Saturday, July 30, 2005
Here are the posts from our recent vacation, in chronological order:
7/11: Yankee Boy Basin
7/12: Corkscrew Gulch
7/13: Clear Lake
7/14: Alpine Loop
7/15: Picayune and Placer Gulches
7/17: Cement Creek and Mineral Point
7/18: Stony Pass
7/19: Imogene Pass
7/20: Yankee Boy and Governor Basins
7/21: Stony Pass and Minnie Gulch
Went down to Paul Cingota's today and took some group pictures of the agility class that included Pete and Trudy. The picture is a going-away present from the group, because Pete and Trudy are moving — to the Bahamas! There is a medium-sized version of this image here, and a truly enormous version of it here. In addition, all the raw pictures are available on my personal site, here.
The events described here took place July 21st.
Well, this is it — our last day in the San Juan Mountains. For this day, we chose to go back to the best flowers we'd seen on the whole trip, at Stony Pass. We left early, and then had time to investigate one new place, a gulch near Stony Pass called Minnie Gulch. Stony Pass was even better this time than it was the first time, and Minnie Gulch was even better. The scenes at right are from both places.
Left-to-right: fireweed, columbine, a daisy or aster, and an unknown "purple spikey thing". The fireweed is an invader, and it's common but here not apparently threatening any of the local species. And it can be quite beautiful. The columbine is the glory of the San Juans; a jewel of a flower that is very common here, especially on steep hillsides. The colors vary from almost white to deep lavendars and blues. Various kinds of yellow daisies and asters abound here, some of the massing into displays that can be seen for miles across the valleys, and often the brightest spot in any meadow. The purple spikey things are abundant in a variety of settings, but most common of all on steep, well-drained hillsides; often seen in conjunction with columbine.
Left-to-right: columbine, daisies, columbine, a daisy close up. On the way up Stony Pass, I spotted a gorgeous patch of daisies high on a hillside above us. We parked, dad read, and I trudged up the hill with my camera gear. A good number of these photos came from that walk up the hillside. The grade here was over 45 degrees from the horizontal, and the footing a mix of talus and loose soil. Treacherous! By carefully steeping just uphill from established plants, I could use the soil stabilized by their roots as a series of "steps" to get up the hill, and that's exactly what I did. Had I fallen, I'd likely have traveled quite a ways down that hill before I could manage to stop, but somehow I managed to avoid any klutz maneuvers, and stayed upright all the way up (perhaps 300' of altitude) to the daisies. Each step was a delight, though, with all the other flowers on the hillside.
Left-to-right: Indian paintbrush, larkspur, Parry's primrose, Indian paintbrush. The first paintbrush was common, though this is an unusually vibrantly colored specimen. The larkspur, with 4 to 6 foot high flower stalks, was one of the most common flowers in all the San Juans, probably second only to cowslip. This Parry's primrose was for some reason in prime, next to a brook that was below timberline — while other specimens two or three thousand feet higher were well past prime, and even in seed. The last paintbrush was an unusual species that we saw only in one place, though there was a fairly large colony of it there.
Left-to-right: red sedum, unknown, and Parry's primrose. This red sedum had lots of color variations, from a washed-out, almost pastel red to a very deep red that was almost black. The bright reds, like the one pictured, against the dark green foliage, was a favorite of mine. It's very common in the San Juans. The unknown flower was also very common, mostly in a much darker purple shade. This specimen (and a surrounding colony) was an attractively different one. The Parry's primroses turned out to be better (e.g., more prime) at Minnie Gulch than anywere else we'd been. The brook and falls at the top of Minnie Gulch (see below) was the best of the best.
Left-to-right: larkspur, cowslip, unknown. The larkspur are beautiful almost no matter how you see them, but I think backlit (as here) is perhaps my favorite way to view them. Their tall flower stalks made a backlit presentation a fairly common occurrence, and we enjoyed them all. A close runner up, though, would be masses of larkspur viewed frontlit in the early morning sun, with a little dew on the flowers. Cowslip are most attractive, no doubt about it, viewed en masse with a little distance (20 or 30 feet is about right). But these individual flowers caught my eye in some unusual filtered and shadowed lighting, under a forest canopy. In the sunlight, the blues of the foliage rival the blues of the flowers, but certainly not here. The unknown yellow flower was mostly seen along the roads, making us thing it may be an invader, spread by the manure of the draft animals. But it's common enough, and can be quite attractive.
