Madera Canyon, Kent's Spring Trail

This is where I went this morning. Madera Canyon is what ecologists call a mountain island, basically one ecosystem completely surrounded by another. In this case, coniferous forest, surrounded by high desert. Take a look. Click on the images for a larger picture.


This is on the way. You have to go through Green Valley to get there. Someday, I'll put up a post about that weird little burg, but for now, let's get to the hike!






I was hoping to see wildlife, but yipe! That's a cougar track. And a big one. This print was the size of my palm. These tracks were mixed into the tracks of someone's big ass dog. And a horse. And a couple of people. Anyway...



These are the views after a quick scramble up. To the left of this you can see the bright blue ponds of the copper mines. Or, as I refer to them, "the big fucking mistakes." Ahem.

It was really cold by the way. Luckily, I had a Pendleton and a hat in the car. Phew!




Our hero. Note the snow. Do I look rakish and devil-may-care?
I've always wanted to look devil-may care!





Did I mention the snow?
The path up to the ridge was really icy. More than some people would care for.













What can I say about the pic to the right? It's a beautiful place. It was a great walk.







Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? Sometimes, in the woods, I get that feeling. If you look past me almost at the top of the path, you can see the spot where I slipped and fell flat on my ass.








This is the path on the way out. The whole trip is a total of six miles or so. The path back is a heck of a lot easier than the path up. Damn, but it was slippery.

I feel really, really bad because about a quarter mile before this, I ran into two chatty guys coming the other way. They asked me how it was further up and if they'd be okay wearing their sport shoes.

I sort of shrugged and said, "Well, you made it up here." Oops.

I hope they were all right. That part of the trail was pretty dicy.

FINIS