Wednesday
Slideshow with Tychs of Wildlife Images
Friday
Daytrip - Tule Springs Archaeological Site (TUSK)
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Tuesday
Daytrip - Floyd Lamb Park
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Sunday
Daytrip - South Cove, Arizona
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Beyond the town of Doland Springs the road climbs into the White Hills and then across the Hualapai Valley as you enter one of the largest stands of Joshua trees you will ever encounter. At South Cove there is a picnic area with covered picnic tables, grills and stone outhouses, and a boat launch. This cove is located in the middle of an area of Lake Mead known as the Gregg Basin and has some of the best water at the east end of Lake Mead. Glass conditions are almost guaranteed in the morning and expected in the late afternoon due to its protection from the surrounding mountains. Click here for pictures and a description of this trip ... South Cove & Pierce Ferry Landing.
Tuesday
My NEW Book - Rock Art of Nevada's Great Basin
Well, I did it again. I decided to write another picture book highlighting some of my favorite petroglyph sites. With 92 pages and more than 85 pictures, this book focuses on 26 of the best petroglyph sites in Nevada's Great Basin. It also provides discussions on rock art, terminology, dating processes, preservation, recording, and rock art as a language. Its purpose is to entice readers to visit and explore the historic locations described within its pages. A description for each destination, plus information on special points of interest and directions to their locations are provided for each destination. Detailed information is provided by links to my Internet site.
If you want to see a PREVIEW of the entire 92 page imagewrap book, click this link ... Preview the book, "Rock Art of Nevada's Great Basin"
If you want to READ a PDF copy of the book on line, click this link ... Read the Book, "Rock Art of Nevada's Great Basin"
If you want to READ a PDF copy of the book on line, click this link ... Read the Book, "Rock Art of Nevada's Great Basin"
Friday
Daytrip - Terrazza Park
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Thursday
Desert Baccharis (Baccharis sarothroides)
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This page last updated on 03/30/2018
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| (Fig. 01) |
Picture Notes: The pictures in (Figs. 01 & 02) were taken along a hike in the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. For more on this hike and location go to ... Tufa Beds Trails (TUSK) - Trip Notes for 03/28/2018.
Description: Desert Baccharis (Baccharis sarothroides), a.k.a. desert broom, waterweed, baccharis, romerillo (rosemary), escoba amarga (bitter broom) and hierba del pasmo, is a water-indicating plant commonly found in seasonal stream-beds. Its shrub is generally up to 6 feet tall and wide. It produces many erect, branching stems approaching 6 feet in maximum height. The leaves are mostly oval shape and up to about 1.2 inches long. The leaves generally fall by the time the plant blooms. The shrub is dioecious, with male and female plants producing flower heads of different types. Numerous small heads of whitish-green flowers arranged in an open, branched panicle. Each small head is furthermore divided into a dozen or more very small florets. Blooming late summer. The head is enclosed in a layer of phyllaries which are glandular and sticky. The fruit is a ribbed achene with a pappus a few millimeters long. This bright-green, rounded shrub is nearly leafless, especially when in flower. Its whitish flowers bloom from spring to autumn and are not showy, yet they attract a multitude of insect pollinators from bees and bee-flies to beetles and true bugs. The plant is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico, where it grows in wet areas in dry desert and woodland habitat, such as washes and stream-beds. It is found in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Deserts in the States of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Sonora, and Baja California.
Desert Alyssum (Lepedium fremontii)
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This page last updated on 03/30/2018
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| (Fig. 01) |
Picture Notes: The pictures in (Figs. 01 & 02) were taken along a hike in the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. For more on this hike and location go to ... Tufa Beds Trails (TUSK) - Trip Notes for 03/28/2018.
Description: Desert Alyssum (Lepedium fremontii), a.k.a. Fremont's peppergrass, desert peppergrass, and desert pepperweed, is a one to two foot perennial that likes the conditions native to the Mojave Desert. It needs perfect drainage and full sun. It has great masses of small, four-parted white flowers. The individual white-petaled, yellow-centered flowers of lepidium fremontii are tiny, about 1/4 inch in diameter, but they form dense, spherical or elongated clusters, on a shrub-like plant which is unremarkable for much of the year when not in bloom but quite distinctive in spring and early summer. Flowers are formed of four obovate, yellowish-green sepals and four larger, white, clawed, spatula-shaped petals, non-overlapping. All plant parts are hairless. Stems and leaves are greyish-green in color; leaves grow all along the stem, though not at the base. Their range extends from the Mojave Desert northwards across most of Nevada, up to 6,500 feet elevation. Plants branch profusely, generally staying quite close to the ground but reaching heights of 3 feet in favorable locations. They bloom from March to June.
