Arrival in Denver, Colorado

I made the drive yesterday from Pueblo to Denver.  The 2 hour northern drive was kept interesting by the strong winds from the west.

I believe this is the first time I have seen an interstate sport one of these signs for cyclists.

Also, on this interstate, I found these signs taunting my speed challenged bus. (also, it seems to be recipe for disaster when combined with previous picture)

The view of the mountain range as I drive into Colorado Springs.

  The drive was really great.  Ever since I have been in Colorado I have received an abundant amount of positive reaction about the bus.  At stop lights, people roll their window to tell me they like the bus, people honk and wave on the interstate, throw me the peace sign, or pump their arm out the window.
I love my bus.  It's thick steel frame, the galvanized sheet metal skin, high ground clearance and other tank like qualities make it the perfect go anywhere outdoor vehicle.   I can go places other commercial RV's wouldn't dare go.
I am now in Denver, at a friend's place, taking care of laundry and getting my first shower in three weeks.  My friend remarked that she didn't find my odor offensive.  That's because my natural man scent is one of life's great aromas like baking cookies, fresh cut grass, or the top of a newborn baby's head.
I am now going to look into where to focus my attention for temporary residency.  The top two contenders are Boulder or here in Denver.

Canon City, Colorado

I decided to visit Canon City before I turned my sights on heading north.  It is about 45 minutes (bus driving time) from Pueblo.  Once I arrived I went to the local BLM office (Bureau of Land Management) to find some information on interesting hiking areas that also allowed for dispersed camping.   The head biologist (who was called out when I mentioned I wanted to see the wildlife), was a 30 year veteran.  He seriously downplayed my concerns of having a negative altercation with a man eating beast (cougar or bear).   He even advised me that my original thoughts on obtaining a 'distressed small animal call' was a good idea.   He then told me my best bet was to go to Deer Haven, another 30 miles northwest.   This would be the best place since the roads there are the most practical for my travels at this time of the year.
He was mostly right.  The roads were paved except for the last two miles of gravel road.   It was uphill to me all the way, with some places so steep I was lucky to get to 30 mph on a 55 mph road.  I didn't really realize how uphill the trip in was until my return trip home and I had to ride the brakes almost the whole way back to Canon City.  It wasn't all steep but a bus gains pretty good momentum if you have miles and miles of descent. It was a fun drive though, seeing the snow covered range of the more western Rockies.

Anyhow, I get up to Deer Haven in the early afternoon.  Putting ranch in the name is obviously a prank pulled by the guys at BLM to fool the hopeful innocents like myself.

When I get off on the gravel road, I notice that there is snow and ice on the road.  At first I thought that's cool.   I haven't really driven the bus on ice before and wasn't real keen on trying it for the first time here.  But it seemed patchy and it was my only way up to the trail head where I would camp.  The first half mile was fine.  Then I came to a fairly serious incline with about 100 yds of straight ice road bending into a curve at the top.  I went gingerly up the hill not wanting to approach the icy curve too fast.  I was a smidgen too cautious because when I down shifted into my lowest gear, the bus came to a halt halfway up.  I tried to resume up the hill.  The dually tires started spinning.  It is really an unnerving, vehicles with 4 load bearing (official rear axle weight 13,000 lbs according to CAT scales) drive tires rarely spin out.   I hit the brakes and the bus begins to slide backwards a few feet.  Strangely, I could smell burning rubber from where the tires had been spinning (although when I walked it later there were no tire dips in the ice that I expected hot, spinning tires to leave).  I am checking the side view mirrors to see where the back of my bus is in relation to the road.  It was still good.  I then manage a backwards controlled coast/brake/slide back down to an earthen part of the road.  Shortly after, my air brake alarm started going off, signalling that I was dangerously low on air.  This happens from repeatedly tapping the brakes instead of a nice, smooth, continuous pressure being applied.  Fortunately I was just about to get all 6 tires down the hill to the dirt part of the road.   I set the emergency brake and walk up the road to see what I could do to get the bus up the road.  This is a very steep, very wet ice road.  Quickly, I discovered I could not even walk on the road, it was too slippery.  I had to examine the road from the side where the snow had a layer of ice over it but my weight allowed for my feet to break through to give me traction.   I went back and got my axe from my basement storage compartment.    I intended to bust all that ice out of the way.  That didn't happen.  This was thick ice, probably once snow, that had been driven on, melted slightly, then froze again in the high altitude freezing nights, repeatedly.  I decided to make strips (similar to rumble strips on the side of highway lanes that let you know if you start going off the road a little)  in each of the lanes my tires would be going up.  This should help give my tires some kind of traction.  Strategically I place about 8 of these strips in each lane.  For good measure, I dug up some gravel from other exposed sections of road and sprinkled it over the ice on about 25 yds of the steepest part and on the curve.  I then get back on the bus, back it up another 50 yds because I want to get a running start up this hill and make sure I keep moving the whole time, hoping my steering tires hold true at the curve.
In a nutshell, it works.  I had spent 30 minutes swinging an axe onto bone jarring frozen ice and ground, in high altitude, slip sliding my way up and down the road fetching gravel and dirt, and the gambit paid off.

