January 27 -- as 27 is an odd number, and hunting is on even days, I decided to take another morning ramble through the Overton Wildlife Management Area. I went to the "upper" parking lot, and on the way there saw a Verdin and a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, both right out in the open. I took photos of both, then realized I hadn't cleared off the memory card in the camera though I'd downloaded the photos on it to my external hard drive. So I reformatted the card, deleting all of the photos -- including the ones I just took of the Verdin and Gnatcatcher. Curses! That was the first time I'd seen a Verdin during this winter stay at Overton; how lucky would I be see another one? Well, as it turns out, either the same one, or another one, popped up on a branch a little further down the road. Thinking back on it, I'd played a Verdin call on my "smart phone" after I'd seen the one, and thought it didn't work as there was no response; he must have heard it, and was looking around to investigate in a different spot. So I got my Verdin pic...
I parked at the lot, and saw another car there. I thought it was unusual, as I'm usually the only one there on non-hunting days during the week. However, when I was walking up the road, a fellow in camouflage and a red vest was walking towards me, with a rifle slung over his shoulder. Oh oh... Is it the 28th? Did I get the day wrong? And he had his daughter with him, who must have been all of 4 years old. He was holding her hand, with a rifle slung over his shoulder. The whole scene just looked a little bit bizarre. But what got me really wondering was why he was there. So I kept walking, and saw the Mr. and Mrs. Red-tailed Hawk who reside at the tall trees near the upper parking lot. They're beautiful birds; here's the male --
And here's the female -- a dark morph. I've seen her in that area for the past 3 winters, and I know she's a female because she's much larger than her mate; I've seen them side by side.
After I said hello to the Red-tail couple, I saw a flock of birds flying in formation. I looked through my binoculars -- and they were either Snow or Ross's Geese --
Chances are they were Snow Geese and Ross's are rarer for this area. And when the geese landed in a pond, and I was able to get a closer look at them, I saw they had the "grinning patch", where it looks as if they're, well, grinning. Ross's Geese don't have that.
I walked further into the wildlife area -- and saw another guy in a red vest, holding a rifle. Hmmm... OK, it's time to leave. Especially after I heard gunfire. As I reached the parking lot, the fellow I'd seen first was at this car with another man, and I asked "Is there hunting going on today?" One of them said "Yes, rabbit and quail." Oops, I'm outta here. There are days set aside for hunting specific birds and animals -- quail, doves, rabbits, etc. -- and I happened to stumble into one. So, as it was only 9am, where can I go that's fairly close? Then I thought -- Buffington Pockets.
It's near the Valley of Fire, and has been described as a geologic wonderland, a description that fits pretty much most of this area of SE Nevada. The access road is a good one, wide and not much "washboarding", though there are occasional spots of sand. The Old Spanish Trail, which as we've seen crossed over the Moapa Valley's Mormon Mesa, also went through here, and one of the roads crossing this one is the route of the actual trail. At an intersection, the BLM has put up a sign so you know you're heading in the right direction --
The rutted, rocky road goes up through a narrow canyon. No "pockets" here, I say to myself. Then I turn the corner up ahead --
And there is Huffington Pockets -- towering, sculpted sand formations. It's in the Muddy Mountains, and, as Brian Beffort writes in his guidebook to the Southern Nevada area, it's a spot " where Jurassic-area...sandstone meets much older Pre-Cambrian limestone, often in amazing and beautiful ways." And he's right. It may not be as spectacular as the nearby Valley of Fire, but it's compact and, as is the case with many places here in SE Nevada during a winter weekday, blissfully quiet and empty --
There's a dirt road that winds through here, so that provides easy walking. I look off to my right, and see a surprising thing in this desert, pockets of water --
What a beautiful, totally unexpected sight to see here. It makes for a unique contrast to the rocky landscape --
But where the heck did the water come from? I see something even MORE surprising to be out in the middle of "nowhere" -- a dam.
Who built this, and why? For mining? I consider climbing up the rocky incline in the center of the photo, but listen to "the little man" and decide against it. That's all I need to do out here, slip down and break something --
It's just totally unexpected, and utterly gorgeous. Here's an example of the dark Pre-Cambrian limestone meeting the Jurassic sandstone --
Looking back to the west, with the Sheep Range in the distance --
Eroded sandstone formations are very reminiscent of the Valley of Fire. And evidence of ancient peoples have been found here, so I'm using my binoculars to to peer up at sections of the rock that may have some petroglyphs. There are many candidates among the flat, darker rock --
The road climbs up and out of the main area of Buffington Pockets. (I actually turned off the main road too early; if I had kept on going, I would have come across this road and taken it in other direction than I was walking, going west.) As you get higher, the views get more expansive --
And once again, you need a panorama to get an idea of the wide-open spaces here. The main area of Buffington Pockets lies below the flat area running lengthwise along this photo --
Here's a closeup of the area --
I am lucky to have clouds this day. They really add to the already spectacular landscape, as with this sandstone formation --
Another view of Buffington Pockets; you can see the road going through the pockets to the right --
I retrace my steps back. There are some things I missed , such as this. I certainly hope whoever was doing this "target practice" didn't destroy a petroglyph panel. I examine the wall carefully, and it looks like there's contemporary graffiti scrawled on it --
As I walk back to Tundra, I see a sandstone arch off in the distance --
And one closer, on the other side of the road --
It's weird how these things work out, but it seems like there was a reason why it was meant for me to come out here instead of the wildlife area in Overton. And I get back in time for a gorgeous sunset, with the wildlife area's Honeybee Pond like a golden-hued river --
This land of SE Nevada is full of wonderful surprises..
No comments:
Post a Comment