A winner, almost

Somebody figured out what was in the contest photo of the previous blog. Unfortunately, he didn't send his entry until yesterday, which is after the deadline. Since he (Justin) is the only person that got even remotely close, I'll have to think of some sort of consolation prize to give him.

Oh, BTW, the answer is "snake track". The wet sand was fluffed up by an ATV, and when a snake crossed it, it left a trail. You can see the faint trail near the center of the picture, going from the lower right to the upper left. I don't know if that's the direction the snake was going, though.

Another contest!

Late today I saw something I have never seen before. I have never even heard anybody talk about seeing one of these. More about that later.

There were two general topics of conversation at work today. During the morning, it was the guy who apparently committed suicide by running across the freeway. He had to run back and forth several times before he succeeded. In the afternoon, people kept talking about how hot it was. It was only in the 90's. They've already forgotten what hot is. It was only about 90 while I was hiking. The gnats still weren't very bad, either.

I didn't want to do a lot of climbing today (my legs are sore from sweeping the driveway), so I decided to walk around Horseshoe Mountain and Spooky Hill. I forgot how many washes you have to go in and out of on that hike. Oh well, it was fun.

When I was almost back to the truck, I came across something that, as far as I know, is sort of unusual. The recent rain followed by an ATV spinning its tires created the perfect conditions for it. It's difficult to see, and almost invisible in the picture. I tried adjusting color and contrast to make it stand out better. Anyway, whoever can identify it wins a framed and autographed print of the picture of their choice (taken by me). Entries must be sent to my gmail address to count. Leaving a comment on this blog or my web album will result in an email being sent to my gmail address, so that will work. Contest ends at midnight (MST) Saturday, 5/31/2008. Oh, the contest photo is the last one in the web album for this blog. It's labeled "Contest photo".

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A new mystery plant

I went wandering around in a relatively flat area of Bulldog Canyon OHV area today. I saw, but did not get a picture of, a roadrunner, a deer, a cottontail, and a plump, brown jackrabbit (they are usually gray and ripped). I only saw one lizard today, too, which is strange this time of year. It ran across the road, holding its tail up high.

I crossed several small washes as I walked. Just about every one of them had horse prints in it. Horses cannot go anywhere in the desert without leaving a trail. I worry about the damage they are doing to the cryptobiotic soil. At least the riders seem to stay in the washes when they can. Anyway, I was wondering if deer ever dig up the soil when I ran across some deep deer prints in cryptobiotic soil. They don't usually do that, though. Their hooves dig in when they jump over something, but there are surprisingly few deer prints out there, considering how many deer there must be. I know there are a lot of them because there are places where they pass between mountains to get to water, and the ground is solid deer prints in those areas. Boy, that's a lot of yakking about one picture of a deer print.

I took a lot of pictures of one kind of plant. It's a very small plant that I have never noticed before. What is unusual about it is that it seems to be covered in something that looks like spider silk. Anybody that can identify it wins an autographed print of one of my pictures. Get busy, though, because you have to identify it before I do.

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