This is video immediately after making it up the icy mountain road.  I was still a little amped up from making it up to the camp area.  It is difficult to detect the degree of slope, but it is steep.  Also at the top there was less snow and more road.

After the elation of conquering the road passed, I went about exploring the area.  I saw tons of tracks but not a single animal.  On the advice of the expert at BLM, I had purchased the 'distressed animal' call  designed to bring predators running (Coyotes, Fox, Bobcat, Mountain Lion).  Upon reflection of my current isolation situation and lack of a firearm, I thought it best not to be traipsing through the wilderness sounding like a hurt bunny.  I did use the call when I returned to the bus, but only while sitting in the driver's seat and sticking the call out the side window.  I had no luck with that.

Here are a couple of pics from the hike.

Baby cat paw prints (even smaller than my cat's)

I am sure in the spring and summer this area is hopping with wildlife.  I do appreciate Nala keeping an eye out.  That perked ear look says 'Is that a cougar sneaking up you?'  She's kids like that.

This is Pike's Peak.  A fourteen'er (14,000 ft or higher mountain).  The mountain is about 40 miles away from me.  Notice the peak is literally in the clouds.

My camp was only at about 10,000 feet.  The high altitude still affects things.  I had forgotten about how drastically.  My propane heater constantly went out and finally just stopped starting altogether (the owner's manual says that it is common in high altitude).  My generator took a little extra coaxing and carb adjustment.  Some vehicles may even experience vapor lock, where the engine stops working temporarily because of the uneven air pressure between fuel tanks and outside air.   Every bottle I opened let out a small whoosh of air.  And my sealed bagged goods looked like the photo below.  Very taunt.

Overall, it was a good experience in Rocky mountain camping.  I stayed the one night and left the next day once it had warmed up above freezing.  This trip served as a reminder that high altitude camping has it's own quirks to overcome.   

I am now back safely in Pueblo.  I will be heading up north in the next few days.  

Leaving Comanche, Heading to Pueblo

Last Saturday I left Comanche National Grasslands.  The night before I spent a good deal of time for one last chance to see a bobcat.  With my limited (read: virtually nonexistent) hunting skills, I tried to determine the best location to spot a bobcat.  My first attempt was at sunset.  I found a comfortable rock that would allow me to sit still for a long period of time, while also covering my silhouette.  I placed the sun behind me so that any bobcat in front of me would have a tougher time seeing me.  I couldn't do much with the wind, but at least it was blowing from my right to my left, not from behind me towards my viewing area.  

I waited perched like this for over an hour without any trace of a cat.

Then that night, because the moon was so full, I decided to sit in the driver's seat of the bus and watch.  I sat very still for two hours, which was surprisingly difficult to do.  I only shifted my eyes to scan in front of me.  I believe I did see eyes reflecting back at me (because the moon was behind me) on two different occasions, but I can't be for sure.  It could have been my mind playing tricks on me for being so focused.  I saw nothing.  

