 At the foot of Thousand Foot Gorge, Sheldon National Wildlife Reguge The US NWR system was officially established in 1903 by president Teddy Roosevelt, although the history of "official" wildlife habitat restoration goes back further, finding its genesis perhaps in the 1864 act of Congress that transferred Yosemite Valley to the state of California with the stipulation that its wildlife and flora must be protected. The NWR System has more than 560 refuges, 38 wetland management districts, and other protected areas that protect 150 million acres of land and water from the Caribbean to the far reaches of the Pacific. Habitat is protected for over 700 species of birds, 220 species of mammals, 250 reptile and amphibian species, and more than 1,000 species of fish. More than 380 threatened or endangered plants or animals are protected on wildlife refuges. Each year, millions of migrating birds use refuges as as resting and recharging "fueling stations" while they fly thousands of miles between their summer and winter homes. There is at least one NWR in every state and territory and within an hour’s drive of most major metropolitan areas. Author Rachel Carson, who worked as the chief editor for the USFWS from 1939 to 1952, wrote about the refuge system: Wild creatures, like men, must have a place to live. As civilization creates cities, builds highways, and drains marshes, it takes away, little by little, the land that is suitable for wildlife. And as their space for living dwindles, the wildlife populations themselves decline. Refuges resist this trend by saving some areas from encroachment, and by preserving in them, or restoring where necessary, the conditions that wild things need in order to live.
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 The sky narrows to a ribbon as we enter the canyon. We have walked up from the eastern edge of the canyon, out in the Mud Meadows southeast of Soldier Meadows, where we have spent the morning volunteering to restore habitat for the desert dace. The work finished for the day, we leave the group to explore into Fly Canyon. The canyon was created when a natural dam holding back High Rock Lake gave way and unleashed a torrent of water that carved the steep walls and drilled holes, known as "potholes," in the canyon bottom. Read more about this at the Friends of the Black Rock/High Rock geology page. From the distance, the canyon is unassuming, but as we near it reveals itself, a massive slice through a high ridge. We scramble down and the narrow steep walls envelop us. Twisted rock forms abound while puffy high desert clouds cross the ribbon of sky. We enter farther and the canyon deepens. We start to have to work our way around potholes, smooth and deep pools of unmoving water. Finally we are turned back by a rickety ladder climbing from one level to another and the lateness of the day. We'll be back Fly Canyon! It is easily accessed from roads heading east from the main Soldier Meadows road. We camped at the Soldier Meadows Hot Springs, which had led to a long soak and many encounters with red spider mites, which left this writer pocked for a couple of weeks after our excursion, so be careful.  Taking time to find a spot that has an immense and lonely view of this pale blue dot of ours. Few places in the contiguous U.S. has such opportunities for solitude and remote expanses as the Basin and Range region. 
Sunset over the playa
For quite some time I had been yearning, aching really, to camp out in the solitude of the Black Rock Desert on a cold, winter night--preferably on the playa. I love the feeling of a freezing cold desert night and the luxury of climbing into a nice, warm sleeping bag to melt the cold away. Breathing in the crisp, clean, crystalline air.
The weekend of January 20th was time to feed my desire. We headed up to the desert on Saturday afternoon and we just beat the setting sun to our camp spot on the western edge of the playa. The desert was just as I prefer it, not a soul in sight, other than some small birds flitting about in the greasewoods on the margin of our camp.
The playa was mostly dry, cracked in it's usual branching, quilted pattern. It felt so good to be in the presence of this expansive, dry lake bed all alone. The solitude was immense. We pulled out our chairs and just sat, soaking in the vast scenery and the deep silence that surrounded us. As the sun started to sink low in the western sky, we went for a walk along the dunes on the periphery. We then headed toward the center of the playa where we enjoyed and played on the smooth, flat surface which was renewed by last years lake. Black Rock Desert Slideshow:
The sun soon hit the ridge of the Granite Mountains which begun the evening light show. Starting with the golden evening light on the desert floor. The eastern sky then turned to a deep rich blue, while the western sky shown bright with the flaming colors of the setting sun. The northeastern sky then faded into lavender, wild rose, pink and salmon hues The last of the sunlight creeped up along the hill and mountain sides to our east. creating a violet alpenglow which slowly faded into gray, then night was upon us.
It was supposed to be a stormy night, but the skies opened up and gave us an amazing star show. Stargazing in winter is wonderful due to sky transparency, which is best during the winter months because cold air has less capacity to hold moisture, With less moisture, the air of course is drier, making it much clearer than in summer months when the sky appears hazier due to a higher moisture content--Tips to winter stargazing We enjoyed the stars, built a fire, savored some hot drinks, then climbed into our cozy, warm sleeping bags and relished the night! Goodnight!
