Bluff Spring Journal
Current Journal 2007
July 3rd, 2007
The alarm went off at 5 am but I was already awake. The full moon was so bright last night that I kept waking up, my mind sensing that it was daylight. I had plans to photograph a waterfall that I had not ever seen. So, peanut butter sandwich and an orange in my backpack, I was out the door. This waterfall was on Shop Creek, up above Triple Falls. Rain has been spotty in the Buffalo River region and I was hoping that this drainage area had gotten its share of moisture. As I parked above the Triple Falls I could hear them running so I thought my luck was holding out and I was going to get the photograph. I quickly fired up the GPS to get a fix on where I was leaving the SUV (just in case I wanted to find it again). I headed off through the brush to follow the creek up stream to find the waterfall. Now, if you know about the Buffalo River in July you would have to say I was a little optimistic about finding water in July. And you would be right. When I descended to the creek it was bone dry. So why was I hearing the falls below running? I made my way down stream. Let me rephrase that, "down dry creek bed" to the top of the falls to discover that a couple of springs were feeding the falls. Oh well, it was good to get out into nature and smell the fresh air of the forest.
Back at the cabin we loaded up the crew, that would be two dogs and my lovely wife and headed for the river to do a little fishing and general sitting around and doing nothing. The river had plenty of water and the dogs loved splashing and playing with each other. The day was salvaged even if I didn't find the waterfall.
July 4th--Happy Birthday America!
After hanging a humming bird feed out on the deck we had a nice cup of coffee and watched the humming birds have their breakfast. We counted 5 humming birds at one time and they were really enjoying the new feeder.
$10.00 at Walmart--Can't beat that for value.
(1/1250 of a second at 400 ISO, F 2.0)
Sid has also learned a new trick. He's learned that if he holds his bowl in his mouth someone will feed him. Wonder where he learned that?
July 5th, 2007
Off to the river with the herd. We're headed to Ozark and Erbie today on the Buffalo. We plan to stop at the Ozark put in to see if there is a good fishing and sitting place. Hardly anyone was at the campground, maybe 3 campsites in total. We parked and headed down to the river where there is a good fishing hole along the bluff line. As we were scouting out a path to the river, with my lovely bride in the lead, I noticed she quickly turned back towards me with a 'Oh My Goodness' expression. One word was all I needed to hear. 'Snake!' Now for a scientist my wife is extremely disassociative with snakes. Meaning, she wants to disassociate herself from any snake as quickly as possible. I carefully proceeded forward and sure enough there was a 3 foot long water moccasin. We left Mr. Snake to himself and proceeded in the other direction to find our own place on the river. This time I was in the lead and I noticed something making some commotion at the water's edge. Guess what, another snake. Well, we decided that the snakes were here first and they could just have this place all to themselves.
We moved on up the river by taking the road to Erbie. Along the way this doe posed for her photograph.
There was no one at the low water bridge and spring so we unloaded the kayaks, dogs and lounge chairs and enjoyed the day. Fishing was great and the dogs had a blast with the kayaks.
Sid in his new life jacket. The handle on the back of the jacket came in handy when he decided to abandon ship.
Thursday-July 19th 2007
After doing some research and checking with friends in Colorado, the time has come for my annual wildflower trip. I had originally planned to go to Lake Isabelle, just south of Rocky National Park, but a few phone calls verified that the area was very dry and the wildflowers were sparse. So--my plans changed to south western Colorado. I've been in this area before but hadn't fully explored all the great vistas around Silverton and Ouray.
With the SUV packed and generously stocked with Godiva Chocolate Moca to keep me awake, I bid farewell to my beautiful wife and headed west on I-44. It's a 1,124 mile trip and I at once look forward to the the trip and also know that it is a loooooong way across some of the flattest land and roughest interstate in the country. Every year I rant and rave about the $3.50 charge you have to pay several times just for the privilege of driving on washboard asphalt. Not only is the road rough, they also hurtle you between safety barriers that are made of reinforced concrete. The width of this safety chute is my suv plus 3 hairs off the head of a starving runway model. I can say it does get your attention and serves to keep you awake just from the adrenalin rush.
After 15 hours and phone calls from home to keep me awake, I arrived at my destination and started my assent to Clear Lake. The four wheel drive road takes you from 10,182 feet at my usual base camp to an elevation of 12,230 feet at Clear Lake. And today I would have to negotiate the road in darkness. I had timed my trip so that I could arrive in time for dawn and a mountain sunrise. I can't tell you how glad I was that everything worked out and sure enough as dawn arrived I was greeted to the scene below.
