CEDAR BREAKS (Day 17 - part 3)

Water enters the pond via a spring and flows out through the amphitheater to the Great Basin Desert to the west.

Patches of algae drifted slowly across the surface.

A trout tried to keep hidden under the shadows of the algae... adjusting his position every few moments as the current slowly pulled the dark safety off of him.

A White Crowned Sparrow

Strawberries

Lichens are the first step to breaking down rocks by producing weak acids which dissolve them. After lichens comes mosses, then grasses and flowers... each creating more soil as they die. Eventually this will become a thriving forest via a process called succession.

Rocky outcrops are the perfect home for marmots, pikas, chipmunks and ground squirrels. They each have a different way of surviving the long cold winters. Marmots eat enough food (grasses and wildflowers) in summer to double their body weight then live entirely off their fat as they hibernate. Chipmunks and ground squirrels also hibernate but wake up periodically to eat food they have stored. Pikas don't hibernate at all. Instead they gather grass all summer, first laying it out to dry then storing it under a rock. Throughout winter (up to 7 months long), they are active beneath the deep snow blanket.

I sat quietly by the giant mound of rocks... listening. Sure enough, I heard a high-pitched whistle. I looked carefully and eventually found the source... a marmot! I watched him for a bit but then a group of very loud children came up the path, their parents lagging far behind. I tried to quiet them to show them the marmot but it was too late. The tiny beast had fled.

Sleeping in the sun...

... until startled by the noise.

I returned to my car and headed up to the next viewpoint.... North View Overlook.

What a much nicer way to say Don't pick the flowers and Don't Litter.

Are people so out of touch with nature that they need a sign like this?...

... Apparently so. These folks hopped the fence to get a 'closer look.' Every year, people die from falling at national parks.

An amazing array of colors and shapes!

Having reached the northernmost stop in the park, I turned around and started back, stopping at the spots I had skipped on my way up.

Again, is a sign really necessary for something so obvious??...

... yup. Tire tracks crisscrossed the entire meadow.

The first one was Chessmen Ridge Overlook (elevation 10,460). The view was so incredibly huge that it was impossible to take it all in with one glance!

The last stop was Sunset View (10,354 ft). Again, neither photos nor words could do it justice.

This was a place where the imagination could run wild! This could be a mighty Aztec king...

... or how about a Samurai warrior...

... or a dragon!

It was around 1:45 pm when I reached the campground. My spot was beyond anything I could have dreamed of! I had an amazing view... and as if on cue, a deer even bounded by! There was a symphony of chirping birds; hummingbirds, bumblebees and butterflies flitted about; a tiny black squirrel scampered by... it was paradise!

I checked the posted weather. It was going to be a bit chilly and I wasn't sure I was prepared. I only had a thin tent and not a lot of warm clothing. Well, I had no choice now; I was going to have to survive it somehow.

My spot

My view

Aaaaaand... cue deer!

I keep forgetting to eat and was beginning to feel it. So I took some time to rest. I was only granted a couple hours, for around 4 pm, a large group of extremely loud people arrived (mostly teenaged kids). They proceeded to run all around, yell at the top of their lungs and hit stuff (presumably cutting wood). So I decided to take a walk along the Campground Trail to the ranger station.

It was only a half mile but quite charming, filled with flowers and birds. The sun was still warm but the air temperature was definitely cooling off a bit.

Hmmm... might be nice a nice spot to try to take some photos tonight.

Oh no! The X of death! A tree stands marked... next to its hacked up fallen comrade.

A white Columbine

I think my lunch was much tastier!

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