GOBLIN VALLEY STATE PARK (Day 24 - part 2)

I stopped to take a photo when suddenly I realized a small face was looking at me. A kit fox! In an instant, it was gone. I waited to see if it would appear again... but all I got was just a quick flash of a little body and big puffy tail trotting briskly away. After that, I couldn't find it again; it had disappeared among the zillions of narrow small passageways.

Kit foxes have such large ears in order to hear small rodents far away.

I explored the valley a while, then made my way back over the ridge to the first valley again.

Possibly another Side-blotched Lizard... although I can't quite see the blotch.

Ah ha! The fox's den!

Coming over the ridge and looking across Valley 1

I made my way across the valley, mostly exploring the numerous narrow little passageways that twisted through the cliffs, all the while thoroughly enjoying the many strange shapes and formations.

A giant mask perhaps?

A snowman overlooking his domain?

I kept running into a troop of boyscouts with their leaders among the tight passageways. At one encounter, they had stopped to squeeze through a VERY narrow long tunnel. They offered me a go at it but I (wisely) declined!

Emerging from the tunnel

The tunnel entrance back at the bottom of the cliff

They told me of a place called the Nursery just up the cliff... so I went to check it out.

The climb up

The Nursery

As I made my way back down, I passed them yet again. This time they were avidly engaged at trying to dislodge a piece of plastic that was stuck on a ledge. In spite of many valiant attempts, they weren't successful and eventually gave up.

Tossing a rock to try to knock it down

Maybe attaching a string will help to pull it back down?

So close!

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