the rediscovery corps

amateur photography & travel

[the-rediscovery-corps]

first camping trip of the year with my best friends, Laika and @majoras-skull-kid, at Shawnee National Forest, specifically the Bell Smith Springs area

[the-rediscovery-corps]

some pics of my dog, Laika, from our last hiking trip to Shawnee National Forest

completely forgot about these until I was getting on my SD card just now to get some pictures of the snow off

[shelter-wood]

BWCAW - Seagull Lake - Drive Back

Palisade Head

[the-rediscovery-corps]

(posted to the wrong blog, whoops)

[the-rediscovery-corps]

BWCAW - Seagull Lake - Drive Back

Specifically, Grand Marais, where we stopped to get some coffee and brunch at Java Moose. I got a Nordic Miel latte and it was delicious.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

The loon who sang for us as we were leaving

[the-rediscovery-corps]

BWCAW - Seagull Lake - Day Three

The relentless wind finally died down the night prior, so I could sleep without fearing that the camp was going to blow away, though the front brought what were, I’m fairly certain, below freezing temperatures. It also brought a beautiful foggy morning and as we were sitting, listening to the loons and drinking coffee, we became aware of another sound, far to the north. Wolves howling.

With less wind, leaving the lake was far and away easier than it had been entering. On the way out, we were treated to a loon, no more than 10 feet from our canoe, who sang for us. I’ll post the video.

By the time we got back to the dock, I could hardly feel my fingers and was much looking forward to a hotel in Duluth with a hot shower and something non-dehydrated for dinner.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

BWCAW - Seagull Lake - Day Two

Originally, the plan for our full day on the lake was to take the canoe and head over to Alpine Lake for a day trip, but the wind from the previous day refused to die down. There was a front moving south and we were right in the way of it. We went out paddling a bit, but we were both still sore from the previous day and gave up pretty quickly, spending the day in camp or exploring the woods around the peninsula where we were camping.

For someone who came from Southern Illinois, where it’s still in the 80s, it was a bit of a shock having days barely getting into the 50s. Luckily, we took a little luxury with us, since we weren’t going to be portaging, and had a french press and lots of coffee and hot chocolate.

We had at least three different chipmunks around our camp and a few squirrels. They were quite friendly, I expect because they see so few people they had no reason to be afraid of us.

With the cold air and nothing else to do, we quickly ran through the supply of firewood previous campers had left and had to take the canoe out into our little sheltered bay and steal some more from an abandoned beaver hut.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

BWCAW Trip - Seagull Lake - Day One

My first time in the Boundary Waters, spent three days on Seagull Lake with my cousin. The drive up the Gunflint Trail was threatening inclement weather and once we were out on the water, we had to fight against a brutal headwind and massive waves as we tried to scoot our way around the north shore of Seagull Lake. By the time we found an empty campsite, neither of us could paddle much further.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

and now, a bunch of pictures of my beautiful service doggie, Laika, who was very good the whole trip, but I think enjoyed Colorado far more than Utah (she’s part husky, so the desert is not her strong suit) but she loves hiking and climbing on rocks and things, so she had a lot of fun

North Window, Sand Dune Arch, and finally she got to play in some snow at a rest area near Vail Pass

[the-rediscovery-corps]

Wolfe Ranch, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

These petroglyphs were made by the Ute tribe sometime between the 1600s and 1800s.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

“Dinosaur” tracks, Courthouse Wash, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

Not sure what kind of bird made these, but they were big! They remind me of grey heron tracks, but I’m not sure if those live in the area, since they’re wading birds. But maybe they come around when water is flowing.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

A dope example of fault activity just across the highway from the Arches visitor center, on the Moab Fault. Most fault activity in the area is caused by salt moving underneath the ground.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

This place is a rock enthusiasts playground. Absolutely gorgeous examples of different formations of rock. Particularly noticeable on Balanced Rock, the base is Dewey Bridge (Carmel formation) sandstone which is water deposited, and the cap is Slick Rock (Entrada formation) which is wind deposited (eolian). But the entire park is stunning exposed Jurassic (mainly) rock.

A fun fact about Dewey Bridge sandstone, it’s very convoluted in the area. There are large waves and deformations in it. There are a few explanations for this, but my favorite is that in the late Jurassic, just after the Dewey Bridge sand had been set down, a meteor struck (forming Upheaval Dome) and the shockwaves forced the still pliable sand into the strange wavy shapes before it hardened into rock. Apparently the convolutions get worse and more drastic the closer you get to Upheaval Dome (we didn’t go there, so I can’t say for sure)

Rock formations are named in the captions.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

Grandstaff Canyon, Colorado River Reacreation Area, Moab, Utah

An evening walk through a bit of Grandstaff Canyon. We didn’t go all the way to the arch, but the shade and the cold creek water were very pleasant. Laika had a lot of fun wading around. The cairns were built by other hikers and, while they look nice, they can be quite disruptive to the stream bed, and I don’t endorse building them (also avoid building them near primitive trails, as cairns are often used to mark trail direction and you can end up leading people astray).

The canyon is named for William Grandstaff, who was a black/native american cowboy who prospected and ran cattle there with a Canadian trapper called Frenchie. They also took joint possession of an abandoned mission near Moab. The canyon was renamed in 2017 to Grandstaff Canyon, previously called Negro Bill Canyon. 

[shelter-wood]

Copper Ridge Dinosaur Tracksite, near Moab, Utah

A very cool, short hike off 191 before you get to Moab. A few pronghorns, a Whiptail Lizard (very common in that area, we had a bunch of them in our campsite along the river!), and a black lizard that I can’t identify. My best guess is Western Fence Lizard, but if anyone can identify it, please let me know! 

The landscape is beautiful out there. Huge tumbles of sandstone boulders and dry riverbeds. The green coloration in some of the sand/sandstone is a result of ancient marine deposits. 

The dinosaur tracks are, of course, the main attraction. There are a set of sauropod tracks, with a few small theropod tracks next to them, and then a set of larger theropod tracks. The larger theropod was limping when it made the tracks. 

[the-rediscovery-corps]

(accidentally posted this to the wrong blog 😅)

[the-rediscovery-corps]

Frisco, Colorado

This was a short walk from our hotel, where we stayed the first night of the trip. At about 9,000 feet, everyone was buzzing a bit from the altitude, but even so, I felt at home among the mountains. I knew I missed them, but I didn’t realize how much until we got into the Rockies. I didn’t want to leave.

[the-rediscovery-corps]

some pics from this weekend. took a 3 day camping trip to the meramec river in missouri with the extended family. mostly i took pictures of my dog, laika, because she's cute and i love her. but here also is my new backpacking tent (a tight squeeze with a big dog! but no worse than having her in my kayak :p ) and another dog, gwen, who made quick friends with laika and my cousin's daughter, penny, who just loved laika. all in all, a good trip with lovely weather.