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| (Fig. 02) |
Las Vegas buckwheat (Eriogonum corymbosum var. nilesii)
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This page last updated on 03/29/2018
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| (Fig. 01) |
Description: The Las Vegas buckwheat (Eriogonum corymbosum var. nilesii) is an open to somewhat spreading woody perennial shrub up to 4 feet (ft) high with a mounding shape 5-feet across and has numerous clusters of yellow to pale yellow flowers on its stalks. The subspecies is distinguished from closely related taxa by leaves that are densely hairy on one or both surfaces, at least twice as long as wide, with dense hairs spread along the stem. It flowers August to November. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed a comprehensive status review, known as a 12-month
finding on 23 September, 2014, and found that the best scientific and commercial data available indicates that listing the Las Vegas Buckwheat as threatened or endangered is not warranted.
Distribution and Habitat: Because the taxonomy of the Las Vegas buckwheat was only recently resolved in 2006, there is very little information regarding the historic range and distribution of the variety. Las Vegas buckwheat is historically known from three locations in Clark County: Las Vegas Valley, Gold Butte, and Muddy Mountains. In the Las Vegas Valley, a major portion of its remaining habitat is located in the upper Las Vegas Wash. A large portion of this area is now protected by the recently established Tule Springs Fossil National Monument.
Astragalus
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This page last updated on 03/30/2018
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| (Fig. 01) |
Picture Notes: The two pictures in (Figs. 01 & 02) were taken along a hike in the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. Our hike guide provided the name of this plant. For more on this hike and location go to ... Tufa Beds Trails (TUSK) - Trip Notes for 03/28/2018.
Description: In a search of the Internet, I was only able to find very limited information about this plant. Astragalus is a large genus of about 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names include milkvetch (most species), locoweed (in North America, some species), goat's-thorn and huáng qà in Chinese. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. Some pale-flowered vetches are similar in appearance, but vetches are more vine-like. It is a perennial plant and it is not listed as being threatened.
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| (Fig. 02) |
China Ranch - Date Farm - Trip Notes for 02/28/2018
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This page last updated on 02/28/2018
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| (Fig. 01) |
Directions: From Las Vegas the China Ranch/Date Farm is approximately 77 miles. Take Interstate 15 South to highway 160. Go west (toward Pahrump) to Tecopa Highway. Go west on Tecopa Highway (which becomes Old Spanish Trail Highway in California) to Furnace Creek Road, turn left. Follow the signs to China Ranch.
02/28/2018 Trip Notes: Today Bob Croke, Harvey Smith, Ron Ziance and I took a trip out to the China Date Ranch for a day of hiking and some fresh baked date bread. After crossing over the Spring Mountain Pass on Route 160, we were surprised to see that the desert floor and the southwest side of the Spring Mountain Range was cover with a dusting of fresh snow (Figs. 02 & 03). Once we reached the date ranch, because Ron had never been here before, we decided to re-hike two areas that the rest of us had hiked on previous visits; the Slot Canyon Trail (Fig. 04) and a portion of the Ranch View Trail (Fig. 05). Descriptions for each of these hikes follow the maps shown below. (Trip notes con't below)
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| (Fig. 02) |
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| (Fig. 03) This view was taken by Bob Croke |
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| (Fig. 04) |
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| (Fig. 05) |
Description of the Ranch View Trail: From the gift shop, this more challenging loop trail is more than two miles (Fig. 05) and includes an elevation gain, and then loss, of about four hundred feet over its course. After hiking up the road past the date grove to a spot overlooking the reservoir, then turn right and walk down the flood levee and then up onto the spine of the small hills directly in front of the of you. You then begin to hike the trail up a few short, steep sections and then begin hiking along a high and narrow ridge back to the orchard, shown in yellow on the map in (Fig. 03). This is not recommended for anyone who has vertigo or problems with heights. The views to your right along this ridge presents a spectacular view down the length of China Ranch (Fig. 01), and to your left a small slot canyon incised into the soft clay sediments by intermittent flash floods. Follow the ridge all the way to its end it descends down until it reaches the lower date grove. Then return down the road back to the gift shop.
