Alien Invaders in Tucson, Arizona

Don't Panic, but the mayor and other elected officials are unanimous: this is an urgent threat to our home and way of life: if something isn't done soon, our fair city may be "unrecoverable".



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Workshops with Bill Zeedyk

The problem contains the solution:
an old fence line
combined with cattle walking it
started erosion: headcuts usually go in 2's or 3's with soil horizons
you can see the O, A, and B horizons
the old fenceposts make an excellent sponge/step down
allow the water to trickle down
Starve the headcut with a "worm ditch"
set at 1/2 the slope of the hill
with a rope twice as long

Comanche Creek, Zapata Ranch, and San Luis Lakes

Upper Rio Grande Watershed: Rio de los Pinos to Conejos River

http://picasaweb.google.com/conorpro/CumbresAndToltecRioDeLosPinosWatershed

Comanche Creek Restoration Workshop

More photos.

For more information about the types of restoration work completed:

http://comanchecreek.org/Restoration_Practices/index.html

http://www.comanchecreek.org/images/links/189-Comanche_II_Quarterly_Report_08-2007.pdf

Upper Rio Grande Headwaters: Blanca Wetlands

More photos.

Weekends' Peripatetic Explorations

I hiked most of the ridges and canyons around our cabin.
Bristly caterpillars eating sting nettle (Urtica sp.)
Old Juniper near summit of Storm King Mtn.
Lichen pattern.
View from Storm King summit.
Ponderosa forests cover north slope drainages at this elevation.
Cracked rock with colorful lichen.

Know Your Barbed Wire

Often, in tramping about the Western States, the intrepid naturalist may find themselves waylaid by the manufacture of man. Rather than merely an occasion for pain and anger, this encounter can also be a learning experience.

Most people can guess slickwire from barbed, but how many know the entire taxonomy of man made dolorimeters?Here is my rough key to this vexing subject:

a.Single Strand....b
b.Slick Wire [not depicted]
bb. Glidden's Twist
aa. Double or more strands
b.Ribbon Strand...Untorn Ribbon
bb. Double Strand...c
c. Barb is of similar wire, usually twisted around strand...d
d. Barb is twisted around both strands...e
e. Barb is three pointed...Burnell Hook Around
ee.Barb is one or two pointed...f
f. One pointed...Preston's Horse Wire
ff. Two pointed...g
g. Barb wrapped around both strands together....Brotherton's Barb
gg. or Barb wrapped around both strands one at a time...Decker Spread
dd. Barb is twisted around a single strand....e
e. Barb is four pointed... Shinney's "4" Point
ee. Barb is two pointed, common...Baker's Flat Barb
cc. Barb is otherwise, not same wire as strand
d. Barb is metal plate...Stubbe Plate [rare]
dd. Barb is small plate or flat nail....e
e. Barb is twisted around strand...Scutte's Plate
e. Barb is tied to strand...Kelly Diamond Barb

The Monsoon has begun (in Tucson)

The monsoon has begun in Tucson:
Source.This NOAA graph shows dewpoint, a measure of humidity. The blue line for this year is above the average, red line, and passed the 54 degree cutoff in early July. The monsoon is somewhat arbitrarily defined as any period of three or more consecutive days when the dewpoint is 54 degrees or above. In Tucson this kind of moisture only happens during the monsoon, when the wet tropical air pushes north. More info.

The rainfall so far has been above average as well. This graph does a good job of showing the variability of rainfall between cities that are less than 100 miles apart. When it comes from isolated thunderstorms, sometimes they hit you, sometimes they miss you.

The rain has not yet helped out New Mexico and Texas (source), but the climate forecast is for New Mexico to get a good amount of moisture over the next month:
Source.

Geology of Carnero Canyon

The Map Room. This is where most of our adventures start.
View up Carnero Canyon toward Hell's Gate, beyond which lies our cabin.
There is pillow lava here, scattered about, but especially in the next canyon over.
Penitente Canyon and the view toward the San Luis Valley and Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Awesome columnar jointing on the South side of the Hell's Gate
North Side.

Back side.

Upper Rio Grande Watershed: The Poso and Los Mogotes

"...driving across these llanos for days, solitary pinon and juniper gnarled and twisted and thickened, like baobobs almost, and the antelope / gazelle bounding away, outdoors dawn to dusk , khaki outfit, pith helmet, driving across the plains for days, looking at the summits; heading toward them but then it starts to rain and the mud becomes too thick: fishtailing across the road, saying 'I'm sorry' to all the plants, the erosion. Eventually, the sound of the engine turning off, the door opening, both feet sinking deep into the mud, the finality of the car door slamming in the sudden, rainy, darkness.

Rock Garden in the Serengetti

Wetlands: those areas that are saturated or inundated with surface or groundwater at a frequency or duration sufficient to support -and under normal circumstances do support- a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted to life in saturated soil conditions.