Spring Trip 2010 – Day 34 – Writing on Stone – Part 2

Still up along the trail….

and Shantz spot’s something!

a rabbit (or more correctly, a Nuttall’s Cottontail).   These rabbits are usually seen all over this park, but like I said shortly after we arrived, it had been a bit of a zoo over the long weekend and I think every thing was just starting to venture out of hiding.

a bit further along, it was our turn to spot these Mule Deer…..this is pretty much at the ‘turn around’ point of the trail.

Here is one of those deer giving us a good looking over ~ I guess, if I’d heard at this stage, about all those ‘attack’ deer in Cranbrook….I might have been more concerned that this one might have had a fawn hidden away and had been doing more than just watching….as it was, it was just a deer ~ I was more concerned about watching for Rattlesnakes since the day was warming up and they were liable to be crawling out into warm spots to warm up.

so now we are headed back….the deer would have been just off to the right of this spot….

We’ll toss in another wildflower now, This is ‘Butte Marigold’ ~ a bit more sensible name than the last few.

We’ve climbed back up on top…

Time for a breather, and a drink of water for everybody.  You’ll note Shantz is on a short lead, that is partly due to the cactus and the already mentioned possibility of Rattlesnakes ~ which, fortunately, we never saw.  I actually prefer it when there has been somebody ahead of us on the trail, figuring that they would have scared any away.  As you who know me, know, I don’t like snakes of any sort.  We have actually seen Rattlesnakes here.  On our first trip there was a baby one right on the road leading into the campground, and the second trip, the park ‘snake lady’ had one in a cage….she had found it in one of the campsites…not too far down from the one we were presently camped in.

Back to more pleasant subjects, here is a Blue Flax flower…

and another view…..

There are a few tight spots on the trail where you wend your way between sandstone hoo doo’s…

Remember I mentioned Cactus?  Well here is one of the Prickly Pear Cactus found all along the route….this one has flower buds just forming…..

There were more of these Yellow Prairie Violets, tucked in spots all along the trail….

Prairie Onion as well….

 and of course, this showiest of the wildflowers….Smooth Blue Beardtongue

As we’re almost back to the campground, we’ll take a final look at the surroundings…..this view would be looking back the way we’d just come, which is pretty much looking westward.

and here we are looking ahead towards the campground (those green trees the other side of the rocks)

and this is looking across the top of the rocks, over towards the visitor’s center….just barely visible up there on the horizon….

this part of the trail actually has steps carved into the sandstone…..this is probably the steepest part

and here we are, back at the entrance of the campground.  Those buildings are a shower room and a store.

So I think I’ll post this, and then get on with the last, and longest entry for this particular day.

Some DSLR Pictures…….

Finally got the memory card from the DSLR down loaded so am just going to go back and post a few pictures to bring us up to date:

First I’m going to take us back to Chin Lake, with a view to the east….

and another to the west (that bridge is the highway)

 

You’ll remember how I said a Coyote had walked over the hill in the morning….well there he (or she) is…

and there is the scene…Coyote on the left….3 White tail Deer on the right…..

Now some of what I consider to be, the better pictures I got at Dinosaur Provincial Park….

taken on that ‘Badlands Trail’

a general overview of some of the terrain…

more terrain…

looking down on the campground (we’re barely visible there in the middle)

one of many sandstone formations…..

That Nuttall’s Cottontail Rabbit….

approaching the river….

the Red River, looking eastwards

same direction but from a different location….

and finally….to bring us up to the present….or at least the present as it was on May 5th, 2010

Spring Trip 2010 - Day 11 Part 1 - Dinosaur Provincial Park

Sunday, May 2nd we woke up to beautiful clear blue skies, since it was to be a relaxing day, we made a proper breakfast, even sitting outside to enjoy our morning coffee. That is where I noticed a Robin continually going into some of the bushes opposite the back of our campsite....so went to investigate.....Sure enough....there was a nest in there.....

Here is a closer look - no eggs yet, but looked completely finished.

a few White-Crowned Sparrows were running around in the same general area......

After breakfast we decided to walk up the right side of the circular drive to a trail that went off into another section of the park ~ now since it was a nice day, I took most pictures on my SLR so they are not available for viewing yet.....for reasons already given.....

typical, sagebrush type vegetation......

Here is some more of that 'Owl Clover'......

and if you looked closely, there were these Early Blue Violets tucked in here and there.....pictures of some Prairie Crocus, that were almost past their prime, and another little yellow flower called Sand Bladderwort will have to wait.....

back in the campground, here is a shot of Sandhill Creek in the sunshine.....

and here are some deer again....these ones not far from the camper, at the edge of the creek....

another one....they had been laying down under these bushes......

and this shows their location in regards to where we were parked. The deer is at the base of the tree and completely unconcerned with Shantz who was enjoying her 'husky television'....of course the fact that she likes to 'watch' and not 'act' helps!

another look at the creek and our relation to it....cloud had moved in now and that is how the day continued, some cloud, some sun.......

There were numerous Northern Flickers in the park....3 together in this one tree. Most were Yellow-shafted as you would expect on the eastern side of the Rockies, but there was the occasional Red-shafted and also intergrades between the two....

back at camp Ernie is rescuing April from her bed in the truck. As long as it is warm enough, we usually shut her in the truck when we went for walks as she is happier in her bed there. By the end of the trip she was just as happy in the camper and had figured out how to get down from the bed, to the seat at the table, to under the table, to the floor where the water bowl was, and even more important, she'd figured out how to reverse the trip and get back on the bed. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks....even blind old dogs!!

There is another one of those Yellow bellied Sapsuckers....as numerous as the Flickers.....

walking along a trail that ran along the back of the campground I spotted another resident animal.... can you see it? in the middle at the bottom of the picture......

It is a 'Nuttall's Cottontail Rabbit'....Dinosaur P.P. is pretty much the most northern part of their range.

After lunch, we'll do some more wandering and take some more pictures.......