Hubbard Mesa

TIME has gotten away from me! All day I thought it was Wednesday but it's not! YIKES so I had to spend a day of preparation for travel...I needed one rear tire so got that purchased and put on...had to get an oil change, and they did a 202 point check...omg yeah I'm teasing but really?? I frowned when I got the bill!! Even if they do put a pink carnation on your dashboard for that price I expected a bag of fresh Colorado grown produce!!  And it comes with a free car wash...but my van won't fit...in hindsight I should've gone to Walmart to get the oil changed! Not many choices of places to go close by.  Regular mechanics don't have time to deal with oil changes (come back on Saturday) so I guess you pay for the immediate service.  Back home I get the same service for $34.  Today it was $94.  I'm pretty sure my oil change guy would laugh if I asked him for a carnation!  He started his small business back before I closed mine, and he has been very successful just changing oil! An industrious guy or gal could make a good living here doing the same thing. 

this mornings full moon 

 sooooo I had to wash it myself...and dust the inside, and change the air filter (they don't open clam shells) and prepare the inside for the next leg of this sojourn...if I stay much longer I may NOT want to go home..it's just so splendid here... I gotta go home AT SOME POINT!

another smoky haze sunrise

Lately the sun and moon have looked like this is a changing planet, hey you know what... it IS! This Earth is constantly evolving and when our sun goes Super Nova we will be no more!

morning's sunrise with the smokey haze 

Yesterday was such a busy day for me.  I got up early and headed over to Hubbard Mesa.  There's tons of roads to explore there...

                                             the road soon turns to gravel and dirt

I took the right fork in the road....the burning question is what's up on the left fork??

I believe you could get lost here really easy....the views are sweet and the trees are too, twisted Junipers, Cedars, and some Pinyon Pine too...

If you look for the Juniper Titmouse look low, all the ones I've seen so far are always down low or on the ground...

Hard to spot these little drab (but gorgeous) birds in this sun-burnt landscape...

It's not all drab tho...the fall wildflowers are blooming...

checkered skipper

I found at least one Oasis! Amazing it seems to have no source but water plants are established...

Stupid people drive their 4 wheelers thru this water...*sigh* don't they realize animals depend on this spot?

Birds were all around it too...saw many more Vesper Sparrows, a few Say's Phoebe, Rock Wrens, and one Yellow Rumped Warbler  I snapped a shot of him but he was too well hidden so I scraped it. 

vesper sparrow

rock wren

say's phoebe

I checked Fravet Reservoir on my way out the waterfowl are soooo far on the other side and there is only one viewing area...I saw again Mallards, Ring Necked Ducks, Pied Billed Grebes, Gadwall, and American Coot. 

mallards n coots in this shot

None lifers but I was able to add all of these except Mallard that was already on it to my Garfield County List, as the Hubbard Mesa is only 10 mins away from the house! Cool Beans.  

 You can camp out on Hubbard Mesa... if you don't mind lots of broken glass all around your feet, why do people have to be that way??  I'm kinda down on ATV'rs at this point. 

Next Post we finally made it up to Maroon Bells Wilderness Area. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

No Labor Involved!

This scenic drive took us to West Mamm Creek Road it quickly takes us into the White River National Forest.  Unfortunately Gas and Oil leases in this area abound.  And yet fortunately that means the roads are well graded! So if there is a the silver lining...  

It's hard to believe the color that is showing up already!  

The night's have been cooling down into the 50's so in the higher up elevations probably 40's! 

I really liked this charming building with post n rail corrals....looks like it has seen it's best years but is aging well..

Fences posts really do provide lots of perching spots for birds, and other critters...

California spotted squirrel 

m bluebirds, western  kingbird

the western meadowlarks finally sat still long enough...CLICK!

Summer is short lived here...soon it will be over not like back home in SC where September is as hot as August only drier, a cooling trend has already begun, just this week we had 97, 94, 89, and today 89.  

Here is what I think is the Vesper Sparrow hanging out on barbed wire...I have seen so many immature sparrows that I can not identify...it's been such a challenge, I am not familiar with what's here and they all look a little off being juveniles,  about gone cross eyed!  

Maybe one day I will look though my photos and  know what it was...Grasshopper with a pale lores??

Here is a really cool cow I met, I didn't see her calf though...this was in free range area, so he could have been bedded down nearby.  

Spotted another Lincoln's Sparrow I have to wonder why it's called the Lincoln's? So I found out Thomas Lincoln was a member of James Audubon's team when he was painting every bird in North America....it was Lincoln who caught this bird for Audubon to paint, it was new to them so they named it after the 21 yr old Lincoln. 

??? Lost this photo

Nothing is as pretty as an Aspen Grove, did you know they share one root system?

