Thursday, February 26, 2015

Hiking Coyote Mountain

Thursday, February 26, 2015

This morning, I was looking out my door at Coyote Mountain overlooking Clark Dry Lake bed to the northwest and said to myself, “It would be great to climb up to the top one of those peaks.”  I know in another year, it will probably not be feasible.  If I’m ever going to do it, today is it.

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At about 10:30 am after breakfast, Yuma and I jumped in the jeep to see how close we could get before starting our hike.  It’s only a couple miles to the base.  Got as close as we could and parked.  Still have a ways to hike just to start our climb.

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Found a ravine going up the mountainside, so decided to use it as our trail.

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Wasn’t long before we could see a large section of the lake bed below us.

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The mountain looks so easy to climb from the bottom but now that we are up here, I see cliffs and boulders and danger everywhere I walk.  It is warm enough for the rattlesnakes to be out.  Hope all goes well.

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This is getting tough.

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Finally, something moved besides the bushes and rocks under my feet.  A lizard. 

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This lizard sure does blend in with the rocks.  Looks to be about 7 inches long with a very thin tail and flat body.  Look at those feet.  He can cling to anything.

Looked him up on the Internet and it is a Rock Lizard.

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We are nearing the top now.  We can walk much easier.  Not so straight up anymore.

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We are at the top of the mountain peak, finally.  There are taller ones to the north, but ravines prevent us from going that way any further.

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Yuma can’t believe we climb this high.

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I placed a red X to the left of my motorhome in the desert below.

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Based on this 300mm zoom of my motorhome as it relates to the trailer below it, I placed a red X on the photo of where I think we were.  It is the same photo as the one at the top of the blog.

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Yuma and I have sore feet and we are tired.  I think we will sleep soundly tonight.

See you later.

15 comments:

  1. Coyote Mountain turned out to be worth the trip-sore feet and all. The red x looked really far away from the top of the mountain. The next photo of the motor home, was that the jeep in the foreground? The lizard you saw, was that what we used to call "horned toads"? Loved all the pictures!

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    1. Thank you Dolly. Not the jeep. That is a trailer. Not a horned toad. Just a rock lizard. You are right. There are higher peaks, but there are large ravines, so once I started in a ravine, I could only go as high as the peak the ravine was coming from. Can't just easily walk along the top. Lots of ups and downs.

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  2. Good for you for getting to the top Doug! You impress me with your hiking ability! Glad you didn't run into any rattlesnakes. I love the picture of you and him....I'm excited to meet Yuma and I miss you. You're probably not, but I look forward to your return to the Midwest! Your future grandson is getting big , but growing right on track. He'll be so happy to meet you! Keep being safe out there! I enjoy reading about what you're doing every day. :)

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    1. Thank you Sarah. It is nice out here with plenty to keep me and Yuma busy. Sorry you are having such a cold winter. Yuma and Bonsey are going to have a great time together when they meet.

      I am glad everything is on schedule with the baby. Wouldn't want to miss his grand entrance into this world. You take care and watch those slippery driveways.

      Glad you're keeping up with my blog.

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  3. Impressive Doug & Yuma....and I like your rule for trails...."No Yuma....No Doug "

    Not sure what food Yuma eats, but several warnings about Beneful causing problems.

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    1. Thanks Kelly. My toes hurt from pushing against my boots going downhill. Other than that it wasn't bad. Was a lot of fun and some beautiful scenery.

      Yep. Yuma and I are a team.

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    2. I will look up the warnings on Beneful. I feed Yuma the original Beneful. Thanks for the heads up.

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  4. We've seen Lizards out there before but I don't think we've seen one that big. I've often looked at those higher levels on Coyote Mountain thinking the same as you but we've never made it any higher than the great stone snake area except for Alcoholic Pass on the west side. Always great sweeping views from Coyote Mountain. Desert Lilies should be out by now or pretty soon & they should be blooming around where your camped.

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    1. The lilies are blooming. Need to get one in my blog. They are beautiful. After I got back and looked up the mountain on the Internet, I found there is a trail to the top. Oh well. The ravine I took was remote and beautiful and I didn't have to worry about running into anybody, that is for sure.

      I was hoping to run onto some animals, but we were probably making too much noise and scared them off.

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  5. Congratulations !! That was quite a hike and a strenuous climb. I tried to zoom in on your shoes and it looks like you don't wear boots ? Nice that Yuma can enjoy these great adventures with you !

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    1. Thank you Moonfly. I think poor Yuma's paws were sore from our hike. The rocks were quite sharp. I am so glad to have him on my hikes. He is good company and doesn't complain.

      I wear an ankle high hiking tennis shoe. They are light and do well on rocks.

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  6. Hi Doug & Yuma, we're headed that way today. How are the crowds? Is there plenty of room for one more. Thanks. Becki & J.D.

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    1. Hi John and Becki. Not too bad for crowds but the wind is getting bad. I guess you know that now since you are probably here by now unless the winds kept you away.

      I am heading for Slab City in the morning if I can get out, so enjoy your stay here.

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  7. Whew.. that was quite a climb... but wowzers what a view!!!

    Kareninthewoods and Steveio
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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  8. Hi Karen. Glad to hear from you. You and Steve had your battles this past week. Hopefully, they are behind you now. Yes, the hike wore us down but was worth the view. Today was a quiet one with no hikes involved. The wind here is bad and helps to keep me down and resting.

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