At the top of Minnie Gulch, just past where the road is blocked to vehicles, there is a brook that tumbles almost 1000 feet vertically down a steep hillside. At the bottom, the altitude is around 12,000 feet. The four pictures at right, and the four just below, are all taken from the bottom 200 feet or so (vertically) of that brook's path. It is an intoxicating walk along that stream — an unending series of small falls, rapids, and flower displays. Unfortunately this was too much vertical work for my dad, so he didn't get to share this bit with me.
Parry's primrose and the fragrant white flower we love were very abundant here, and many of the Parry's were in prime. Toward the top of my walk there was a larger falls, perhaps 10 or 12 feet in drop, that provided a particularly attractive scene. As I was taking these photos (all on tripod, with time exposures up to a few seconds), I was considering hiking above these falls, where the hillside suddenly got much steeper. But the heavens opened as I pondered, and with rain spattering all around me and lightning in the middling distance, I decided it would be wisest to skedaddle down the mountain. Which I did, zooming past all the marvelous scenery that I'd just hiked up through so laboriously. What a memory!
I'll end this post with a couple of mammalian photos. At left is a marmot, more cautious and wary than most we encountered on this trip. Along a side road on Minnie Gulch he was munching on something in a meadow near the road. When I stopped to see if I could grab a picture of him, he high-tailed it for a nearby rock pile (the bottom of a talus slope). He bounded 50 feet or so uphill, disappeared into the rocks, then popped up as you see in the picture, giving me the proverbial hairy eyeball. He did not relent until we packed up our things and left. Much lower down on Minnie Gulch the road travels alongside a stream in a fairly steep gorge (perhaps 15 or 20 degree slope). For a long section of this descent, the stream's natural flow has been re-engineered by a series of beaver dams, forming a long series of terraces. I'd guess that the average elevation difference between adjacent terraces was only four or five feet. The typical terrace was much like the one at right: a small, elongated pond containing a beaver lodge. Looks to me like the beaver recovery program is working rather spectacularly well!
As usual, click on any picture for a larger view.
Friday, July 29, 2005
The events described here took place July 20th.
Today we decided to revisit the first area we explored on this trip: the Yankee Boy and Governor Basin area. The flowers had been very good nearly two weeks ago, but not yet completely out at the higher (alpine) altitudes. We hoped to see more alpine flowers this time, and perhaps to get a little further into Governor Basin (where we had been stopped by a large snowbank before). The photo immediately at right is along the brook that emerges from the Blue Lakes (which were above us and out of our sight), tumbling through a sub-alpine gulch and bordered by lush wildflowers. We took a half-mile or so walk along this stream that was most enjoyable. At far right is one of the small lakes that lies near the highest point reached by the road in Yankee Boy Basin, at about 12,600 feet altitude. There is a footpath that continues on to Blue Lakes and Mt. Sneffels summit, but we did not take these. While there were a few more alpine flowers out, it wasn't a dramatic change from our first visit. But the sub-alpine flowers more than made up for the disappointment on the alpine flowers...
Both of the flowers at right are mysteries to us. At far right, the white flower is one that when we first spotted it a few days ago on the forest floor, we thought we'd discovered something unusual. We didn't know the flower, and it was uncommon. Within a day or two we were seeing it everywhere, and nowhere in such abundance as along the roads in Yankee Boy and Governor Basin, just below timberline. It has very little fragrance, grows in bunches that sometimes mass into large arrays, but has very oddly shaped individual blossoms with twisted petals. The other flower really was unusual; we saw it in only a couple of places near newly melted snow. The violet color stands out dramatically against the otherwise not-yet-sprouted background. They're very tiny and low; big enough to spot easily, but not massing up like so many other flowers here do.
At far right is another scene by the brook we walked along. Each time we turned a corner on this walk, we were presented with another rock garden like this, full of mixed wildflowers of all colors, but trending strongly toward the blues and lavendars. Down near the brook itself, the scene was dominated by the fragrant white flower we love so much, and the deep violet of Parry's Primrose. At left, from a much lower altitude, is a mature pussy willow seed "pod", exploded and letting seeds get carried along by the wind. There were several species of willow very commonly found both above and below timberline. As you'd expect, most of these were found near water, including substantial stands of dwarfed willow at the higher, alpine altitudes. These won't be mature for some time yet, their season being delayed by the cold that comes along with altitude.
