This is the second picture I took with my new phone. The first one was of my lap.
There is this shot. It's a little late since it was taken in March I think. But I liked it. The last snow of the season. About three days later it was all gone. The trail will wrap around the back side of this ridge when it is constructed next spring. Those Humboldt's over in Pershing County, and the Humboldt River Valley show up nicely.
It must be a sign of the times.
end-of-scenic-route reminded me of this shot.
One thing you might want with you up on the mountain is a good set of body armor. A little thicker than this sign. A helmet might be a good idea as well.
The view down the street this afternoon.
We've been having some strong wind storms. This afternoon, about sundown, the wind was taking the dust northeast. The wind blows huge amounts of soil, very fine dust mostly, into the air, and then carries it away in huge choking clouds.
The lands producing most of this dust are the vast acres burned by wildfire. The oceans of sage and clump grass having been burning away over these lands in what has become a annual ritual. The burned lands may never recover. There are now invasive species of grass weed that are propagating so quickly that the same lands can burn year after year. Mostly cheatgrass. There are a lot of different strategies, and tactics, much discussion, and some execution, on how to best address this problem.
I don't think there is a local solution. It appears to me that a different climate, one that provided more rain and snowfall, might be required. That may not come anytime soon.....
I wonder if 500 years from now this area will be the north reaches of the Mojave Desert?
We've just gotten the resources together to build a trail from Winnemucca to the top of Winnemucca Mountain.
A single track bike trail, winding around the mountain for up to eleven miles.
The concept is to keep the overall grade to the top at about 6%, so you won't have to be a mountain goat to ride all the way to the top. Or, you could have somebody drive you up to the top, and drop you off. Then ride downhill, or coast, all the way to town.
The entire length is to be new single track construction, likely with the use of some existing single track game trails, None of the route is to be on two track jeep roads. The trail is intended for the use of hikers, bicyclists, and horseback riders. It would be nice if we could find a few water seeps, so that a drink might be had along the way.
Now that the funds are secure, or we hope nearly so, the next steps are the layout and design, and of course, a mountain of paper processed to make sure everyone's interests are addressed, and to ensure the agencies are all lined up, with the proper authority identified, so they can give each other permission.
There is still much work to do, and many questions to be answered, but the funding carries with it a certain kind of inertia that should help move the project along.
One thing we know, there is not much shade to get under anywhere on the mountain.
So I'm trying a new contest, to see if anyone is listening out there. Do you know where this is? Take a guess, and leave it in the comments. Second question: What state is this?
.................
I found this in the papers the other day, and thought you photographers might find it interesting:
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
July 10, 2007,
By Errol Morris
From the New York Times Opinion Blog
Zoom - A Filmaker Under Covers the Hidden Truth of Photo's
Pictures are supposed to be worth a thousand words. But a picture unaccompanied by words may not mean anything at all. Do pictures provide evidence? And if so, evidence of what? And, of course, the underlying question: do they tell the truth?
I have beliefs about the photographs I see. Often – when they appear in books or newspapers – there are captions below them, or they are embedded in explanatory text. And even where there are no explicit captions on the page, there are captions in my mind. What I think I’m looking at. What I think the photograph is about......... more >
All the news here is about the fire. It started like this last Thursday afternoon, the day after the Fourth of July. The first edges of the weather front that caused all the trouble was just starting arrive. The leading edges carried enought moisture to cause these squalls. This is looking southwest, down the Humboldt River Valley, toward Lovelock and the Humboldt Sinks. The rain was falling out of these clouds but you can see it vaporizing just under the clouds. Virga
Then came the real thunderstorms on Friday night, still little or mostly no rain, but this time with lightning. By Saturday night it was fire and brimstone all around. I didn't get a decent photo of the fires, but this will give you some idea. This was about 10:30 Saturday night after the fire had burned all the way from Thomas Canyon, past Water Canyon and on towards the east. This is the edge that looked to be headed for the Kluncy Canyon part of town.
