Easter hike

I went for a hike yesterday afternoon. I came home to a wonderful Easter dinner and sat around visiting with family until bedtime, so I'm just now getting around to updating the blog.

The main reason I went was to look for some cryptobiotic soil. I found lots. In fact, as various articles on the web will tell you, it seems to cover 80% to 90% of the ground in the desert. When you read that it can take up to 500 years to recover from damage, it makes you want to quit hiking in the desert. I've always walked carefully, though. I don't dig my heels in or push off with my toes so that they dig a hole. I probably disturb the soil when I slip, especially if I fall, but I try not to do that. Anyway, I'm sure I do much much less damage than the horses out there. Everywhere I went, I was within sight of horse hoof prints that broke through the crust. I guess deer don't break through the crust very often. The only places I've noticed their prints is in the powdered dirt of a trail or the sand of a wash. It was interesting to see how much of that stuff there is, now that I'm aware of it.

I wandered around out there for 3 or 4 hours and saw lots of pretty stuff. Didn't get any spectacular pictures (even though I took 107). No, not all of them are of dirt.

It was a little breezy while I was out there. When I was about to drive out the gate, the wind started blowing hard. There was a lot of dust in the air. The sun was completely hidden by dust 10 or 15 minutes before sunset. The wind had stopped by this morning, but it looked like the dust was still hanging in the air.

cryptobiotic soil, etc.