As usual, you can click on any photo for a larger view.
The events described here took place July 19th.
Imogene Pass is a very high (13,114 feet) pass between Ouray and Telluride. The first day we were in the area, 12 days ago, the road to the pass was closed by snow. By today, enough had melted that the road could be plowed. At right is the summit, looking north. The 360 degree view here was a spectacular tableau of rugged mountains, blue sky, and alpine vistas. According to one of our guide books, Imogene Pass is the second-highest pass (with a road) in the continental U.S. This is easy to believe when you're up on it, looking around at tall mountains that lay below you, and breathing the rareified air. We decided not to head down toward Telluride, as the vegetation on that side looked sparse and the tourists promised to be thick.
The trip from Lower Bird Camp to the pass itself was a new one for us, and it had one big surprise: the road follows a steep gulch with plenty of water flowing in it, making for many waterfalls and rapids. We had a good time knocking about in the area of the waterfalls. That water also meant the plant life was abundant and lush. The yellow flowers pictured at right were common in areas where snow had recently melted, right along side a white marigold. The violet flowers (which were more commonly a darker, almost black color) were very common all over the San Juan mountains, in a variety of conditions. We didn't know what either of these flowers were.
On one short walk, we hiked alongside a tumbling brook that was bordered by thickets of willow. In one of these thickets, the bird at right (an adult male Wilson's Warbler) was very curious about who I was and why I was in his territory. Naturally I did not have my telephoto with me on this walk, as I wasn't expecting to encounter any creatures of the birdly persuasion. But he was so close that even with my macro lens (which actually is a 100mm telephoto) I was able to get a photo good enough to identify him with. He stayed with me all the way to the edge of his thicket, but not a bit further. The scene at right is taken right nearby his thicket, where the brook emerges into a meadow that was just blanketed with wildflowers. The white flowers in the foreground are very fragrant, and only grow in very wet places (such as the banks of a brook). They were one of our favorites. The blue flowers in the background are cowslip, which was extremely common in this area.
As usual, click on any picture for a larger view.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
A van full of illegal aliens crashed head-on with a local's pickup truck, on Route 94 not far from the Bravo Cafe and the feed store. At least four people in the van died; the driver of the pickup (a 79 year old — and apparently very tough — woman) survived the crash with moderate injuries.
The Union-Tribune picked up the story; an excerpt:
At least eight people were injured, six of them critically. One was still trapped in a vehicle a half-hour after the wreck and Heartland Fire personnel were trying to rescue him, a dispatcher said.
The Chrysler minivan had 11 undocumented immigrants in it, said California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings. He said the driver avoided a Border Patrol checkpoint near Otay Lakes Road, southeast of the crash, by swerving into opposite lanes.
The Border Patrol was not pursuing the van when the collision occurred, Pennings said.
This accident plays right into one of the things that really scares me — the idea that my life might be ended (or drastically changed through some awful injury) by the actions of someone else, over which I have absolutely no control. What happened to the illegal aliens is horrible enough, but the fact is that they go into that situation through their own actions. Think of that tough 79 year old woman — through no fault of her own, and probably without any option on her part, she became a victim of this situation. I hope she's going to be ok; I'm not really sure what "moderate injuries" means. Yikes!
Update: Since the early reports, apparently another one of the injured has died, making a total of five deaths. The injured woman was 69 years old, not 79 as reported earlier. Her name is Floella Jones, but I've not been able to find any information to contact her, including the hospital.
Update 2 (and bump): A reader (thanks, Lissa) emailed to tell me about Floella:
I am a friend of Floella Jones; and I have recently visited her. She is doing fine. She's still in some pain but is recovering remarkably quickly. At the time of the accident, she was overwhelmed with grief for those who were not as fortunate as she was and is praying for the full recovery of those who were injured and survived. She is also praying for the comfort of the families and friends of those who perished. And she apparently holds no grudge towards the driver who caused the accident. In fact, she laments that he has ruined his life so much at such a young age. And she is praying for his complete physical, emotional and spiritual healing. Mrs. Jones is also recovering remarkably from the emotional pain that the accident caused her, even though those wounds are likely to take her the rest of her life to fully recover from.
Floella sounds like a remarkable lady, blessed with grace and strength.