Friday July 20th
The wildflowers were in bloom and the sun provided a reflection of the distant mountains. What a wake up call.
Some of the peaks in this scene above are Ulysses Grant Peak and Pilot Knob Peak.
I quickly set about photographing this wonderland of delicate wildflowers and hardened granite. There were so many things to photograph that I literally just stood there thinking, "now where do I start". Below are two of the many scenes that I'll put in a gallery when I get home.
Columbine
Flower chute waterfall
I've been up 33 hours straight so I think I'll grab a few hours sleep before the evening light provides me with even more wonders to photograph.
As soon as I left the public library where I had internet access it started to rain. I headed on up to the campground where I was going to stay and was greeted by an "All Full" sign. This campground is at the end of the valley and I had never seen a full sign at the campground. Not to be discouraged I headed up the valley where I was going to take photographs later in the day. After I got to the end of the four wheel drive trail I parked the SUV, took out my pillow, put my seat back and slept for a couple of hours. When I awakened it was still raining and the sky looked pretty dark. I don't mind getting wet but the possibility of lighting in these valleys is very real so I decided to head back into town and eat some supper to wait out the storm.
The Gold King Restaurant and Painted Lady Saloon was a welcome place to eat a quiet dinner and contemplate changing my plans due to the campground being full. This 100 year old hotel/saloon/restaurant has seen it's share of excitement. Silverton Sheriff Bat Masterson frequented this place and even left a bullet hole in the back bar while arresting an outlaw. Hope the bartender isn't too jumpy with the thunder going on in the valley.
After a great meal I headed next door to look at some local four wheel drive books and found just what I was looking for. This book had detailed description of trails that led to various passes in the area. I found a mountain pass with a lake nearby and together these fit just the description of what I was looking for. Instead of driving up this new trail in the dark the next morning I decided to traverse the trail in the light of day and camp at the top of the pass to catch the sunrise. This particular trail went from the 9,200 feet of elevation at Silverton to 12,407 feet at the pass summit. Luckily, I have a great four wheel drive SUV and where you're brave enough to point it, it will usually go. So.. up I started. And up and up I went. The higher I got the harder the rain started pounding. The last 3/4 of a mile I entered heavy fog and by the time I reached the top of the pass I could just barely see a ridgeline off to the south due to the heavy fog and disappearing daylight. As I stopped to try to make out the rest of the trail, all I could see was the narrow path disappearing into the fog in a pretty steep descent. Well, lets say I quickly made up my mind that sleeping at the summit was good enough for me and that the narrow path could wait for daylight. I dispensed with setting up my tent in the pouring rain and spent the night in the vehicle. It was one of those, "I slept all night for five minutes" night as I awoke every hour or so to the pounding rain and uncomfortable back of my vehicle. I finally got into the front seat and laid back to some welcome sleep.
Below is what I awoke to on Saturday morning.
The rain had stopped and I witnessed a glorious sunrise.
Below is where I spent the night. The sign says Hurricane Pass--12,407 Feet.
I set about photographing the area flowers and then made my descent to Lake Como as seen below.
I photographed this area and another lake, Lake Andrew all through the morning and up into the afternoon. Taking advantage of the cloudy day and great light.
I finally checked off my last photo that I wanted and headed back into Silverton and then on towards Durango where I stopped at Honeyville for one of my favorite treats in this area. Honeyville is home to some of the best, you guessed it, honey you can find. It truly is the "Land of Elk and Honey", with several elk herds nearby. They have a working hive inside the shop, where you can watch the bees at work and then watch the human 'worker bees' processing the honey in the back room of the shop. I would of loved to stay and watch the fascination that all the children had with the working hive (behind plexiglas) but I could hear my beautiful bride wishing I was home, so I headed out on the 1000 plus mile trip. I fully expected to spend the night somewhere in Oklahoma but somehow I didn't get sleepy so I kept on traveling and about 4:00 am pulled into my home sweet home neighborhood. Here I faced a delimea. I could open the garage door with the ensuing loud greeting from my dogs in the house. This would surely awaken my sleeping bride. I know she would be glad to see me but figured we'd both then just go to sleep again. Not wanting to awaken her I parked the Honda in the driveway and put my seat back for my fourth session of front seat snoozing of this trip. A few hours later I awoke to the daylight and went on inside to a warm welcome which included lots of sniffing and hand licking-by the dogs that is- and a warm hug from my betrothed. I also got the "you shouldn't have driven all night" look that was quickly replaced by the I'm glad your home smile. It was a great trip, but I was glad to be home.