Day 2 Butterfield Ranch RV Resort Julian, California
Today was a very good day! We started our off-road adventure at Indian Gorge. A gorge is a narrow valley between two mountains with steep rocky walls. I really wish I knew more about geology and rocks and rock formations. I’m sure to all of you our pictures must be starting to look all the same…mountains and rocks and cliffs and stuff, but to us everyday has been WOW, unique, eye opening, and beautiful! Tim is not tired of driving these demanding trails and we never tire of the scenery. We have been getting out of the Jeep to walk around more.
Lunch spot.
Today there were tons of painted ladies flitting everywhere. They really like the indigo bushes. When we passed by, the bushes would erupt with a flurry of the little butterflies.
We saw several hawks, a little lizard, a hummingbird, a larger black lizard, a packrat, and a half dozen black tailed jackrabbits leaping wildly across the trail. The jackrabbits camouflage themselves so well that even when you know they are right there, they are hard to spot.
We saw a fire scar…could have been from last night or centuries ago…or both!
We had been scanning the mountains for bighorn sheep. All at once Tim spotted a herd. We have these amazing new binoculars that Kyle got us as our Christmas gift. We were able to count 13 sheep. The Big Papa was laying up on a ridge. He had huge curly horns and a big head. Even his nostrils were huge! The ewes with heavy bellies, have shorter pointier horns that they will use to keep their lambs safe. Lambing begins at the end of February. The ewes were farthest away from us, higher on the mountainside. Large rams were closest to the road. We watched as 2 males confronted one another with the clashing of their horns. We could hear the clatter of horns from the road. We watched as the males used their horns to shear the spines off a cactus so that they could feed. We could hear the pounding on the cactus. We watched as the sheep scrambled up and down the rocky edge, sending rocks tumbling down. We were able to stay there quietly observing and taking pictures for more than 30 minutes. The sheep gradually gathered on the ridge near Big Papa and were hard to see. If we had come upon that same area when they were in their protective group, we might never have seen them.
This is a barrel cactus. The sheep were feeding on these.
We went to the Badlands Overlook where it was quite windy.
We went to Volcanic Hills where the mountains looked all together different with blackened shiny stone in great piles.
We saw lots of new wildflowers today.
This is an agave plant. These plants were invaluable to the Indian people that lived here. The plant was used as a food source and to make food sweeter. It was also used to make pulque, an alcoholic beverage. It is used today to make tequila. The plant is very tough and fibrous and the edges of the leaves are covered in very sharp spines. The Indian people used the fibers to make rope, thread, and cords and the sharp spikes were used as sewing needles. The plant gets one glorious bloom in its lifetime and then the plant dies. These blooms can be as high at 30 feet…but the ones we have seen are 8-12 feet tall.
We drove to 26 miles to the nearest town to fill the Jeep with gas. On our way we saw these wind turbines.
In the past week, our family has lost 2 wonderful women. This has been weighing on me. I have made the choice not to go and say goodbye and I have been feeling terribly torn. Today in the Indian Valley, I felt a sense of peace. I do believe that nature can be curative and healing. So, it was in this isolated, peaceful place that I said my goodbyes to these two very strong, remarkable, lovely people. I am keeping everyone close in my heart, my thoughts, and my prayers.