Trip Notes Continued: Since our previous visit here someone has taken to lining both sides of the trails with rocks (Fig. 06). The trail took us past the crumbling historical assay office/saloon building (Fig. 07). Continuing on we came to the top of a Mesa, the site of the Acme Siding, that looks town on the old ore loading site that was a stop on the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad from 1905 until 1938 (Fig. 08). Looking northwest from this viewpoint you can see the remains of the old railroad beds (Fig. 09).
Due east of the Mesa was a great view of the area of the Cliff Trail (Fig. 10). From Acme we followed the cairn-marked trail to the right down off the Mesa (Fig. 11). We then hiked straight across the flat desert towards the edge of the Willow Creek that flows into the Armagosa River. It ended at a point where either a bridge or the railroad crossed the river where we could go no further (Fig. 12). There was a small waterfall here leading into a small stream of water that continued south toward the Armgosa River. On the way back from here provided a good view of the old ore loading area from below (Fig. 13). Looking west to the top of the ridges I spotted a silhouette in the rock that appeared to me what looked like the head of a dog (Fig. 14). On the way back I took a picture of Ron in one of the old abandon cars alongside the trail (Fig. 15). After retracing our steps back to the gift shop and the bakery we each ate a piping hot loaf of date bread (Fig. 16). (Trip notes con't below)
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| (Fig. 06) |
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| (Fig. 07) |
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| (Fig. 08) |
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| (Fig. 09) Picture courtesy of Bob Croke |
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| (Fig. 10) |
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| (Fig. 11) |
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| (Fig. 12) |
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| (Fig. 13) |
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| (Fig. 14) |
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| (Fig. 15) |
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| (Fig. 16) |
Trip Notes Continued: After a lunch of date bread we decided to drive the Ranch View Trail to the reservoir and a hidden waterfall. Refer to the map in (Fig. 03). We drove the car up the trail past the date groves. We then parked the car and hike up the rest of the road to the reservoir. Looking across the spring fed reservoir there is a small covered seating area and fishing pier (Fig.17). Also, on the far side there were a variety of water fowl and ducks playing in the water along the edges of the reservoir (Fig. 18). At the top of the road, above the reservoir, we turned right and headed west to the area of the waterfall (Fig. 19). This river is fed by the Willow Spring located beyond the reservoir. Though it was only a small stream today, over time during the rainy season, floods have carved a huge, deep slot canyon canyon below the waterfall (Fig. 20). This final picture (Fig. 21) is a picture of a Mesquite Tree found along the edge of the reservoir. To read more about this tree go to ... Mesquite Tree. Today all total we hiked about 3.8 miles. On a future visit I want to hike the Badlands Trail and the Mesa Trail.
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| (Fig. 17) |
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| (Fig. 18) |
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| (Fig. 19) |
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| (Fig. 20) |
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| (Fig. 21) |
Return to ... China Ranch/Date Farm - Summary Page.
Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) - Trip Notes for 03/07/2018
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This page last updated on 03/29/2018
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| (Fig. 01) |
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| (Fig. 02) |
03/07/2018 Trip Notes: This was our second hike of this area, however, this time we had two hiking guides from POTS (Protectors of Tule Springs). Our guides were Sandy Croteau and Helen Mortenson, shown above (Fig. 01). These two people provided us with a wealth of information on the past and current archaeological diggings in the this area. Refer to the map in (Fig. 02A) to see the route we hiked today. They started out by taking us to the historic camp site that was used during the "Big Dig" of 1962 (Fig. 04). The geologists, archaeologists and paleontologists that were part of the "Big Dig" camped here in tents for nearly four months. As we continued hiking across the bare desert wash (Fig. 05) they pointed our how some of the topography and the soils had been created over past several thousand years.
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| (Fig. 02A) |
It was also pointed out that this area provides a home for several rare and imperiled species, the most popular being the Las Vegas Bearpoppy, a magnificent plant with hairy silver leaves and striking yellow-orange flowers when in bloom. Though it was still a little too early for them to be in bloom, we did find several examples of the endangered plant (Fig. 06). This rare plant is protected as critically imperiled under Nevada State law and would easily merit protection under the federal Endangered Species Act should state law prove inadequate. Read more about this endangered plant here ... Caifornia Bearpoppy (Arctomecon californica). It is also one of only a dozen or so places on the planet where the Las Vegas Buckwheat occurs. This plant has been found to be warranted for protection under the Endangered Species Act and is awaiting final actions by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
As they led us around the archaeological site they took us to some of the trenches that had been bulldozed more than 50 years ago. Some of these (trenches) are very difficult to recognize today due to the fact that some were partially filled in, or their walls have eroded and caved in due to weather and rain. Because today's archaeologists and paleontologists make it a point to try and disguise active digs to prevent visitors from digging and trying to steal fossils, it is very hard to recognize active paleontological sites, and noted that hikers should stay away from active sites and never collect fossils in this area. If you don't know what to look for, visitors can easily damage these sensitive areas. We would have never recognized some of the fossil fragments they point out to us as we hiked along (Fig. 08). Even picking up a fossil and then replacing it where you found it will leave DNA that will hinder researchers in trying to establish accurate records. The rule of thumb is "don't touch the fossil. You can photograph it, GPS it and then send the information to the paleontological team."
