At the rim of the Grand Canyon, we took one of the shuttle bus rides along the edge toward Hermit's Rest. We got off at Pima Point and hiked the final two km to Hermit's Rest. The views were spectacular as expected and the rustic stone structure of Hermit's Rest was a pleasant surprise. We spent some time around the lodge soaking up the tranquil ambiance and stellar views.
The Colorado River is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The following picture was taken from the south rim with a 600 mm lens. Without the telephoto lens, the river is barely visible
Stone arch leading into Hermit's Rest
For those who thought with envy that we escaped winter, this picture below is for you. The Grand Canyon and Flagstaff were frosty. We were very happy we brought our winter jackets. Emma and I enjoyed a hot chocolate beside the massive stone fireplace at Hermit's Rest. Outside I got a good look but no photograph of a Juniper Titmouse (185).
We drove east from Mathers Point along the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
Desert View Tower on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
Despite some snow patches on the ground the day was warm and sunny. Birds foraging among the pine trees included: Common Ravens, Juniper Titmouse, Mountain Chickadees, American Robin, Grey-headed Juncos, Western Bluebirds and Pygmy Nuthatches.
Western Bluebird
Pygmy Nuthatch
We left the Canyon by the east entrance and looped back to Flagstaff for the night.
March 4
As the sun rose on a cool, clear day, we left Flagstaff and headed east toward the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. The new bridge beside the Hoover Dam is impressive (note the shadow of the new bridge). Before it was finished in 2010 all the traffic from Las Vegas to Phoenix had to take the windy road directly over the top section of the Hoover Dam.
The Hoover Dam blocked the Colorado River and created Lake Mead.
March 5
Las Vegas is not our kind of city. We were not enamoured by the glitz and glitter. Emma had not been there before so I wanted to show her what it was like. She much preferred nature and authentic small town America.
Yah! A woman who would rather tromp through marshes looking at birds than kick back in a five star. I really lucked out.
Funny in a way. I loved taking pictures of New York and San Francisco but had no interest in photographing Las Vegas.
March 6
We headed for:
We went for a 4 km hike up Gold Canyon in Death Valley
This was on a mildly warm day in winter. In summer, this place would really live up to its name.
We headed to the lowest place in North America. It is at 258 feet below sea level and earned its name, "Bad Water". The air felt thick and heavy in a comfortable sort of way.
Salt Crystals at Bad Water in Death Valley.
March 7
We started the day with a birding walk around the Furnace Creek campground. There were a few birds around due in part to the trees and water around the Furnace Creek Golf Course. It is billed as the lowest golf course in North America. Seems like a questionable use of water to me but the birds liked it.
Say's Phoebe
There were many lizards running about looking for insects.
Unfortunately for the lizards there were also a few Roadrunners on the scene.
Roadrunner with lizard
I was reminded of a saying by my bridge partner Larry. In bridge and in life, "Sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug".
Another Roadrunner was perched in a tree and cooing. I've seen many Roadrunners but they are always sprinting about on the ground. This was the first one I've seen in a tree. It was mating season and this bird had found a good perch to voice his claim to the territory.
We packed up and headed toward the abandoned Borax mining site.
At one time, teams of 20 mules would pull the Borax wagons out of Death Valley to the railway. This was made famous when Borax was advertised as "Twenty Mule Team Borax". I still remember those ads from when I was a child so I guess the slogan was a good one.
We drove toward the northern end of Death Valley and visited a villa called Scotty's Castle.
Scotty's Castle actually belonged to his good friend who gave Scotty a little shack up in the hills. Apparently, Scotty was a likeable scoundrel who hoodwinked hundreds of city slickers into investing in his non existent-gold mine.
We wandered about the grounds of the castle and saw a few birds. The grounds were well watered with several palm trees growing beside the aqueduct.
Western Bluebird
American Robin
At dusk, we drove back into the central part of Death Valley and camped at Stovepipe Wells.
Death Valley at Dusk.
March 8
It was time to climb out of Death Valley and get back above sea level.
And climb we did.
View of Death Valley as we reached the summit of the pass leading out along Highway 190.
As we gained altitude the barren rocks slowly gave way to desert plants then prairie grass.
When we reached Lone Pine our westward progress was stopped by the Sierra Nevada Mountains rising up like a giant picket fence. A pair of Mountain Bluebirds (186) were perched by the roadside as we turned north and proceeded up Highway 395.
After staggering out of Death Valley, early pioneers must have been dismayed to see the beautiful but almost impassable Sierra Nevada Mountains rising up before them. Even today most of the roads through the mountains are closed in winter. You need to travel north 200 miles to cross the Sierra Nevadas at Donner Pass.
We finished the day with a short birding hike up a mountainside.
California Quail
After two months in the desert we had gotten used to seeing Gambel's Quail. It was nice to see the reappearance of California Quail. We spent the night at Bishop.March 9
The morning was cool, crisp and beautiful as we continued north on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Highway 395 is marked as a scenic highway. This means that the roadside views will be breathtaking.
It also invariably means that the road will be windy steep and slow. This highway was wilder than most. We could not go through the barrier of the Sierra Nevada mountains as all the passes are buried in snow during the winter. Even our valley road going north was a challenge as we had to climb to 8,000 feet to reach the summits of three of the northern passes
Fortunately, the weather had been mild and there was minimal snow on these passes. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the next day was for high winds and snow.
At Morro Lake, we stopped for a short hike. This lake is a major migratory stopover spot. A majority of the world's Eared Grebe population stops off at this lake each year. We were a little ahead of the yearly migration and this beautiful lake had very few birds in attendance.
Morro Lake has a very high concentration of salt due to evaporation. As with most of California, Los Angeles County has the water rights to all water on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevadas. Fortunately, conservationists put up a fight to retain a little of the water for the birds. Otherwise, L.A. would have effectively drained this critical migratory lake.
There is relatively little urban sprawl on the east side of the Sierra Nevadas due in large part to the fact that L.A. has all the water rights.
We finished the day back in Nevada at Reno.
March 10 to 12
It was time to make tracks back to Vancouver. We were concerned that the high winds and snow would close the Donner Pass through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We packed up and headed west along Highway 80. It was snowing and the wind was blowing hard.
We arrived at Donner Pass about noon. The weather held and we slipped through before they closed the pass. We drove hard all day and stopped for the night in Redding.
On March 11 we drove from Redding to the outlet stores just south of Portland.
On March 12 we drove from Portland to Vancouver.
During our trip, we saw 186 species of birds, 20 mammals and visited ten National Parks and four National Monuments.
Black Oystercatchers greeted us on our return to Vancouver.