??? LOST photo 

The road down below that we use to get off this hill is being paved so today we stayed home...I took a hike down the back hill put my hiking boots on for the first time since the toe break, it felt okay...not great but okay..anyways down the bottom of the hill I found this skull...looks like a cow skull that the horns have been cut off of...what do you think I am no skull expert. 

...that's a shame...

.I haven't seen any adults lately so I think they vamoosed and left the kids to fend for themselves!!  

...and check this out!! Found this inside the house up on the wall-->y'all know I'm scared of arachnids right...even if it's only an inch long

Scooped him up in the duster and escorted him back outside where he belongs!!  I will be shaking my towels and shoes from now on!  

I got a nice text from my cousin up in Michigan if you guys recall last year at this time I was in St Ignace Michigan celebrating Labor Day with all of them.  Sure was nice! Here we will have a quiet get together just the 3 of us and the 4 dogs!   

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Lewis n Clark slept near here...

The wind died off as we headed west on Hwy 5, out of Morhall, ND and spent a bit of time in Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge at Kenmare, ND.  I learned they opened up one of the scenic drives along the Des Lacs lakes only 2 weeks each year and I hit it just right.  

(9/19/2016)

the reason they open it is so everyone can come and view the fall foliage!

the wind picked back up so birds were staying down mostly but flushing when I got close...

Saw plenty of Gr Blue Herons, and  Gr. Egrets, Canada Geese, D. C. Cormorants, Ring-billed Gulls, Ruddy Duck, Ring Necked Duck, Mallard, Northern Shovelers, but nothing new to me.  

The scenery was brilliant!

There is an 11 mile driving loop and it's really a fun drive...

The trees are brilliant while the grasses are done for the year,.

Nearby was the town of Kenmare and in the town park spotted this Danish styled windmill it was built in 1902  by immigrant Christian Jensen, and was used to grind grain! 

this north-western region of ND has vast grain fields and has been a mainstay of the economy for centuries.  A close look across the lake and you can see the community of Kenmare...settled by the Scandinavians and incorporated in 1897 population is roughly 1,200 people. 

here's a few of the old buildings I admired as I continued to travel west on Hwy 5 almost to the MT line in fact only 5 or so miles from it..

I'm headed to the State Historic Site called Writing Rock.  

I was thrilled to find a Vesper Sparrow along the roadside here. 

Someone went to a lot of trouble to paint lovely murals on the large rocks by the roadside...like this one

Wilma took me around my a$$ to get to my elbow, but it was a pretty drive,

  I saw the writing rock on Ancient Aliens! It is believed these 2 granite rock petroglyphs could be 1,000 yrs old. 

the glyph depicts what looks like a Thunderbird...

and there is a second stone with similar carvings, it was originally 200 ft away but was moved beside the larger one and they now rest inside a stone house for protection. 

The site has a picnic shelter, a playground and a baseball field 

some people say the rocks are a hoax, and the people on the Ancient Aliens TV Show said they are probably carved by natives who had encounters with space aliens and the pictures depict a craft of some kind,  I think they are old rocks carved by Native Americans. 

It was a cool spot to see...then I turned South and spent 2 days at Lewis and Clark State Park.  A very nice park by the Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea .  Lewis and Clark camped near here and this is on the Lewis and Clark Trail. 

Plenty of sites were available as the park was in it's off season.  

All the sites were level, had a table and electric, the bath house had hot showers and was clean, but not heated brrrr.

 I ended up staying here 2 days because I had to get a , tire, wheel alignment, and  an oil change.  I drove down to Williston for that, and to get breakfast in one of their hip coffee shops.  Williston has that feel of  "Western"  its a really nice downtown area, but again the nearby oil fields have ruined the beauty of the area I really hope they can get them out of there soon.  

the Sakakawea Lake with the ND Badlands behind it.  I got up early and Casey and I did some sight seeing around the park in between our appointments to get the van serviced.   

one of the short hikes we took, one thing I enjoyed is they mowed a wide path in the prairie grass to make walking easier.  This is the tent campers area right by the water, they have cabins to rent also..

Casey Approved! 

I enjoyed watching the Western Grebes down by the marina and boat launch area...

And some Green Pheasant in the grass by the campground...can you find 3 in this shot?

then the beautiful male came right out in the open...

this is the national bird of Japan so of course they were introduced into NA for hunting and feather for hats! Normally we see the ringed neck but this one has no rings!

 these are white tailed deer...they sure can run fast!

the view by the water is amazing...and so are the trees and shrubs

how about this wooden arch? Pretty cool...

I would def recommend this park if you have a boat, even better, you can cruise the river.  

From here I was not far from Theodore Roosevelt National Park and my next planned stop. 

UP NEXT----->

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.