wildlife

Llama hike: Rio Grande Gorge, NM

Published May 17, 2014

May’s been a heavy month of activity – literally every weekend’s booked.

May 3^rd Greenland 25k trail race
May 11^th Maine Coast Marathon
May 18^th Santa Fe Century
May 26^th Bolder Boulder 10k
June 1^st Minneapolis Marathon

Headed down to Santa Fe for my first Century (100 mile ride) – 4^th time on the bike. I go BIG – neighborhood ride, 12 miles, 52 miles, & now a Century. Finally getting serious with Ironman training. Just need to find more hours in my day.

6 hour drive to Santa Fe – long time in a car unless…you ride share (thanks Ash & Tom) AND stop for a llama hike in the Rio Grande Gorge (just north of Taos). Yep, I said llamas 🙂

Met up with our guide Stuart of Wild Earth Llama Adventures at a trailhead within the Río Grande del Norte National Monument. Stuart introduced us to our llamas – K2, Diego & Rio. I already had laid claim to the white llama. Turns out that was K2 – appropriate (with my passion for high peaks) 🙂

Ash, Tom & I trekked down the mountain path with our llamas, switch-back spiraling to the river-filled gorge below. During our trek Stuart not only educated us on everything llama but also everything flora, fauna & fowl within the gorge.

He pointed out stratum layers of the canyon formed from volcano flows past. We picked fresh watercress & lemon herb, and spotted bark erosion from porcupine feedings.

Parked the llamas & kicked back riverside while Stuart set out a big spread for lunch. Life is good.

Took a short hike to view Native American petroglyphs carved hundreds of years ago (no horses – pre-European). Animals & shaman were centrally depicted (one Great Spirit). Absolutely amazing these drawings exist out in the open – having weathered man & elements for almost a thousand years. WOW!

Hiked UP out of the canyon, tipped our guide, then shot down to Santa Fe — dinner at Cowgirl BBQ.

Llama hiking & Santa Fe Saturday nights — highly recommended!

: gettin’ my llama on – LOVED it!

: switch-backing down the canyon

: K2

: Ash & Rio

: river forged rock

: Chillin’ like a Villain on a comfy rock

: watch where you sit – river spiders!

: lunch feast with wild watercress

: Diego rest stop

: check out those feet

: high desert hike

: cactus babies

: sand art — Native American migration

: mule deer & bighorn sheep

: petroglyph tutorial

: Corn Goddess

: you can lead a llama to water… — er, water fountain

: Santa Fe Saturday night

Posted in Pacific/Desert | Tagged hiking, petroglyphs, wildlife | 2 Comments

Antelope Island & Utah’s Great Salt Lake

Published April 18, 2014

Off to Salt Lake City for a 3 day marathon weekend – my 6th marathon & first Saturday race day.

Runner’s Expo bib pick up at Energy Solutions Arena (home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz), then off to Antelope Island – my pre-race Utah adventure. The Great Salt Lake is large enough to be seen from space — [so for me] an obvious go-to destination.

Antelope Island is accessed via a causeway west of Ogden. Pronghorn Antelope? Yeah, yeah they’ve been reintroduced to the island – but why did I go? BUFFALO. Free roaming herds of buffalo inhabit this island – so much so that each October they roundup herds, update vaccinations & sell off 100-150 head to maintain balance.

Quick stop at the Visitors Center to boost my knowledge base –

Why salty vs fresh water? [lake is a bowl with no water outlet]
Do fish inhabit Salt Lake? [nope, only brine shrimp]
If no fish, what do the sea gulls eat? [lotta gnats & other insects]
First Anglo to settle Antelope Island? [fur trapper Jim Bridger]

Bucking against ranger advice, hiked up Buffalo Point for pic ops of the Great Salt Lake. Amazing landscape shots against Utah’s snow-capped Rockies (Wasatch Mountains). Beautiful but then… GNATS

Hundreds of gnats settled on my cap, shirt, neck, in my ears, eyes, mouth. Appears the rangers were right – it really is gnat birthing season. Rushed back down the trail, stepping on a snake on my trek return. Not a rattlesnake (which is what I initially thought) but rather a Great Basin gopher snake. Vigorously shook off, ducked in my rental & turned the AC on high. Goal? Freeze all remaining insects resting on my body & clothing. I’m not crazy squeamish but these swarms were epic.

Meanwhile…only 20 minutes away on the other side of the island roamed herds of BUFFALO. On a cerebral level, I understand these are genetic cousins to our domestic cattle – but in person, these massive mammals represent the American West. Native to our continent, muscular, strong – I’m a HUGE fan. WOW!

Saw jackrabbits which ridiculed the size of my neighborhood’s bunnies – huge feet, enormous ears. Didn’t leave before snapping shots of deer & a coyote. Whole lotta wildlife.

Can’t imagine day-to-day life for those first frontier pioneers but for me, Utah’s Great Salt Lake – a ‘must-see’ destination.

: ready to get my April marathon on

: bib pick-up, home of the Utah Jazz

: pre-race must-see, the Great Salt Lake

: that landscape, that view — WOW!

: their side of the Rockies is almost as beautiful as ours

: Buffalo Point – short hike, quick pic, hundreds of gnats

: (literally) stepped on this guy on my trek back [gopher snake]

: mule deer

: island predator

: BUFFALO!

: today’s WOW shot

: symbol of the American West – SPECTACULAR day!

Posted in Rocky Mtn West | Tagged buffalo, rivers-lakes, wildlife | 2 Comments

Cajun Swamp Tour

Published January 18, 2014

Left the Runner’s Expo in downtown Baton Rouge & hit I-10 West to Lafayette. An hour half until our scheduled swamp tour on Lake Martin. Travelled to Louisiana, so wanna see gators, right?

50-State Marathon prep:

Alaska – ice climbing
Arizona – Saguaro Nat’l Park cactus hike
Louisiana – bayou swamp tour 🙂

Quick turn in Breaux Bridge, six miles down a dirt road, a left, a right – then ‘you have arrived’ at the Meetin’ Place. Did a quick walk-about, met our guide, then loaded onto a small metal fishing boat.

Travelled slow through the swamps of Lake Martin — surrounded by bald cypress, trunk-swollen in murky water & covered in Spanish moss. Creepy, quiet bayou undergrowth filled with herons, egrets, cormorants & other fish-feeders.

Comfortable temps – sunshine & upper 50’s – but unfortunately too cool to coax any gators from their cozy mud burrows.

FAAANNNNTASTIC pre-race adventure! AND no bugs – awesome benefit to touring in January 🙂

What did I learn? Gators don’t eat from October to March. Their heartbeat slows & they remain fairly inactive during the cool Louisiana winter – feeding off fat stored in their tail. ALSO – unlike crocodiles, gators are skittish & fearsome of humans.

No gators, no pay (at least not yet). Could’ve been because our guide was a bit disorganized. He loaded his next group immediately after we disembarked & off he went.

Dinner? Noticed a small Cajun seafood shack earlier when entering Breaux Bridge. Check, done.

Didn’t see any gators so decided to eat gator instead 🙂 Couldn’t tempt M to try more than a bite – but gotta say, I stuffed myself on gator, seafood jambalaya, shrimp zydeco, fried potatoes & bread pudding. LOVIN’ me some spicy food. I-EEE!

Carb loading for tomorrow’s marathon run – Cajun style!