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| (Fig. 03) Mounted skeleton, Sternberg Museum of Natural History |
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| (Fig. 04) |
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| (Fig. 05) |
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| (Fig. 06) |
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| (Fig. 07) |
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| (Fig. 08) |
Trip Notes Continued: As we continued to explore some of the old trenches (Figs. 09 & 10) our guides took us to an area where we could see a fossilized portion of a tusk (Fig. 11). It was the highlight of our day.
During the "Big Dig", researchers hoped to crack the case of finding proof of human habitation with heavy equipment — one of the biggest bulldozers in the world at the time. Under the direction of the Nevada State Museum — and with funding from the National Science Foundation — almost 2 miles of trenches were carved through the hills in the wash. They explained that because no link to habitation was found during the 60's, many saw the project as “a horrendous boondoggle”. However, history would remember it for advancing the young science of radiocarbon dating and eventually paving the way for the creation of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in December 2014. Willard Libby, the father of radiocarbon dating and winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize in chemistry, devoted his lab at UCLA full time to analyzing samples from the dig. Someone from the lab made weekly visits to the site to collect material for carbon-14 dating. Haynes said they would get preliminary results back in as little as 48 hours, speedy even by today’s standards. Even today no one can point to definitive evidence that humans and ice age animals ever coexisted in what is now Southern Nevada. Though science still can’t adequately explain why most of the largest ice age animals on Earth suddenly died out about 11,000 years ago, a lot of that story is related to climate change, and so since climate change is such an important buzz word these days, and it's an important concept for us to recognize. The good news is that the science has come a long way in the past 50 years, and there is much more work to be done, and more and new information is being discovered every day. No matter where you hike here, it is impossible not to think about the millenniums of history just a few feet below where you stand.
Now the sad part. Damage and vandalism being performed on a daily basis. There have be instances where people have randomly spray painted the walls of some of the trenches. Some people have cut the fences surrounding the monument's boundaries along the roads. They have ridden bikes and motorcycles all over some areas of the archaeological site. We saw tracks that were new since our visit of only a few weeks ago. People have been caught with picks and shovels trying to dig up and steal fossils. Even though the National Park Service has installed cameras in some areas, people blatantly ignore the rules of this National Monument.
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| (Fig. 09) |
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| (Fig. 10) |
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| (Fig. 11) |
Halogeton (Halogeton glomeratus)
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This page last updated on 03/30/2018
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| (Fig. 01) |
Picture Notes: The picture in (Fig. 01) was taken along a hike in the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. Because it is still somewhat winter, they are all brown and pretty much dried out. Come spring and summer they will turn green and can actually begin to flower like shown in (Figs. 02 & 03). For more on this hike and location go to ... Tufa Beds Trails (TUSK) - Trip Notes for 03/28/2018.
Description: Halogeton (Halogeton glomeratus) is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common names saltlover, Aral barilla, and halogeton. It is native to Russia and China, but the plant is probably better known in the western United States, where it is an introduced species and a notorious noxious weed. This annual herb is a hardy halophyte, thriving in soils far too saline to support many other plants. It also grows in alkali soils such as those on alkali flats and disturbed, barren habitat. It can be found in sagebrush and shadscale habitat, and can grow well in areas with cold winters.