(I believe this is a good time to point out that some of my thinking may have been flawed.  While spotting the bobcat that day was very fortunate, I took several big risks I wasn't even aware of.  They all revolve around the fact that I was in cat country.  I was under the mistaken impression that if there were a danger of a really big cat that it would have been posted.  I only recently found out that there are only warnings posted when a cat has killed someone, injured someone or acted aggressively towards people or pets.  Mountain lions are a very big risk in this type of terrain.  And while many times they will run off just as the bobcat did, they also will stalk and attack.  There is a reason there is no overnight camping in Pick Wire canyon, too many night predators are out.  Hiking alone, even during the day, is bad news.  Since 1990, all mountain lion fatalities in California involved a solo hiker, biker or jogger.  Groups are safer.  Bringing my dog is also a bad idea, I learned.  She resembles the mountain lion's natural prey and could attract an otherwise benign lion.  And finally, me nosing around in bobcat den's, could have caused me to stumble right into trouble with the bigger Mountain Lion.   I feel that I need to address this issue in case someone reads my blog and says that looks like something cool to do.  And if you need more info on Mountain Lions check out this site: http://www.cougarinfo.org  The confirmed reports 2001-2010 are a particularly sobering read.)

The next day, I pack everything up and head to La Junta.  The roads are pretty well maintained, with a couple of stretches that have washboard grooves.  Those sections give my bus some not so good vibrations.  There are a handful of cattle grates to cross on the way back to the main road.  

If you decide to make the visit this incredible area, don't change your oil or your air filters before coming.  Wait until after your visit to do those things.  The dust is all encompassing here.  Inside and out.  

Here is a view from my side view mirror as I was leaving.

I took the bus to a self service car wash and although it came off easily my relatively new air filters were covered in tan dirt.  They had remained a nice off white along my cross country trip until I hit the dust bowl.  I would still visit there again in a heartbeat.  

Aaah, the sweet sight of a paved road...

So after a couple of days in La Junta, I headed off to Pueblo.  Which is where I am posting from right now in the Walmart parking lot.  I have a little more planning to do.  I may bolt over to Canon City, 30 minutes due west of Pueblo, to camp, see the sights and see if the Pueblo area has any interesting employment opportunities.  

Petroglyphs - Art and Science meet at Withers Canyon

On my last full day, I decided to try a new tactic to find the elusive bobcat.  I went to the canyon walls and hiked down a little ways so that I could look back up on the walls.  This gave me the advantage of searching the nooks and crannies for signs of bobcats.
I found numerous potential dens.  Somewhere in the vicinity of 25 of them.  Then on closer scrutiny I started seeing a pattern in the petroglyphs.  I saw the shape of a cats head.  The obvious triangular ears and sloped face.  I took into account that I have no education into petroglyphs and originally they appeared to me to be works of abstract art.  Much like looking at clouds and seeing the shapes you want to see.  So I approached using the scientific method.  I began looking for observational confirmation and patterns.  Besides the ears, I noticed pairs of eyes.  At first they seemed like random holes in the rock but after awhile I saw the pattern.  One must also take into effect several factors when examining ancient art that is exposed to the elements.  First, this isn't an etch and sketch pad that can be drawn on and erased. So many times carvings appeared on top of other carvings. Secondly, these drawings weren't made in a protected cave.  They are outdoors, in the rain, snow and sun.  They are subject to getting wet, freezing and thawing, causing the rock to crumble away in places.  What the original Indian artist did was to carve through the dark surface to the lighter colored stone underneath.  Alot like kids using crayons to color a piece of paper, then covering all that with a black crayon, then etching stick figures to reveal the crayon colors underneath.  Many times the top layer of the stone, through time, broke away, sometimes in parts.
Below are examples of what I found.  Use your judgement to see if you agree.  Click on the photo to enlarge.  Sometimes you can click again to further enlarge.  In many photos I circle or point arrows to direct your attention to petroglyphs I saw.
When viewing the photos pay attention to eyes and ears.  There are several places I didn't mark potential bobcat petroglyphs.
One of the best pictures. Seems to show the scruff on the 'cheeks' of the bobcat.