DOCTORS:
(A) The number of doctors in the U.S. is 700,000
(B) Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year are 120,000
(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 17.14%
Statistics courtesy of the U.S.Dept of Health & Human Services
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GUNS:
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000 (yes that's 80 million)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.001875%
Statistics courtesy of the FBI
So... Statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
Remember, guns don't kill people, doctors do.
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FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.
Out of concern for the public at large, I have withheld statistics on lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention.
Today's reading is from the Book of Corporate Life: Chapter 1, Verses 1-15:
1. In the beginning there was the Plan.
2. And then came the Assumptions.
3. And the Assumptions were without form.
4. And the Plan was without Substance.
5. And darkness was upon the face of the Workers.
6. And the Workers spoke among themselves saying, "It is a crock of shit and it stinks."
7. And the Workers went unto their Supervisors and said, "It is a crock of dung and we cannot live with the smell."
8. And the Supervisors went unto their Managers saying, "It is a container of organic waste, and it is very strong, such that none may abide byit."
9. And the Managers went unto their Directors, saying, "It is a vesselof fertilizer, and none may abide its strength."
10. And the Directors spoke among themselves, saying to oneanother,"It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong."
11. And the directors went to the Vice Presidents, saying unto them,"It promotes growth, and it is very powerful."
12. And the Vice Presidents went to the President, saying untohim,"It has very powerful effects."
13. And the President looked upon the Plan and saw that it was good.
14. And the Plan became Policy.
15. And that is how shit happens.
Dear Beloved Pets:
The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.
I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort.
Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, bark, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open.I must exit through the same door I entered.
Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine or feline attendance is not mandatory.
The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!
To return the kindness of your obedience, my dear pets, I have posted the following on our front door so visitors to our home know what the rules are here:
Rules for Non-Pet Owners Who Visit and Like to Complain About Our Pets
1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes - stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it "fur"niture.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted children who are short, hairy and walk on all fours. Although they don't speak clearly, they communicate extremely well, especially my cats.
5. Dogs and cats are better than kids. They eat less, don't ask for money all the time, are easier to train, usually come when called (this does not apply to cats), never drive your car, don't hang out with drug-using friends, don't smoke or drink, don't worry about having to buy the latest fashions, don't wear your clothes, and don't need a gazillion dollars for college.
6. Also, if they get pregnant, you can sell the kids.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
The events described herein took place on July 18th.
On the advice of John and Grayle Blecker, we traveled up Stony Pass today. They'd told us that this was where they'd seen the most flowers in previous years. We were not disappointed — the upper reaches of Stony Pass were absolutely blanketed with wildflowers. Painted hillsides, colored stream banks, riotus marshes were all the norm. At right you can see my dad walking through just one of the many meadows we stopped to see close up. The many different environments created by altitude, exposure, slope, drainage, and water produced a great variation in the wildflowers we saw. The most numerous were several varieties of Indian Paintbrush, several daisies and asters, larkspur, columbine, cowslip, Parry's Primrose, and a fragrant white flower that we've not identified. Stony Gulch provided the best flowers we've seen on this trip, by a good margin.
At far right you can see the badly misnamed "violet". These typically grow in partial shade near running water; this particular blossom was right near the waterfall pictured below. Usually these are fairly isolated blossoms, but in this case there was a mass of violet blossoms in a small area, with densities reaching 40 or so per square foot. Beautiful! Immediately to right is a larkspur blossom with a bumblebee exploring it, looking for nectar and pollen. These larkspur are very common here, usually found on sunny hillsides above timberline, but occasionally almost anywhere else. Their color varies from intense blues (as in the photo) to bright purple. The bumblebee (which is about half the size of the ones we're used to) is also very common. In addition to the yellow band we've seen on many other bumblebees, this one also has a golden-orange band aft of the yellow one. It's actually quite pretty. I followed this one around trying to get a picture of it (many failed ones were deleted tonight), and eventually I saw it enter a small hole in the earth.
I love time-exposures of falls, softening the water's action and giving the impression of motion. And a little romance, too, I think. This was a 0.5 second time exposure, in broad daylight but in deep shadow and with a polarizing filter to reduce the sheen on the rocks. This falls is about halfway up the Stony Pass road, and it was home to a number of delightful wildflowers, including the violets mentioned above.
As usual, click on any photo for a larger view.