This plant produces a usually erect stem with several curving branches up to about 10 inches tall. It has a taproot reaching up to half a meter deep in the soil and has many lateral roots. The branches are lined with narrow, fleshy, blue-green leaves each up to about 2 centimeters long tipped with stiff bristles. The inflorescences are located all along the stem branches next to the leaves. Each inflorescence is a small cluster of tiny bisexual and female-only flowers accompanied by waxy bracts. The winged, membranous flowers surround the developing fruit, which is all that remains on the plant when it is ripe, the leaves and flower parts having fallen away. The fruit is a pale cylindrical utricle. The extremely invasive plant produces large amounts of seeds, which are dispersed by many vehicles, including human activity (being walked on), animals (including ants), water flow, wind, and by being carried on the dry plant when it breaks off at ground level and rolls away as a tumbleweed. The seeds have the ability to germinate within one hour after being exposed to water. It is destructive to the land of the American west because its excretion of mineral salts makes it harder for other plants to grow where it occurs. The growth of the plant is controlled by introducing certain nonnative plants, such as immigrant kochia (Kochia prostrata) and crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum), which compete successfully with halogeton. Land that is denuded due to contruction processes is susceptible to halogeton invasion and very difficult to eradicate. It flowers between July and September (Fig. 03.
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| (Fig. 02) |
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| (Fig. 03) |
Tufa Beds Trails (TUSK) - Trip Notes for 03/28/2018
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This page last updated on 02/28/2018
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| (Fig. 01) |
Directions: There are basically two primary places to enter this area. One is located at the exit of N. 5th Street off of the I-215. Exit and turn north. It abruptly dead ends. Another is from the end of Grand Teton Road (Closed). Because we were on a scheduled tour, our guides had a key to open the gate at Aliante and Grand Teton allowing us to drive to the end of the paved road.
Walking over the area there are what looks like a piles of porous brown rock forming a long S-shape winding through the desert. This rock is tufa, a type of limestone precipitated by “algal snot” that only forms in certain conditions. This is evidence that Tule Springs was once a vast desert wetland where springs burbled up from the ground to create meandering streams. That’s what made the region so rich in prehistoric life. Plants grew where the water was, providing ample forage for bison, camels and mammoths. This was a “honeypot” to the local dire wolves, sabercats and other carnivores. The water that set up this food web carried the sediment that later buried the bones of the local creatures.
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| (Fig. 02) |
Soon the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in North Las Vegas will get its first walking trail (Fig. 02), spanning nearly 2 miles near the future site of the Villages at Tule Springs, a sprawling master-planned community. Eventually, North Fifth Street will be extended north of the 215 Beltway to access the national park. Nearby, housing developer KBS Capital Advisors will spend $5 million to build access roads, a parking lot and a 10,000-foot-long path known as the Tufa Trail — named for the type of limestone naturally found in the area.
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| (Fig. 03) |
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| (Fig. 03a) - Courtesy of Robert Croke |
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| (Fig. 04) |
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| (Fig.05) |
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| (Fig. 06) |
03/28/2018 Trip Notes: The picture in (Fig. 05) above is an overview showing the area of the proposed Tufa Beds Trails. To day Bob Croke, Cindy Pace and myself (Fig. 06) had a guided tour of the proposed area provided by Sandy Croteau VP/On-Site Chairman of POTS. The map in (Fig. 02), top, shows the route of the area that we hiked today. Bob's GPS showed that the hike was about 3.4 miles. As we hike along our guide provide information about many of the plants that we encountered along the way. A geologist provided information about the creation of the topography and the surrounding mountains. Sandy also explained how future development in and around the area will affect future views while hiking around this end of the Tule Springs Fossil National Monument. Figure 02 shows these proposed areas that border the area. We encountered a variety of plant-life including the several examples of the endangered Las Vegas Poppy (Fig. 07). Click here for pictures and information on this rare plant ... Las Vegas Bearpoppy (Arctomecon californica). Though I didn't take any closeup pictures, probably the most prevalent plant was the creosote bush. Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata. Other plants are shown in (Figs. 08 through 13). Links to pages describing each plant are displayed below each picture. Once we reached the area of the tufa beds, we were able to get some closeup shots of these tufa molds of phytoclasts (Figs. 14 thru 18). Though we were not provided enough time to do any real 'looking", we didn't find any examples of fossils. Besides this shot of a well defined ant hill, I spotted a burring owl nest at a great distance, and several long eared jack rabbits that were running away from us as we hiked. This final shot (Fig. 21) is a picture of our hiking group. The bad news is there really isn't a lot to see on a hike of this area. The good news is that it is always to get out into the fresh air away from the city and enjoy the fellowship of hiking with like minded people. It was a beautiful sunny day in the upper 70's with only a slight breeze.
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| (Fig. 07) Learn more here ... Las Vegas Bearpoppy |
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| (Fig. 15) |
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| (Fig. 19) |
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| (Fig. 20) |
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| (Fig. 21) Learn more here ... Astragalus. |
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