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 I love rabbitbrush (Ericameria spp.) I am always taking photos of them because I love their late blooming bright yellow flowers. I also love the way they look in late fall and winter when their blooms are fading and they are seeding. I find them most difficult to photograph in spring and early summer, when all the other wildflowers are going crazy. I try to take at least one good photo of rabbitbrush each month of the year, but as you'll see below, in spring and early summer it's difficult. The photos below are thumbnails, if you click on one photo it will open up the gallery and from there you can scroll through the photos at a larger size. Learn more about rabbitbrush here: https://www.basinandrange.org/basin-and-range-blog/rubber-rabbitbrush Slide Show of more Rabbitbrush Upper Soldier Creek, Ruby Mountains, Nevada This is the Basin and Range Project blog’s 1000th post! In order to celebrate this occasion we’ve started putting together a (very long!) list of some of our favorite places around the region. While we’ve whittled it down to 10 for this post, this is not a top 10 list, nor is it ordered in any real way, it is just some places that we love among the many many places there are to love in the Basin and Range.  1. Thousand Creek Gorge, Nevada At the northeastern edge of the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge south of Highway 140, Thousand Creek Gorge had to be the first place to mention when celebrating our 1000th post!  2. Wet Beaver Creek, Arizona This little oasis of a camping spot was such a wonderful relief on our Arizona bike tour that we stayed an extra rest day and enjoyed lounging along the creek shade, watching schools of fish in the crystal clear water, and just plain lazing about before hitting the bikes again to turn west toward Prescott. 3. Kirch State Wildlife Management Area, Nevada The highlight of these wetlands and reservoirs for us, as bike tourers, was Hot Creek, a warm (not really hot), crystal clear flowing stream. The areas many lakes/reservoirs are also popular with anglers and birdwatchers. We spent a day here on our Eastern Nevada bike tour and then, before heading east into the South Egan Mountains, had one last dip before getting back on our bikes. 4. Cathedral Gorge, Nevada We stumbled across this little gem of a state park when we were moving all the way across the country. Wandering in among its formations is an ethereal experience. The formations are caused by erosion of soft bentonite clay. 5. King Lear Peak, Nevada This desert peak is a true landmark, visible from hundreds of square miles around and with a very distinctive pyramidal silhouette. With amazing rock gardens and spring wildflowers, it was an amazing climb from the eastern side. It is possible to climb from both sides, but this is a big desert peak, so do your research before climbing!  6. Soldier Creek, Nevada In the northern Ruby Mountains, this creek and its headwater lakes are a spectacular and less well known visit in these popular mountains.  7. Warner Mountains, California From the crest of the Warners looking west one is standing literally on the edge of the Great Basin and the Basin and Range.  8. Cave Lake, Nevada This state park on a reservoir has great access to the Egan Mountains, the Schell Mountains, Great Basin National Park, and much more. Although a popular destination with locals, our campsite was private and beautiful. And the camp host boomed off a cannon on one of the nights we were there. 9. Dry Diamond Creek, New Mexico Was not dry when we arrived during our Gila Loop bicycle tour. Some passers by said that it usually was, so we basked in the water and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon watching thunderstorms to the south. 10. Reno area petroglyphs, Nevada The area around Reno boasts great petroglyphs sites: Lagomarsino, the largest petroglyph collection in Nevada, and to the north in the Pah Rah range. It is such a wonder to look at this ancient art, to appreciate its beauty and to wonder about its meaning. What are some of your favorite spots in the Basin and Range? Thanks so much for reading and here’s to another thousand awesome places (and blog posts!). Last week we focused on one of our favorite desert mountains, but it’s such a favorite it warrants another post. Being so remote, we were very surprised to find a “harri mutil” (literally “stone boy” at the top. These rock cairns were built by Basque sheepherders usually to mark range boundaries but also for a variety of other reasons, including just to pass the time. I’m not sure exactly if this rock cairn was a harri mutil, but it sure seemed like it.
While the peak hike was fairly short, about 3 hours total, we have also hiked quite a bit around the base of Elephant Mountain, and once tried for the summit from the much steeper eastern slope, but turned back due to the steepness and the lateness of the day. We had also hiked out to Crowbar Spring that day.  Hiking above the Truckee cliffs on the cliff edge of the Sierra looking at Verdi Peak with the corridor of I-80 between us.
 Happy National Public Lands Day and Nevada Public Lands Day! This past month has been a great way for us to reflect on the ways that we love public lands, the ways we use them, and what they mean to us. We’ve posted these images and some of the meaning behind them, but we’ve really only scratched the surface of the ways we use them. Please take a moment on this day celebrating our land to think of how you use public lands and what they mean to you.  Clouds Engulfing the Santa Rosa Mountains, where rural meets wild! Heading away from the comforts of the city and developed areas while heading to nature, and wild, remote, and untrammeled places, for me, is going home. September 30, 2017 is National Public Lands Day. To celebrate this we are going to share images of public lands from our archives every day in September. #welovepubliclands #publiclandsproud #publiclandowner #NPLD #basinandrangelandsofseptember |
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We love the Basin and Range region and work to promote appreciation and respect for the area. We encourage all users to learn about, play in and protect this amazing resource. We currently focus primarily on issues in the Nevada region of the Basin and Range, but are looking to expand soon.
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