Craters of the Moon

This park is 750,000 acres of lava fields, lava tubes ( formed when a flow hardened on the outside but still flowed within- Bridget is standing in one above), as well as cinder cones, spatter cones and inferno cones ( below). It does feel like you're in a place  kind of "out of this world".

 

The large smooth mound behind Bridget and me above is called pahoehoe- it is the legendary "serpent" that squeezed the mountains and caused the eruptions. This smooth, rope-like lava allowed for exploration because it made the fields passable. The stuff in front and behind it is called a'a lava. It is rubble like- very hard, sharp and brittle. It will cut your shoes if you continually walk on it.

Stay on the pahoehoe with those bare feet Mark!

Beautiful delicate flowers, lichen, limber pine and sagebrush still find a way to grow and flourish in this harsh environment. This is one of the few places left where you get a true dark night sky. Like Fort Davis Texas, it would be a great place for an observatory. By 2025 there wont be anyplace left in the eastern US, except maybe Northern Maine, where you can experience a night sky free of light interference.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

On our way to Idaho and stopped just north of Salt Lake City at the bird refuge to do the 36 mile auto audio tour. It is narrated by 7th and 8th graders from Perry, Utah and is a free download. This was back on July 28th. We saw many birds and it was well worth the detour. We had a picnic lunch along the way! The iPad does not take good pictures of birds from a distance which is why it took us so long to post this. Bridget went to the Bird Migratory Refuge website and copied and pasted pictures of birds we saw so the rest of this blog is her work :)))

Here are some website pictures of the birds we saw: This is a white-faced ibis -the bird that we saw most of after the American white pelican. This is the American white pelican. We saw 100's of these birds feeding on dying fish in the shallow waters. This is an example of one of the dying fish. We saw many dead fish in a big patch of dried up river bed. This is a white phased snowy egret. We did not see many of these birds, but they are very beautiful and I thought it would be nice to show you just how beautiful they are. This is a black-necked stilt. We saw some of these and many of them were babies. As you know, this is a bald eagle. We did not see any of these at the bird refuge but we did see them when we were on our white water rafting trip. We have seen 5 in total-in the Tetons, on the snake river and yesterday in Glacier Np.I had never thought that I would ever see any in my whole life! They really are amazing creatures.

We also saw cormorants, herons,gulls and ducks-plus nasty pesky biting flies. Once they discovered us we had to keep the windows closed in the camper. They were awful!! But we all really liked the refuge. It was beautiful and the birds have a happy home here when they decide to come!

Idaho Falls

Arrived at Snake River RV park in Idaho. Such a pretty state! Nice to see green grass and rolling hills again- lots of farmland in the valleys flanked by mountains. Here is Bridget finishing up her summer book report. We'll finally be able to print the 6th grade math packet when we stop at Mark's friend's house in Missoula next week!

Went out for some real NY style pizza and it was good! Cheers everyone! Our thoughts are with you Steve Broderson. Get well soon!

Hummingbirds

In this picture the hummingbird is drinking out of the feeder.

In this picture the hummingbird has its head up.

It is Bridget. I am going to tell everyone about hummingbirds. They are fascinating!!! I learned a lot more about them then I already knew when we were in Zion. At our campground we went to a ranger program about hummingbirds. Here are facts about them in bullet form:

- The only hummingbird that lives in the northeast is the ruby throated hummingbird.

- For a male hummingbird, to impress a female they will do things like climb 60ft up a tree and then dive down as fast as they can and then continue to do it until the female is interested. They will also do their best to hit the sun just at the correct angel so that their body will glow in beautiful colors. 

- Female hummingbirds love the males that have colors and feathers and other things to show off.

- When a female hummingbird is pregnant, it will only take 24 hours for the eggs to fertilize inside of her.

- Once the mother layes the eggs (she will only lay two at a time) it is depended on the weather of when the eggs will hatch.

- The eggs will only weigh a third of a dime and together will only be the size of a jellybean. 

- To build the nests for the hummingbirds to stay in, the mother will use upto 1500 feet of spider web to hold everything together. 

- The mother will make sure to use materials for her nest that are the same color as the setting of where her nest is.

- The width of the nest will only be built about two fingers wide. Hold out your two fingers and you will realize how small it is.

Now imagine a mother and two babies in that nest. (The male is not involved in anything except for the mating). The mom does all the work:) Sounds like humans doesn't it;) 

-The baby hummingbirds won't be born with their eyes and it will take about 10 days for them to have the ability to see.

- When the mother has another two babies, she will use the same nest but not the same part of it. She will build another nest right on top of the other one. As you can imagine, the old nest may not be very good and will be all droopy because the two hummingbirds (the, used to be, babies) will be in that nest for a long time and will stay there until they can't fit anymore.

- One hummingbird will be born first and that same one will leave the nest a week before the other one does.

-  The mother will continue to feed her babies for a while before she teaches them what and what not to eat. A female hummingbird has to feed her babies every 20mins. 

You might be wondering why the mom has to teach her babies what to eat because they get fed a lot. Well, the babies don't see what they are being fed because it is just shoved into their throats with their mothers beak. Painful right. 

