Catch up

I have a lot of catching up to do. Luckily, I have been writing in my personal journal so I think I'll share a few of those entries to get you up to speed on the latest. Just when I was all set to spend a summer in the Midwest (Iowa to be precise), I received an interview call for a job that could not be turned down- tortoise research in the Mojave. So here I am in Henderson, NV. My schedule is insane, I never know where I'll be or for how long. I've worked 10, 12, 14 hour days with next to no compensation. I complain quite a bit, but the truth is I'll put up with a lot of BS to be in the desert. It's charms have not lessened since my last visit. Here's a few snippets of my adventures thus far:

3/23/10
I cannot resist a trail that doesn't end. I was going to take it easy today after yesterday's 1800ft ascent to turtlehead peak. The pine creek canyon trail: 3 miles round-trip sounded like a minuscule thing, perfect for a mild jaunt. I should have anticipated that beyond the managed trail lay a path deep into the canyon, and I just could not turn away. How could I stop? Who knows what lies around the next corner? Those seductive little cairnes beckoning me further- it is them I blame, and their creator who also could not turn back but left behind a sign that there is further to go. And how can I let this phantom one-up me? I must continue. Oh how I hate to turn around!

3/26/10 (camping in red rocks NCA)
The wind is violent, persistent. I watch my tent shake and rattle with unnerving force. I half-expect to wake up in Oz.

4/4/10
Boyscout canyon hike in black rock canyon NRA. Several zebra-tailed and side-blotched lizards on the sand/gravel wash bottom. Chuckwalla spotted on large rock but entered crevice and would not be persuaded to emerge.

4/5/10
Tortoise tracking outside of Barstow-
The Calico hills: a multi-colored talus playground. Walked a wash through a canyon of every rock hue imaginable to tricky ascent up steep canyon side to lone tortoise burrow. Incredibly rewarding day.

4/18/10
Spring in the desert. This is the most dazzling spring I've witnessed in the arid Southwest. There is so much blooming that a constant fragrance lingers in the air- fills all the empty desert space with a sweet scent. Color blankets the ground- yellows and whites dominate with splashes of purples, pinks, and reds. The indigo bush has begun to show its deeply hued flowers. Desert lilies stand solitary and regal- an elegant flower. So much life on display in this harsh environment. Lizards and snakes are now being spotted, active in the mild spring sun. Blister beetles hustle and bustle among the annuals, a comical chiggedy-chiggedy sound accompanies their frenzied movements. The small things make a day of plant picking bearable. The sight of a patch-nosed snake is enough to brighten my mood and make my hunched "gardening" more worthwhile.