Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Little Blair Valley

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Woke up with the sun again this morning, but no flaming colors.  Going to hit 80 today, but this morning the wind is blowing fairly hard.  Got breakfast done and read my blogs.  The wind has died down to nothing.  Not even 10:30 and Yuma and I are ready to go somewhere.  We decide it will be Blair Valley.

On our way out of town we see more metal sculptures.

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During the drive, I saw a huge rock.  I knew Patsy of Chillin’ with Patsy would love it, so here it is.  Looks like someone sliced it with a knife.

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Got to love the shorts.

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We know our way pretty well now, since we have passed the entrance to the Blair Valley several times now.  This time we turned onto the Great Southern Overland Route of 1849.  This is the old stage coach road they used back in the day to pass through this area.  Now it is a blacktop road.

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We turned off on the dirt road that was the old Butterfield Overland Mail route. Followed this into Little Blair Valley Cultural Reserve.  It is called the ‘Ehmuu-Morteros Trail where Kumeyaay people lived.  I saw a rock shelter.  Inside was fairly large with a rock circle for containing fire.

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Saw one rock with a pictograph.

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We also saw a rock with many morteros on it.  Big and small ones.  The larger ones were full of water.

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We left there and drove the Jeep about a mile further to another rock with a number of pictographs on it.  This rock was about a mile up a wash we had to walk.

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I should have stopped then and turned around, but I didn’t.  I could see the wash went down to a rocky area and it looked like a valley on the other side.  Thought I might get some good photos, so we walked about another mile down the wash to where it entered the rocks.

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I could see the Carrizo Valley below the cliff as the wash continued in the distance.

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By the time we got back to the Jeep, my feet were absolutely killing me.  Walked six miles today.  The temperature was 80 and we were hot and tired.  Like a dummy, I left the water in the Jeep.

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Since the entrance to the the old Marshall Homestead was nearby, I drove over, got out and took a photo of the sign.  The homestead is a mile up in the hills and I did not have the strength to attempt to walk up there.  I walked up there last year and I know it is not an easy climb.

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On the way out of the Little Blair Valley, I finally saw some wildlife.  As I was driving along, I saw a jackrabbit stop in the brush ahead of me.  He thought I couldn’t see him, but I did.

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Then as we were near the exit, I saw a coyote off in the green pasture to my left.  He was pretty far away, but I got him with my zoom.

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Didn’t waste any time getting back into the Borrego Valley and off my feet.

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Had a nice sunset.  Almost missed it working on my blog.

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See you later.

18 comments:

  1. Gorgeous sunset! The picture of the two trees growing out of the cliff was amazing. All the pictures were great. I really loved the ones of the jackrabbit and the coyote. Great pictures of the split rock, you in shorts and the stagecoach. Loved all the awesome metal sculptures!

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    1. Thanks Dolly. It was a long day and tiring for me.

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  2. Really like the pictures of the pictographs. In the second picture it looks like the coyote spotted you taking the picture.
    Stay safe.

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    1. Even though he was far off, he kept a wary eye on me.

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  3. I've always found Blair Valley to be a quiet serene place off the beaten path and far from where people are habitually clustered together. No towns anywhere nearby and not much traffic through the valley. A nice place to spend some time.

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    1. Beautiful area. I wished I had saved some energy to walk up to the Marshal homestead, but not to be this time.

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  4. Gorgeous photos. I like reading your blog since my hiking days are over.

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    1. Thanks Jan. After yesterday's six miles of hiking, today, I feel like mine are over.

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  5. I think that huge rock that looks like it had been sliced apart is awesome! I wonder what happened to it? Very cool. That jack rabbit had huge ears and at first i thought his eyes were red, but that was just my imagination! :) Those washes are so pretty to look at. Thanks for the great pics!

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    1. Thanks Sarah. The rabbits are different out here. Got big ears!

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  6. Thanks Doug for the split rock capture. I love it. It is huge! Also the trek through those rocks would be cool as well. I hope I see another Jack Rabbit before we go home but I'm thinking my chances are thin. Saw one briefly at Elephant Butte State Park back in November and didn't even know what it was at first.

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    1. Looks from the comments you are not the only one who likes big rocks! Have to take more pictures of them. I remember when I saw my first one, I thought it was a coyote, it was so big. Thinking of going to Split Mountain today. That is one big split rock!

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  7. Doug
    I lost your phone number when I got my new phone. Either text it to me or call.
    Dick

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  8. Looks like your get lots of exercise out there. Love the pics! Seems you and Yuma are having a great time! Not anonymous anymore:)

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    1. Well, hello Steve. We are getting a lot of exercise. Lost all the extra weight I had from eating Dolly's cooking. Never get fat on my cooking, that's for sure.

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  9. Looks like your get lots of exercise out there. Love the pics! Seems you and Yuma are having a great time! Not anonymous anymore:)

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  10. We saw a huge split rock some;ar to that the other day, think we were on our way back from Julian.

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    1. They do seem to be common. Probably from freezing water in the cracks, I'm thinking.

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