Petroglyph of bobcat either attacking prey or inadvertently damaged.  Found on giant boulder on the ground close to bus.

Eyes and ears.

Bobcat den

Multiple potential identifiers as a bobcat dwelling

Arrows pointing to ears

Potential Bobcat den

 Far off view of potential den and petroglyphics

 Potential den

Probably petroglyphs marked.  Lots of unmarked 'pairs of eyes' in this photo.

 Potential petroglyphs around good den location.  Note the ears and eyes again

 Two possible dens.

Upper left side of photo.  Do you see some petroglyphs not circled?

Can you see a cat face here without help?

 Eyes, Head shapes and combinations of both.  Some overlap.

Now I don't pretend to know what all these carvings meant.  My guesses range from warning to worship to mere identification of bobcat area.  But put together with all my other evidence...cat sighting, bobcat prints and droppings, known bobcat area.  Also, perhaps back in the day, mountain lions were more prevalent and dominated these hills and that is what these are drawings of.
Also different Indian nations had different ways of drawing and meanings of drawings.  A quick Google search found no similar petroglyph drawings for either bobcat or mountain lion.  Also, after this trip into the canyon I met a couple of researchers from the Federal Grasslands Management.  I told them of my bobcat sighting and my interpretation of the nearby petroglyphs.  The guy in the passenger seat, doing his best old time psychiatrist impersonation, said  "Sooo, you see cats in the drawings".  I felt like responding "Yeah, does that mean I have the virility of a Puma?"
I am seriously considering trying to get in touch with the local archaeologist and asking for a guided tour to discuss the drawings to see if my theory holds water.  And perhaps learn a little more about something I almost dismissed as too abstract and deteriorated.  Indian history just jumped up a few notches on the interesting stick.
This latest discovery did nothing to cool my passion to find out more about this smallest of the big cats.

Pick Wire Canyon-Playing

The day after the big hike down to the dinosaur tracks I got up and starting getting my day going.  I usually use a cut off shirt sleeve to keep my hair out of my eyes.  This is what I was stylin' after I removed the sleeve. My secret 'product'?  Sweat and dust from a day of hiking.

  On this day, I would spend the day exploring the area locally.  Taking it a little easier and seeing if I could spot traces of bobcat in the area.  My pets tagged along.  Miss Priss, my cat, had been unusually interested in leaving the bus.  She flitted her tale around like a bull whip and would dart off every time I opened the bus door.  Knowing that it was bobcat area and that she was bite-size for a bobcat, I didn't feel comfortable with her roaming around alone.  I also took a keen interest in her behavior in these surroundings to see if she would demonstrate some feline action that would help me understand bobcat behavior better.
She did.  It was a windy day.  The first thing I noticed is she didn't like the wind.  She flattened her ears as if the wind was uncomfortable.  She then searched out the nearest barrier from the wind, under a tree or behind a rock.  The other thing I noticed is how 'in her element' she seemed to be.  The rock formations were like a playground for cats.  Allowing her to jump and climb and hide.  Even though the wind troubled her she didn't scurry back to the safety of the bus like she normally would.

 

Finding some escape from blowing wind.  (As a reference, the bobcat was a hair smaller than Nala and about 4 times as big as Priss, who tips the scales at maybe 7lbs)

Winding blowing tufts on her tail, ears pinned back, nothing can stop wonder-cat from gravity defying jumps

Ever since I saw the bobcat the day before, I have been plagued with a thirst for knowledge to learn more and potentially create a chance encounter again.  Little do I know that I am going to find more clues to the puzzle that only serve to fuel the fire of this desire.
I go back to trailhead.  Instead of going to Picket Wire Canyon, I take the trail to Withers canyon.  I go a couple hundred yards and find an informational sign.  The kind that says what kind of animals are in the area.  It has the usual suspects... Then the first sentence of the next paragraph catches my attention...