Last night, just before sunset, this is what the after effects look like.
This is a closer look at the Grass Valley Area. It is truly amazing that no homes were lost in the fire.
Water Canyon:
There is lots of discussion around town about the tactics used to fight the fire.
From what I hear, the local fire fighters, the Winnemucca Boys, were responsible for holding the lines Saturday night, and saved many, many homes from destruction.
Local folks are not at all pleased with the work of the BLM, especially the experts that arrived late on the scene, took control, and just let it burn. That's what I hear. I was trying to stay out of the way, so I don't have any first hand knowledge of the situation. The people that live up in the Water Canyon Estates have lots to say.
Some other folks came up on the mountain for a look while I was there. It had cooled down to 97F by this afternoon.
I've got a rocket
in my pocket,
I cannot stop to play.
Away it goes !
I've burnt my toes.
It's Independence Day !
Yesterday, July 4th, it was 103 F in these parts. Today at 5:00 PM it was up to 105 F. Seemed like ideal conditions for a short expedition. My friend Mike went along for the trip. Surprised me a bit, cause it was a real spontaneous plan.
These shots are taken from Winnemucca Mountain. It was very quiet up there today. We never made it to the top, but stopped off along the western flank, about half way up.
The vehicle in the image above is coming in from the Black Rock Desert, on Jungo Road. You can see the effects of a recent fire in the middle of the photo. 
The Jackson Mountains this evening.
It seems like we just did this last year. The wheels keep on turning.
Inspired by the great photos I saw this weekend at Shooting the West, I went up the slope of the Sonoma Range and took this picture across the Humboldt Valley. Winnemucca Mountain just after sun up.
A series of storms is blowing in over the Sierra range and we have a chance for some snow showers or rain for the next week or so. As these big storms approach, the leading edges are ripped apart by the Sierras, and the skies around here are full of dark fragments and bright sunshine.
This afternoon the light was just brilliant, so I took a little trip up to Water Canyon and got this nice shot of the city and Winnemucca Mountain.
Tonight it will be snowing.
Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain
Lo Po (701-762)
The birds have vanished down the sky.
Now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Thanksgiving morning, not long after getting up, I was feeling, well, melancholy would be the best word I know of for describing the feeling. So I got my camera and set out with the intention of capturing that feeling in an image. I drove up to the top of Mount Muccabull, and found the world to be gloriously beautiful, with the new fallen snow, the puffy clouds hanging off the tops of all the mountain ranges in sight, and the sky a bright clear blue. This wasn't helping at all with my project, so I thought I might come back into town and find the shot I was seeking.
The picture above was taken on the return, from very near the town dump, and gives a nice view of the Little Humboldt Valley. You can just make out a homestead in the lower middle field of winter dried sagebrush. It also provides some much needed scale to the photo.
To make a long story short, I failed in my original mission, but felt much better having spent a couple of hours outdoors taking in the cold air, light, and space.
I took several dozen shots, and the most interesting one, to me, was this one.
Yield and overcome.
Yield and Overcome
Winnemucca Mountain - Feb 2006
Be Really whole,
And All things will come to you.
- Lao Tsu - Tao te ching
Reality, the thing I like about it is you to to create it yourself. And the really amazing thing is that everbody else gets to do it too, and at the same time!
It's really fun.
Since you get to create your own reality, you can create your own future.
But, when you begin to plan your alternate futures, it begins, the constant discernment and discrimination. The dual nature of existence indicates that this is exactly the point at which you lose your awareness of reality.
So, there you go, you get to create your own reality, but it doesn't really exist.
Spring
-Bah Humbug- Bleak and Gray
This has been the view out the front window. You'll see it is so soggy and wet that the Big "M" up on the hill, the one that stands prowdly for Muccabull Springs, has slid down the hill and turned itself over into a W. It's green and looks like the mold has begun to take over.
The sun goes down another day in the Great Basin. The Big Empty. Tonight is nearly a full moon, so sundown and moonrise happen together.