Well, I think that is everything that I know about hummingbirds. I hope my papa is proud of me ( he is a bird expert). Enjoy the blog. I hope you found hummingbirds interesting and think more of them now. Bye!!!

 

P.S. Happy Birthday Uncle Dave!!! Love you!!!<3 tell everyone we said hi:))

Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah

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This is our base while visiting Arches and Canyonlands. It's a small but really nice and well maintained campground. There is also a Visitor's center with its own small

museum. Mark and Bridget are pictured outside in the shade at the museum cafe.

There are hiking and biking trails here too, but we're pretty much spent after 5-6 hours in the National Parks! The evenings are a great time to get out again. After dinner we usually do a stroll or a bike ride. 

Like tonight! Above are pictures of a sunset bike ride. Unfortunately there were low level clouds. Mark and I plan to get up early to drive back to Mesa Arch to watch the sunrise. We will come back here and try to capture some better photos before we head for Provo.

Again, Hippo Birdies to Dave Hill!!

This is Dead Horse Point in the morning. After the sunrise we strolled around the rim trail. The park got its name when cowboys corralled wild horses here in the 1800's. They would force them to run to the point where the horses would be trapped by sheer cliffs on all sides, then they'd pick out the best ones to sell and breed. Unfortunately one time the horses were corralled then left for too long without water- in plain sight of the Colorado river- and they died of thirst. :((

Sunrise at Mesa Arch. The iPad does not pick up the colors well but it sure was a sight to behold! On our way to Provo for a one night pit stop before continuing to Idaho Falls.

Canyonlands NP

Here we are again, up early and hitting the trails. We are at the Island in the Sky section of the park. This park is like GC in that different sections can only be accessed one way. The Green and Colorado Rivers both run through the park and converge between The Maze and The Needles sections. Our campground, at Dead Horse Point State park, is separated from Island in the Sky by Shafer canyon. 

This is Upheaval Dome, a crater believed to have been created by a meteor 200 million years ago. 

We love these! Trail markers out west, especially in canyons and rocky areas, are called cairns. They are small piles of rocks that direct you to the next trailhead when the paths are not obvious. This one is an arch- probably redone by tourists. Usually they are just stacks about 20" high. We like to fix them when we come across one toppled over:))

Don't get any closer Bridget! It is like this all over the Colorado Plateau. Sheer cliffs with no rails or barriers of any kind. You are responsible for your own safety!!

This was a hike on the Grand View Point Trail. Another roadrunner rock! Sometimes you feel like you could just nudge a boulder or a fin and it would just topple over. But I guess that only happens to Wile E Coyote :))  We are constantly feeling like we are in a roadrunner cartoon out here!

Bridget at Mesa Arch. The arches and windows the eroding rocks create are amazing. They look so vulnerable. This one looks like it doesn't have much life left but will probably last another 100 years. The picture above Bridget is the same arch viewed from the side. It appears as though it wants to just slide down the canyon wall! Bridget was sitting behind the big rock on the front left side of the photo and I took her picture through the opening.

The Arches

 

The arches and structures here are like nothing else- grand, monumental, sculpted with Mother Nature as the artist.

This is Balanced Rock- not hard to tell why!

This is Landscape arch, the one mostly likely not to be around much longer. In 1991 a 73' section fell from the arch and now it is only 6' wide at its narrowest point. Tourists are no longer allowed close enough to it to be underneath it. It is longer than a football field!

Another pic of balanced rock.

You made it Bridge!!

Looking a bit wind blown and sweaty! We arrived at the trailhead for Delicate Arch at 8:00am. It is a 1-1/2 mi mostly uphill hike with little shade to be offered. Bridget was such a trooper! She loved the hike back down though. The site of the arch as you round the cliff bend is spectacular and well worth the trek! Hard to believe that something that big can't even be seen until you are right near it. The wonder of cliffs and canyons!

A well deserved ice-cream at 2:00 after 6 miles of hiking and 8 miles of biking! Hey!! How come I'm the only one with hat head??  :)))

Capitol Reef National Park

This morning, July 22nd, we drove to Capitol Reef National Park, an easy 30-40 minute drive from our camp. We hiked part of Grand Wash which is similar to the Narrows only there is no river. It is also much wider in most spots. It is still subject to flash flooding however. An inch of rain in the nearby mountains can cause a wall of water and debris to come through Capital Gorge, pictured above. The next day the canyon can look as dry as if it never happened. We also drove the scenic route of the old wagon trail.

We had yummy homemade pie and ice cream at the  historic Gifford house. This town (Fruita, Utah) is known for its fruit orchards. Unfortunately they are between seasons so there is nothing we can pick ourselves right now. Probably the first time I ever ate pie and ice cream at 11:00am! 

Below is the view straight down from where Bridget and I were standing!

As you might have guessed, we didn't get to Bryce. We didn't want to give up a day in Zion and to back track from where we are now is 2 hrs one way. Do-able, but we'd rather have an extra cool day in the mountains-so Bryce and Grand Staircase monument will have to wait until the next trip!!