What an unexpectedly wonderful adventure we went on today! This morning we decided to get out and head back to the Cedar Canyon Wildlife Management Area to explore a little bit more. Hoping to see the bighorn sheep again, we pack a couple pairs of binoculars, some snacks, and water and headed out.
It was a quick drive to the parking area. Our car was the only one in the lot. I grabbed my pack and we set off down the road.
Just like our last visit the scenery was striking, with a brilliant blue sky.
We wound our way through grassland, interspersed with yuccas and ponderosa pines.
After crossing a dry stream bed, we came out to a prairie area with a few boulders scattered just along the road. Of course Sierra had to climb one of them!
Climbing done, we had to hustle to catch up to Noelle.
After crossing the second dry stream bed, we came to another meadow area where Noelle spotted a group of four bighorn sheep. We watched them for a bit through our binoculars
and I used the binos as a zoom lens to get a half decent photo.
As we took turns looking at the bighorns through the binoculars, I noticed what appeared to be a trail leading up the a ridge just to our west. We decided to head over to that trail, crossing over a dam. On the other side of the dam was the rib cage of an animal, possibly a bighorn.
After observing the bones, we ascended towards the trail.
The trail turned out to have a semi-maintained feel to it. In areas it seemed more distinct than some of the trails in the nearby Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area. It traversed a mixture of open areas and ponderosa pine woods.
There were some impressive views off to the east side of the trail.
By the time we were 2/3 of the way up the ridge we were pretty hungry, so we decided to stop at a particularly scenic are for a snack.
After about 15 minutes, we continued ascending the ridge. There were scattered clumps of delicate-looking phlox in bloom.
Soon enough we made it to the top of the ridge and some amazing views.
I noticed an exposed rock overlook and we all agreed to head over to it to have a look around.
It offered some of the best views yet!
After a few minutes admiring the views, it was time to turn around and retrace our steps back to the car.
Though Sierra was pretty tired by the time we were back to the road, it was a great day out in the fresh, spring air. Without any other visitors to be seen, it was easy to social distance also.
No comments:
Post a Comment