Coyote's Tricky Pictograph Loop

ebird list1
ebird list2

What to do, what to do, what to do.  Four ebird gaps and only three days to fill them.  The solution, a new loop.  Bob originally proposed a fourteen mile route he used to run with six or so miles on dirt roads and the last two uphill.  Nooooooo.  Somehow, that just didn't sound like fun.  Counter proposal, take two cars and lose the six miles of road, and add an out and back sidehill to a pictograph site.  Second counter proposal, add a 600 foot ridge climb to start the day and turn it into a one car loop.  Sounds like an adventure.

Our first 600 feet done

We don't have to climb this.

Near the top of our 600' ridge climb we discovered that the smart coyotes didn't drop down to the spring and then head into the next valley.  They simply contoured along an old trail high on the hillside.  Brilliant.  We still don't know if this is an old mine route or someone's old hiking trail, but with just a bit of cross-country it tied into a trail we use regularly.

We get to contour here rather than drop down several hundred feet

We are heading up the center of this canyon

The final uphill of the day

Jenkins Peak

Our route over to the pictographs could use a bit more work, or a better deer trail, but we made it, and were then able to head down the valley and back to our car.

The reward for all our work