This is the first time that bobcat is mentioned in anything about the area I am visiting.  (Somehow I missed the reference to miss it in the preceding paragraph, along with the much more dangerous mountain lion).  I have been out west before and they have policies when you are in dangerous country, like prominent signs and informational literature.  In Rocky Mountain National Park, they have roadside signs that tell you to beware of mountain lions, what to do if you see a mountain lion (Don't run!, Make yourself look bigger-raise your hands over your head, if attacked fight back-don't play dead).  At least here, they say consider yourself lucky if you see a  bobcat.
I want to say I have been lucky and I want lightening to strike twice!
So I continue going down the trail.  I then see the charms of this little trail.  It leads to the unobstructed views to the entire canyon below.  I can sit in one place and cover several square miles of flat, low grass land.
This is half the view.

I scout out a little more and then I go back to recharge my camera battery and get ready to go back as the sun is setting when more animals are likely to be out looking for food.
I return with charged batteries and a small pair of binoculars.   I get into position.

 I did not see hide nor hair of any wildlife...none.  But I was treated to the best sunset/moonrise ever.

Since the wildlife viewing was a bust I returned back to camp and made a campfire.  Full moon, faithful dog and campfire...it was a good night.

Pick Wire Canyon - Bobcats and Dinosaurs

On Wednesday morning, I changed camping locations.  I drove down the dirt road 11miles to Pick Wire campground, this being a formally designated campground provided by Federal Grassland Management.  Driving a bus, I need roads to get me to where I am to camp.

My new location was also free, although they had official, designated campsites and a vault (air dropper) toilet, there was no electricity or drinking water.
From this campground I could see where I had just come from.  I was on the third hill from the right.

While not as expansively scenic, this new campground had things to do.  Namely, interesting places to explore.  What it is perhaps most well known for is having the longest dinosaur track site in North America.  To see the dinosaur footprints, I had to hike 5.7 miles to the site.   With my faithful dog, Nala, and a backpack full of essentials (filled with too many water bottles...), we headed out to explore.
Here we are making the descent into the canyon.  Snow is still on the ground even when the temperature is a glowing 70 degrees.

It was a beautiful day and the natural wonder of the world lay before us.  I had read about this being rattlesnake, scorpion and tarantula country so I spent a great deal of time looking at the ground ahead.  On the side of the trail I did spot dozens of holes that I have confirmed to be tarantula burrows. You can see the faint shimmer of their silk around the right side of the opening.

About 2 miles into our trek we started noticing petroglyphs (Indian drawings carved into the canyon walls).  The trail we were on was mostly sandy at one particular stretch.  So Nala and I were unintentionally being stealthy, besides her constant panting.  50 feet in front of me and without a care in the world, a bobcat hops onto the path ahead of me.  What happened next 7 seconds went something like this...I see Bobcat hop onto road (a miracle in itself because I am constantly looking down at the path looking for tarantulas, scanning around from side to side to see the canyon walls on one side of the trail and the river to the other side)  It takes three or four steps towards me.  I had stopped when it initially hopped onto the road.  It stopped a second after I did.  We stared at each other for a full second and a half.  I was trying to figure out what it was...a coyote? a strange dog?  a hyena?  The bobcat was probably going "what the...isn't today Wednesday?  Isn't it winter?  Nobody is suppose to be hiking now."  It wasn't until he turned and bolted up the hill that I saw his bobbed tail that I knew instantly what he was.  I reached for the camera in my pocket like I was quick draw McGraw.  I have been well conditioned and mentally prepared for impromptu pictures  and I pulled the revolver...ahem, camera smoothly out, and in one fluid motion pushed the power button and pointed the camera at the fleeing cat and then pressed record.  Perhaps I should say, I thought I pushed record because I thought I had the camera in video mode.  In reality, it was in photo mode.  And when I pressed the button, all I heard was a shutter sound instead of the tell tale beep that signaled video recording.   I knew catching a speeding cat without some very specialized setting adjustment would just capture a blur.  When I heard the shutter I quickly brought my camera down and switched it to video.  By the time I pointed the camera again the bobcat was gone.  Here is the shot below.  I have circled two spots I think may be the bobcat.  (Click the picture to enlarge)

