single length of scat about 18" long... right in the trail. I didn't know what to make of it at first, but I wont ignore something like that again.

[reptilist]

You might remember "Musicman" who used to post on here several years ago.... He moved to Pinos Altos (near Silver City, NM.) and I still keep in touch with him. He sent me a picture of some lion tracks in the snow that were on his porch. I have never been particularly bothered by the idea of mountain lions, but I suppose it is prudent to carry bear spray and a sturdy, sharp, sheath knife.