Howdy folks! Somehow we have managed to fly through July already. Part of that fly-by was thanks to a pretty busy month here at Intrigued. Intrigued’s 4th celebration, Brad and Jan out in the field and there were several running events packed in there; Jan’s St. Jude run, my failure at Cry My a River and as of last Saturday, our 20th consecutive running of the Bix7 up in the Quad Cities. Admittedly, wasn’t so sure how the Bix would go based on my previous performance in the heat and Bix is traditionally an oven of a race being deep in July. Fortunately, temps stayed Midwestern mild in mid to high 80s for the actual race and all went well, very well actually (temps did go back up to normal post race). A great way to wrap up my road race career, it is all trails from this point on! While I get a bit of recovery in, Brad is going to bring us an adventure from another steamy location.
Take it away Brad…
Jan and I have the Annual Parks Pass, allowing us unfettered access to all of the nation’s national parks, forests, monuments, etc. We’ve purchased one each year since we retired and have more than paid for the pass with savings on park entrance fees several times over. When we had the opportunity to visit another National Park, we jumped at the chance to pile on the savings. If you don’t have your Annual Parks Pass by now . . . well . . . you know who you are.
The desert around Las Vegas is just that; a desert. We shook it up a bit by visiting the largest reservoir in the US, or even in North America: Lake Mead. For those keeping score at home, Lake Powell has more surface area, but Lake Mead holds more water. Both are suffering from extended drought conditions and increased demand for water. Kids don’t let the water keep running when you brush your teeth. After leaving the visitor center, we headed towards the Wetland Trail in Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
A few minutes into our hike along a ridge, I spotted something flitting in and out of a hole in the side of a cliff. A swallow was my first thought, but being 50-75 yards away, all I got was a small brown smudge on the sensor near the middle of the photo
Look closely and you’ll see the tiny image of the bird near a hole where the rock changes from gravelly aggregate to red-striated sandstone. Did you see it? Good.
This wetland trail area looks a bit like a capital letter “X”. The parking lot is near the top with the trail running along a ridge down the middle of the top half of the X. The marshy area is down the left leg of the X. The right side of the X was completely dry, even when it met the other side near the middle of the X. The trail along the peak of the ridge was mostly loose gravel. Several signs stated that this trail was not maintained and to hike at our own risk. The top part of the trail was OK. But as we neared the junction of the X and began the descent, I was very aware I was carrying a 9 lb. camera because the swinging weight was affecting my footing. Jan must have had a harder time of it. I imagined I was hiking on a non-stick surface covered in loose marbles. We descended the loose gravel switchbacks to the bottom of the wash ending up by the running water (left side of the X). Jan headed upstream along the marshy area and I wandered downstream a bit. At the bottom of the trail the right side of the X connected with our ravine then branched off again. This other ravine was probably the one I had seen from above early on.
As I wandered into the other ravine (right side of the X near the center), I saw a branch sticking out of dried mud. I think it was the remains of a tree that had been washed down the ravine during the biblical rains from Hurricane Hilary the prior summer. This was the same storm system that left standing water in Badwater Basin at Death Valley (future story).
A little brown smudge landed on the end of the branch. Naturally, I started clicking away. The smudge was still a bit far for a good photo, so I walked slowly until the bird began to fill the frame.
Hit the jump to find out what that smudge was…
Continue reading Hard to Swallow…by Brad Marks
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