Scott, Susan and Joe look back as we head off down the road
that is the wilderness boundary. The wilderness area is to the left.
Once off the road, our way took us through this high meadow.
Steerhead Lilies abounded here.
Susan, Joe and Scott approach the edge of the world.
Much of the wilderness area is a gently sloping basalt plate.
Here at "the edge of the world" the plate abruptly breaks off.
Here is what we could see from the edge of the world.
Click on the photo to see a very large version in a new window,
then just close the window to return to this page.
White Butte on the left, a cairn (with Scott approaching) on the right.
We set up camp at North Point, along the rim.
A tiny bit of sunset can be seen through the clouds from the door of our tent.
The next morning we set out on a day hike and quickly encountered
lots and lots of blowdown.
Did I mention there was lots of blowdown? (click on the image for a larger
version)
Susan poses amid the mountain mahogany.
Joe and Scott on some nice rocks.
We thought this was witch's butter (Tremella mesenterica), but in 2013
someone "romping on the internet" noticed this picture and let us
know it is actually
something much less common: "Golden Jelly Cone," or Guepiniopsis
alpina.
(Amazing! We felt like we NEVER see the less common thing!)
Ellen uses a log as an elevated highway over fallen trees.
Larch just leafing out.
Heading down in search of Bridge Spring.
We didn't find the spring (until July), but we found a sluice. Thinking it
might have been a trail at one time, we followed it back to the source...
...which turned out to be miles away at Bridge Creek. If you look closely
you can see the diversion on the left side of the creek.
Despite the GPS, we were a bit mistaken about where we were.
We crossed the creek and climbed up this rockfall before
realizing we should have stayed on the other side.
When we finally crossed the creek again, we had to climb a rockfall
on the other side, too. Rough going!
We reached a real trail, and along it was a seep, which fostered
this incredible emerald green moss. (Not so green when we
returned in July, however.)
These are nice rocks. The trail circles around and
approaches them on the other side.
Corn lilies - we saw lots of them. By July a few would actually be blooming.
In yet another high meadow, heading back toward camp, we encountered fog.
Shooting Stars.
Back at camp, we took this panorama of the view with clouds. Click on the
photo for a larger view.
Close up of White Butte poking through the clouds.
The next morning the sun came out, and we finally saw the whole view. Click
for a larger look.
White Butte in the sunshine.
Gopher tracks.
At first we thought this might be some kind of giant ant, but after I posted
this as a query here, I received e-mails from folks who idenitified it as
a Blister Beetle of the Meloe genus. Many thanks to those who took the time
to let me know!. Here's a good Wikipedia
article (and here's a plug to support Wikipedia while you're
at it!). If you have plenty of bandwidth, download a short movie
of this huge insect crawling over Susan's gloved hand. The movie is about
3 MB. Susan was lucky to be gloved, as it turns out. The Blister Beetle is
so called because it exudes an oil that can cause blistering of the skin and
painful swelling!
All of us by the cairn. (Who's got the camera?!)
Bluebells
Harebells
Looking back to North Point from the highest point.
Trekking across the highest point on the rim.
A close-up of "desert pavement" under our feet.
Later, on the forest road below the rim, looking up
800 feet to where we camped.
Watch for falling rocks! This one needed to be moved before we could proceed.
