Bill and Kit’s Excellent Adventure Chapter 25

The Bill and Kit Excellent Adventure Journal-Issue #25

March 14 through March 17, 2009 (part two):

Woke on day two with cold temperatures, 26 degrees outside and a balmy 37 degrees in. Cranked up the heater and invited Dewey and Bea in for coffee and breakfast. As the sun came over the hillside and flooded the canyon with warmth we ventured outside. Dewey and Bea went for a hike, Kathy settled down with a book and I took my bike down the road to explore.

Gee I wonder what this sign out here in the middle of nowhere means?

Oh.

This is open range land so cattle may be most anywhere, hence the cattleguards.

Ventured down this wash for a few miles.

There was a single track trail that paralleled the wash on and off but mostly I stayed in the wash which was kinda rough in places but I had a blast. Biking in the desert is very different than in heavily forested Maine. Stopped often to see if there were any artifacts hidden along the undercut banks scoured out by the monsoon floods. Nothing much of interest other than what might be a small chunk of turquoise embedded in a larger stone.

I did ponder the word “wash” while rolling along over the sand, pebbles, and stones and around the larger rocks. I bet the first person caught in a flash flood in one of these things felt as if he were in an industrial washing machine. He probably was spit out down river and exclaimed…..”Boy, I’ve been through the wash”. The early pioneers heard the poor soul’s words and hence forth called these large dry riverbeds “washes”….or is it washi?

Down the wash a bit I rolled alongside a fellow traveler…..not sure what made those tracks but we did hear some howling last night……however that might have been Dewey.

Back at camp we feasted on steak and all the fixins and once again sat around the campfire as the high desert chill began to set in.

The stars, with zero ambient light and unlimited visibility, were particularly bright. Everyone was able to spot numerous shooting stars…..well most everyone anyway. We also picked out an orbiting satellite that was being illuminated by the sun from below the horizon. Broke out my stargazer’s wheel and attempted to identify the various constellations……did ID a few, and we made up names for the rest…..most not suitable for print. Since Dewey served on a Polaris submarine I took his word where the star Polaris was located. Once again, a great evening.

On day three we decide to break camp. As nice as this spot was we wanted to explore Parker Canyon Lake so we headed south and set up in a nice tandem site overlooking the mountains.

Parker Canyon Lake

Following lunch we took the Lakeside Loop Path, a 5 ½ mile marked trail that circled Parker Lake. I didn’t get any pictures of Dewey and Bea as they were leading the way, a few hundred yards ahead…..as they wanted to hide in the bushes and make bear sounds to freak out the tourist.