This and That and Pretty Flowers!

Portal RV Resort
Moab, UT
June 10 and June 12, 2014

Last week Joe and I took Sally and Jack to have their teeth cleaned at Moab Veterinary Clinic. While Sally was anesthetized to get her pearlie whites polished,  Dr. Slater felt around her belly and called to ask permission to take an X-ray. As it turned out, Sally had bladder stones...not just a few, but a whole bladder full.

Monday, Sally had surgery to remove the stones. When we picked her up yesterday afternoon, we were given this baggie of stones...did our mouths ever drop! We couldn't believe it! We are so thankful to Dr. Slater for finding them. Joe and I have been told by three other vets that Sally was just "marking" her spots and that if she was not having accidents or blood in her urine, we shouldn't worry! Also, Sally is over weight. We had been told by other vets to put her on a diet. We only give her 1/3 cup of food twice a day...why Jack eats as much if not more than Sally, but Sally doesn't loose any pounds. Well, thank you again Dr. Slater! A full blood work-up revealed that Sally has low thyroid function which can be regulated by meds she will now take for life. Our sweet Sally is home and should be fine. Stitches will come out in two weeks.

Don't you just love the sunlight in the trees?

Last Thursday, Joe and I had a nice drive...destination was the LaSal Mountains. The mountains are quite scenic, but so is the ride there.


The smaller 2 way lane is a newly finished bike route along the river and Hwy 128. A large, new parking lot is at the intersection of Hwy 191 and 128.


 

 

 

Driving on Hwy 128 towards Castle Valley offers wonderful sites.

Princess Plume has been the most prolific of the wildflowers this year.

 

 

And even though the river is quite full and fast-flowing, it is not lacking in daring folks seeking a fun adventure.

 

 

 

This is the first view of Castle Valley from the LaSal Loop. The road to the mountains is visible in the bottom left corner. The tall single rock tower below is Castleton Tower, the first major sandstone tower to be climbed in the Moab area.   

 

At the first stop I found Indian Paintbrush...the prettiest red paintbrush ever...

 

 

and thistle. But that's not what I am looking for.

We continue to climb then descend, climb again a little higher around every bend all the while enjoying the green...

 

and the views.

And finally reach the aspens, the beautiful aspens!

It is here I found what I came to see...

 

these gorgeous wild blue Iris.

 

Aren't they wonderful?






We also enjoyed the snow capped, well maybe just splotches of snow capped, mountains...

bushes of wild roses...

rock walls...

and cows!

  

Some of the cows had lost their way and needed help...there was a working blue-healer behind the horse helping this cowgirl drive the cows home.

Thursday morning, we were off road again!

The search was on for another favorite wildflower and Dee knew just the trail to take us on...destination, Porcupine Rim.  I was looking for a white flower, but not these.

The mix of yellow Jerusalem Artichoke (Who thinks up these names?) and purple Tapertip Onion caught my eye...

Tapertip Onion

 and then, there it was...the Utah State Flower.

The flower was chosen as the state flower of Utah for its importance in pioneering times and for its "natural beauty". It was formally adopted in 1911. 

A Sego Lily

  The bulbs of the sego lily were roasted, boiled or made into porridge by Native Americans and early Morman pioneers.. Currently it is used as an ornamental for its attractive tulip-shaped flowers.

 

Porcupine Rim was not just about the flowers. It was also a good precursor for another off-road trail (Poison Spider) Joe and I have on our list to do. Porcupine Rim is a fun, short trail full of ledges and rocks to  practice/learn in preparation for the challenges of Poison Spider. It follows the rim with views of Negro Bill's Canyon. There is a series of off-camber ledges that give this trail a #5 rating by the Red-Rock 4-Wheelers.

 

This is a shared trail.

 The ledges (that require careful tire placement) lead to High Anxiety...one of the highest cliffs in Moab. The view is Castle Valley...

 

 

We did make a recovery...a biker had fallen and broken some ribs. Pearl carried his bike out and Thumper carried the biker who was very appreciative!

 

Look what we spotted on the way out...a gold collared lizard.

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

 

And happy trails!

 

Up next...Poison Spider 4X4 Trail

 

 

A Tortoise, Fossils, and Wind Caves

Portal RV Resort
Moab, UT
June 12, 2014

Little Arch

 Last Saturday we had a really fun time. Dee was headed out on Kane Creek Road and Chicken Corners and we were invited to join. We quickly made lunch,  packed lots of waters and loaded up Pearl.
We were just starting out on the wide gravel road when I spotted Little Arch. We actually had an up close and personal adventure at Little Arch last week... but more on that in another post.

Anyway, just as we rounded a corner next to a humongous cliff face, Dee spotted a camera on a tri-pod with some folks around it. We parked just in time to see a BASE jumper, something new to Joe and I. If you look on the far left side almost half way down, you will see the jumper. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: building, antenna, span and Earth (cliff).  




There was a very loud boom when the parachute deployed. The jumper gracefully soared thru the air and had a perfect landing.




It was just a beautiful day...

Dee and Thumper lead the way.

and no matter how many times we take these trails, I never get tired of the rocks...

or the grasslands.

At about 2.4 miles into the Chicken Corners trail, we came to a fork in the road. To stay on trail, go left. Dee went right...ummm this is private land. We didn't know it, but we were about to meet Tom (www.camelotlodge.com). Tom is the owner of Base Camp Adventure Lodge. He is a really nice guy who owns a bed and breakfast right out in the middle of no where with the Colorado River in his backyard. 

Base Camp Adventure Lodge

This is the front yard. There is no electricity here, only solar panels.  The doors and windows were wide open.  




This is the view of the backyard...NICE!






Tom offers several kinds of adventures from hiking, mountain biking and kayaking, but folks mostly enjoy the breeze on the back porch during the day and sitting around the campfire at night or star gazing.



Sunrises and sunsets must be beautiful here...Tom's backyard!

Dee said we didn't arrive here to meet Tom. But rather to meet Kobae. This is Kobae's home.

 

And this is Kobae...

Kobae is an African Spurred tortoise. Today he weighs about 125 pounds. He wasn't much bigger than a quarter when we was purchased 13 years ago. African spurred tortoises are the third largest species of tortoise in the world.

African spurred tortoise are native to the Sahara Desert. They live in burrows up to 30 inches deep and 10 feet long. Kobae is a herbivore...he enjoys 12 heads of Romaine lettuce along with cucumbers, zucchini, and carrots TWICE daily...that's a hefty salad! He is sure to have many more birthdays as their lifespan is 150 years. One more interesting note about Kobae, he loves to hike...about 12 miles a day!

That's a big yawn!

We also admired a nice collection of fossils on Tom's front porch. He shared stories about them and offered a spot on his property for us to go explore.

 

This was the place...the rocks here are 400 million years old.

We spent over an hour searching...

Alesa, Joe and Dee

and this is a small sampling of what we found. Pretty cool! We did find several shells and impressions that looked like dragonfly wings.

 

These are some of Tom's fossil shells.

 

We connected back to Chicken Corners trail...

and a few miles later, we parked at Catacomb Rock or Wind Caves as the locals call it.  

 

There are many entrances...I love the way the light filters thru the cracks.

But don't be fooled, its dark inside. This is looking out. If you visit the caves remember to take a flashlight.

 

 

There are several look-out points along the trail. Nice places to stretch, take pictures, and 10-100 ( that's wheelin"  talk for a potty break...remember guys on the left and girls on the right. Why? Because girls are always right!).

Do you see the light colored rock formation in the center of the picture below? That's pig rock. We had an up close view of it last week too...more on that in another post.

 

Before we knew it, about 51/2 hours had flown by. It was time to head home. There are about 7 more miles of Chicken Corners that we have never traversed. Next time, we won't stop till we get to the end...unless we change our minds!

 

 

Happy trails...