The lower shot seems to capture a fleeing animal with triangular ears, but the size seems too small and the muzzle seems longer (almost fox-like).  The bobcat I saw had spots (probably why the irrational initial guess as to hyena) and was about knee high to me.  I know without a doubt it was a bobcat.  The bobbed tail and the very cat-like way it bounded up the hill confirmed this.  I allow for this to be a potential identification only because I could have been 'leading' the shot because I knew there was a slight delay from pushing the button to actual recording.  (and I thought I had it on video)
The second, higher up, more centered circle has the spots and is on the same course straight up the hill.  (Initially, I had predicted the bobcat would run up and back, trying to go the opposite direction as me.  It just went straight up between the two big rocks.)
A third possibility is that neither are the cat and he was actually blurred beyond recognition or behind a rock when the picture was snapped.  In which case it is a nice shot of rocks with petroglyphics on them.  I will return to this subject in more depth in another post.
For the record, here is a photo I found online to show what the bobcat I saw looks like.  I never saw mine sitting.

So for the rest of my hike I was on high alert scanning the trail ahead and the canyon side of the trail like an over-caffeinated mad man.  The camera was in my hand, not my pocket.  I debated the merits of video and still photo in my mind.  Video would be the best.  At least I could point the camera and then later the motion of the animal could be clearly scene.  Unfortunately, the rest of the hike was wildlife-free.
I finally made it to the Dinosaur tracks.  To tell you the truth, the bobcat incident had me so jacked up the tracks seemed almost anti-climatic.
We cross the river to see the 4 legged brontosaurus and two legged allosauras (carnivore)

I am pulling ice out from the edge of the running water.

The allosaurus track

Evidence the dinosaurs exhibited herding behavior. 

 Evidence I saw said evidence.

Nala.  Stick that tongue back in your mouth.

 Walking in their footsteps.

Heading back

Dino tracks weren't the only tracks around.
Only today did I really look at this photo.  I was snapping it because of the antelope tracks.  But there are horse tracks (you can ride them to the dinosaur tracks if you own one and are too lazy to make the 11.4 mile hike) and bobcat tracks. (Click photo to enlarge)  Human footprints too.

It wasn't until my return trip that I started really noticing these tracks.  Originally I thought they were made by Nala and her freakishly long toe nails.  At the beginning of the hike she frequently ran ahead to scout things out.   This track was made when the ground was wet and the mud dried.   (Updated Edit:  The pics below are NOT the tracks of a Bobcat.  To see that I do know a Bobcat when I see one,  go to my post The Bobcat : http://www.trustedcompass.com/2011/06/bobcat.html)

Same for this one.  In fact, probably 50% of the trail had these tracks.  Again, I didn't really look at them until the walk home.

Also, there were high numbers of cat droppings sitting in the middle of the trail every 50 - 100ft in places.  I am familiar with cat droppings.  I don't feel like posting pics of cat scat on my blog at this time.

By the time I climbed back up the trailhead at the end of the hike I was made painfully aware of how out of shape I was.  In hindsight, I see that over the winter I have had very little opportunity to get out and exercise.  I have been confined to the bus with brief walks to let Nala do her business.   This hike was technically easy, mostly level and it was only a slightly warm day.  I drank plenty of water.  But the fact was that I jumped from walking less than a couple of hundred yards a day to over 11 miles.  My feet hurt, Nala was in obvious discomfort, carrying her beloved tennis ball while maintaining a lopsided gait, borderline hobble.  If I stopped to take a picture she plopped down, panting.  Yes, she received water every time I got myself some out of the pack.  That final incline just drilled it all home.  My backpack probably weighed only twenty pounds but managed to but a hurting on my shoulders.   I caution that if you make this hike, be prepared.  Summer would be even tougher.  It is motivating to go 5.7 miles away from home and know there is no other way but to hoof it back yourself.   No hitching a ride.  No calling someone for help on your cell.  It was only uncomfortable until the last mile or so.   Fortunately, I recovered quickly.  By the next day, I felt only trace aches of the previous days hike.