Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I have had several projects to deal with as well as the fact there's been a string of days lately where the area has been subjected to a "monsoonal flow" bringing some much need moisture. It seems like the birds have really thinned out; I have not seen a robin for days and the last Western Tanager I saw was a female on Sunday morning's bird walk (after 2 months of seeing several every day).

With the dearth of birds I am trying to keep up with the hiking on my days off and walked the rim from Bryce Point to Sunset Point again on Tuesday morning, mostly hoping to find the Desert Bighorn Sheep that has been reported in that area a couple of times. Then yesterday I hiked a combination called the Bryce Amphitheater Traverse. This hike also goes from Bryce Point to Sunset Point but goes through the amphitheater (to the geologists Bryce Canyon is, in fact, not a canyon). The graph here shows the elevation changes as mapped by my GPS unit; reading from left to right it starts in the parking area at Bryce Point (elevation approx. 8300 feet), the low point is about 3/4 of the way through (7437 feet), and ends at Sunset Point (8,037 feet). With lots of up and down along the way. The total distance was 4.8 miles (7.73 km) and the last bit kinda sucked because with about 5 switchbacks to go on the Navajo Loop portion of the trail (the final steep climb on the right side of the graph) it began to rain like hell. By the time I got to the bus stop for a ride back to the truck I was completely soaked.

Anyway, the geology along this hike is simply spectacular and I thought I would do something different and create a "Flash" slideshow instead of embedding just a couple of photos in the blog entry (you'll need Flash installed for your browser and you can get it here if necessary). There's a total of twelve different photos in the Bryce Amphitheater Traverse slideshow (click to view) starting from just below Bryce Point and ending with a shot of the world famous hoodoo "Thor's Hammer" just below the rim at Sunset Point. (In the slideshow you can click on the thumbnails at the bottom to change photos or use the controls at the far bottom right of the browser window - left and right arrows advance forward and reverse, the right pointing triangle changes the photos automatically). The seventh image is looking back down a series of switchbacks on the Peekaboo Loop portion of the trail - a good point to stop and catch my breath. Plan on being in shape if you are going to come this way; for spectacular "red rock geology" this ranks as one of the best the world has to offer!

Finally, here's one for all of you Roxy fans out there from Tuesday at Tropic Reservoir (in between rain showers). While I have been doing a lot of walking lately, she just hates it. At 9 years I think she is developing a bit of arthritis but she will still wear me out when I take her to the lake - she still loves to swim and we are heading that way momentarily . . .