Return to Mammoth Caves June 3, 2015

On Wednesday the 3rd of June, 2015, I went with Michael Pierce, Brian Middleton, Shalise Jenkins and Cloid Tippie (and Bonnie, his black laborador) to Mammoth caves. When we arrived, there was a horde of teenagers infesting the place. It was "Girl's Camp" for the poor lot.

I attempted the southern entrance to Mammoth Cave, but a few feet in I realized that my unarmored knees were no match for the jagged rocky floor.

We went back around through the main entrance. Bonnie refused to join us, so Michael remained back at his car with her. The rest of us proceeded in. I checked the main room for remaining crystals; I had placed hundreds of selenite crystals for people to find, and I only counted eleven remaining through the whole cave. Oddly, most were in the main large entrance room. A youth counselor passed me and stumbled around, and I was able to offer some assistance with my absurdly overpowered flashlight. I shared my observation on the remaining crystals, and she noted that most of the young students think in a "heel-to-toe" fashion in caves, in that they tend to want to get out as quickly as possible.

Further in I found a large, off-white, filamentous growth. I suspect it was fungal, though I had never seen such long, thin filaments in a fungal body. Must do more research.

Frozen rivulets of water still make for a slippery floor, compounded by wet clay.

Filamentous (fungal?) thing. Perhaps fungus consuming a bat corpse?

Shalise makes for the narrow precipice, as Tippie waits to catch her just in case.

Lichens abound at the mouth of the cave. Loose nutrients collect here.

Night Hike 27 May 2015: C-Trail

Last night I tried something I hadn't done in a number of years: a proper night-hike. Since I was a little rusty, I chose a very familiar trail: the C-Trail on Cedar Mountain. I left at 8:10.

Made it to the monolith at 9:15. 2.5 miles up.

Cedar City below looks very close.

While the camera couldn't make out the path, the dim moonlight was enough to cast shadows, and I could still see a bit.

I borrowed a 500 lumen flashlight from a friend; and it worked very well.

Just through the copse of trees, Cedar City looks almost like a cozy fire, quite near.

Made it back down in about 1 hour. An old, familiar trail was made freshly exciting by night.

Selenite and Petroglyphs

Today I went with some friends to the glittering pit of selenite in Arizona 36.978438,-113.463699, and followed up with a trip up a ridge to see some petroglyphs in Cedar. They were only slightly complicated to get to, basically in a straight line but with the requirement of following specific landmarks.

To the petroglyphs in Cedar, up Highway 14, across from the western tan water tower near the mouth of the canyon. I think we parked at 37.674095, -113.045556

Up a brutal ridge, which tested my fear of heights like a champ. Slippery with all that gravel. 37.675602, -113.045518

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 Google Maps does not reveal just how steep the sides are.

Brian and Matt traipse across the landscape. Those striations in color help identify the location.

The rocks ahead lay in question, approximately at

I think this is at 37.682391, -113.046531, but I'll double-check later.
(Using the last image, I think this is at 37.683389, -113.046495)

Behind the rock barrier, one finds the glyphs.

Mathew provided a possible translation document.

The scene overlooks the valley floor. Perhaps these images could be used to triangulate the location. Next time, I will use use global positioning. This is ridiculous.

Hike 16 May 2015 up Spring Creek

Starting at 37.522351, -113.184259, on the south end of Kanarraville, Utah, there is a canyon trail much like the Kanarra Falls, but it's a little dryer and more appropriate for families with younger kids. Speaking of which, my friends Erin and Pat brought their kids along with me and my friends Brian and Jason. On this venture we only went in about a mile, slowly. The ground was soft but not muddy, and the clouds were threatening a little drizzle, but nothing menacing.