We headed out to look for an uncommon flower Bob wanted to see. I am pretty certain that I have photos of this plant from years ago. Rachel also wanted to geek out on this plant, as did Mike. So, it was looking like a plant geek day plus Susan the random birder. We stopped for an interesting coreopsis, yes, there are two coreopsis and we got to see the one we had never seen before. Even I could tell it was different as the leaves are straight. While the others took loads of photos, I headed off to see a hillside of thistle sage. Now that is a plant I can appreciate.
California Coreopsis (Leptosyne californica)
Thistle Sage (Salvia carduacea)
Before I could get there I found a pair of desert tortoise. Sweet! I don't get to see them every year. Everyone came over to see them and take photos. Rachel (a professional tortoise biologist) gave us a science lesson and explained how to easily tell the sexes apart; it has to do with the shape of the shell by the face.
Female and Male Desert Tortoise
And then I found it, the plant they all wanted. Many more plant photos happened. Even I think it is cute.
Holy Dandelion (Glyptopeura setulosa)
That was all very nice, but Rachel took the prize when she found a tiny desert tortoise. She said it was the smallest she had ever seen. Probably hatched last year. Oh, my! It was so cute I watched it for a half an hour or so. And you may be wondering what it did? Well, as it turns out, not a lot. It made one small sprint, but mostly it twitched its legs a little and soaked up the sun. Good thing I am easily amused.
Now that is a small tortoise.
I noticed a small black thing on the back leg and thought it might be a tick. Rachel thought they might be the heads of ants. Blundering into an ant hill cannot be a pleasant way to start life. Being covered in ticks is nasty too.
Nasty things on its leg.
Isn't that foot bottom adorable?
Nap time.
And it just keeps sleeping.
Oh, it moved a front leg!
Bob took a short video. So here you go. For those reading by email, click this link for the YouTube video. It's too cute, so don't miss it!
Rachel, Bob and Mike geeking out on some flowers
I found a few ancient native house rings on the hill tops as well and a good assortment of the low elevation desert flowers we have been seeing for the last several weeks..
A house ring.
After a couple hours of plant looking in a very small area, I headed to the car for lunch and entertained myself with the shadows on my legs. Yep, it wasn't the birdiest of spots, my ebird list. It wasn't the most scenic either.
After lunch we headed down the road a bit and I looked at a few petroglyphs, while Bob and Mike spent time admiring a small monkeyflower. This post is for people who wonder what we do on a typical retirement day.
A chuckwalla suns itself on a rock
But wait, Bob also has control of this blog post, so you get more flower photos!
Rockjasmine Monkeyflower (Erythranthe androsacea). a tiny little thing
Daisy Desertstar (Monoptilon bellidiforme), a even smaller little thing
Another photo of the Holy Dandelion
White Mallow (Eremalche exilis), with it's two flower color variations
I'm not sure how I heard about either of these spots, but once I knew about them I had to go. Unfortunately for me, I had to wait, and not just a week or two, a couple years worth of waiting. That really tested my patience. And finally when it was time to go, as the flowers would be nice too, we had to wait some more. We were waiting for a break in the wind. All that waiting was worth it. Both sites were wonderful.
First up is the Blue Sun pictographs. I will just start by saying it is amazing. Several beautiful suns and no one has defaced the site. Wow! These pictographs are credited to the Kumeyaay and archeologists believe the area was inhabited for 6000 years. I was not able to find much on line about this rock art. Based on how vibrant it is, I would guess it is not thousands of years old.
Blue sun cave enhanced
Blue sun cave original
BJ is very happy looking at the pictographs.
Now several photos of original pictographs followed by their enhanced versions.
Oh, I do like this pictograph.
We found four large grinding rocks around the pictograph site without really looking.
Next up was a day long hike to the goat trestle. Now, it would be really cool if it were named goat trestle because it was covered with goats, or even better the native desert bighorn sheep, but alas, it is named for the canyon it spans.
What is the appeal? Goat Canyon trestle is the largest all wooden train trestle. According to Wikipedia link it is 597-750 feet long. The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway line was completed in 1919. It was called the impossible railway due to all the tunnels and trestles that had to be built through the mountainous terrain. Goat trestle was started in 1932 and finished in 1933. It had to be built to replace a tunnel that collapsed during an earthquake. Redwood was used for the trestle due to the extreme temperature variations. It is one of a kind.
Now hiking to it with active trains running would be sporty, but we had nothing to fear as the last train ran in 2008. Based on all the warning signs, I assume hiking to it was a thing even when the trains ran. Periodically, there are plans to revive it. Should that succeed, I will want to ride it. I doubt I will ever get the chance.
This is the only photo I took of the complete trestle.
There are multiple ways to get there. All involve hiking, or riding your bike. We choose the shortest flat route, 11 miles round trip. We might have underestimated the trip length a bit to BJ, which is probably good as she might not have gone if she knew all the facts. We got an early start and just walked along or on the train tracks.
I know, not very exciting. But it got more interesting as we got to go through numerous tunnels and over numerous trestles on the way. I was fine with the tunnels, the trestles, not so much. The trestles were spooky and hard walking. You had to watch your every step or risk putting a foot through the sleepers and into the void.
The first tunnel.
Now, if they really didn't want you there, they would just lock the gate.
Like the timbering.
Lots of cracks on the left side.
They didn't even timber this one.
And the next one does have timber.
Palm trees in the canyon below.
They were serious about this one. And what is it painted with?
After four tunnels, we finally had a view of goat trestle.
Our first view of goat trestle and it is still so far away.
Oh no, now the first of eight, as I recall, trestles that we have to walk over to get to where we want to be. These were not happy parts. I have no direct shots down. I was too unhappy.
When the cars derail, just push them over the side.
Whatever it is, it looks toxic.
Yea, a nice safe tunnel, no more stupid spooky trestles.
Oh, this is a long kinda spooky tunnel.
Trestles are visible on the right side.
A recent collapsed tunnel.
We are getting closer.
And closer.
Someone had artistic talent.
Goat trestle and another tunnel.
The collapsed tunnel, that caused goat trestle to be built.
Look at all that support on the left.
Yes, that is one sketchy looking ladder on the left.
Bob got brave and went out and took a look down.
While we were happily taking photos of the goat trestle, two crazy bike riders came along. Bob took some video of them. They are obviously good bike riders and not counting on that safety rail to save them if they biff. I thought that side safety rail could use a definite refurbishment.
On the way back I spent some time walking on the scaffolding. It was damaged in spots, but made for faster walking. Yep, if those bike riders could do it, so could I. I still didn't take any photos looking down. Too spooky. And yes, I was perfectly happy in the tunnels, even though I had seen the two that have collapsed. To each, their own.
