Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Stone snake on Coyote Mountain

 Slept well last night.  Yuma wanted outside around 2:30 and when I opened the door, he raced down the steps pulling the leash out of my hand and off he went.  I'm guessing he caught my friend the Kit fox at the food dish, because I never saw anything.

Up at 8:30 and it was already quite warm and sunny with no wind at all.  Dolly texted me she was slowly digging the truck out of its covered parking spot.  Unfortunately, no sides so the wind blew snow all around the truck blocking it in.  Felt bad for her πŸ˜€

We slowly had our breakfast in the warm sun and it was about 11:30 when we decided to head for Coyote Mountain in search of the Stone Snake.  The powered gliders were out and about.


Santa Rosa Mountains to the north.

Coyote Mountain dead ahead.

Clark Dry Lake at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

See the Jeep back there?


Every time I search for the snake I have a hard time finding it.  It's in one of the valleys but I always seem to miss it.

Not down there πŸ˜•
Peg Leg campground down below.
We walked by it by a hundred yards and when we looked back there it was. 








Yuma looking down on the snake.
Time to head back down.  Very hot and we didn't bring any water with us.
Decided to take a ravine back down.
Yuma was waiting for me to slowly make my way down through the rocks and when I caught up with him was when it happened!  I was startled and tried to bring my camera up and lost my balance and fell into the rocks.

Banged up my elbows and hands and pushed my sunglasses into my cheek.  Luckily, nothing was broken so I quickly got back up and focused my camera and fired. πŸ˜„  

Yuma had accidently flushed this huge Great Horned Owl out of the rocks and it had crossed the ravine to watch me stumble around.😑 It had such a large wing span, I didn't know what it was.


Enough drama for one day.  We headed home and arrived around 3 o'clock and called it a day.  Rested outside and enjoyed the nice afternoon in the sun.
Nick enjoying life on the edge. 😨

Had cheeseburgers and chips for dinner and watched some more of the Olympics as I worked on my post.  Time now for dessert and bed.

Thanks for stopping by.

15 comments:

  1. Glad your OK after your fall! Very cool to see that owl! Good work finding the stone snake. Looks like you guys have a pretty nice spot on the ridge there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Didn't even break my sunglasses. Wore me out this time searching. We do have a nice place on the ridge.

      Delete
  2. A hammock ... I love it!!!! Those rock creations are awesome. Someone spent some time up there. VERY cool owl ... those guys are rare to see. Hope you're not too banged up!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Got to be comfortable. I'm glad no one desrtroys them. Better an owl than a rattlesnake for sure and I'm glad he didn't fly too far. Hard to see it blends so well.

      Delete
  3. Nick does like living on the edge! Reminds me of our grandson Adam. Nice you found the stone snake and all those other creatures. Great pic of the owl!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. The owl was certainly an unexpected plus but a little hard on my body.

      Delete
  4. Finding the Great Snake is part of the fun. Finding a great horned owl is even more impressive! Collect some stones so you and Nick can add him to the critters.
    Glad you're ok and managed to take his picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True. Always like the hunt. I think it moves around πŸ˜ƒ. Glad the owl didn't go too far.

      Delete
  5. It's great to see the stone snake again and I noticed a few other rock formations that I hadn't seen before. I too took a nasty unexpected tumble years ago in roughly the same area you did. My main concern when I fell was my camera but it was okay and I was too. I sure wish I was out there walking around with you guys.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wish you were too. I was protecting my camera too. The cuts were on the back of my hands because I wouldn't let go πŸ˜„. Getting too old to fall on these sharp rocks. Really had a hard time finding the valley this year. Walked right by it.

      Delete
  6. I actually grimaced when I read that you slipped. There is nothing out there that says "Soft Landing". Glad to hear you are ok.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right Jim, all sharp rocks. I was happy to just come out with superficial cuts and bruises. Got good pictures too 😁

      Delete
  7. I'm glad you're okay after your tumble. Great pictures of the Great Horned Owl. I wonder who was more startled? Love the rock snake and other formations. I'm glad you were able to find it. Now that it's hot there, you boys better bring water with you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You're right about the water. That may have caused my weakness today. That owl was very hard to see it blended so well with the rocks. Had a hard time finding that darn snake🧐

    ReplyDelete
  9. Glad you were able to find the Snake. We've missed it each time we went looking.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete