Basin Deranged
Senior Member
N and I did a bit of exploring on our recent trip to Great Basin National Park. Our first couple of days we spent doing the usual things that one does in GBNP; cave tour, Baker Creek hike, Alpine Lakes and Bristlecone Grove hike and pawing through the books at the visitor's center where we bought the Sibley Tree Guide which we put to good use on the rest of the trip.
The park was beautiful, as always. The Mountain Mahogany was loaded with seeds.
The Utah Junipers were also loaded with "berries."
The area around the Baker Creek campground was loaded with fresh Pinyon Pine cones and the harvest was in full swing.
On Saturday and Sunday there were 50 or so people, mostly with Utah plates, harvesting the cones. They used rakes and fruit pickers to get at the upper cones and all wore long gloves to protect themselves from the sticky pitch. The Pinyon Pines only have abundant harvests every few years so the pine pickers have to move around from year to year to find that years bumper crop. The Park allows them to pick "5 gunny sacks per family." At first it seemed strange to me that the Park Service would allow this harvest. But I then reflected on the fact that humans have been picking these pine cones for their nutritious seeds for centuries. Sometimes those of us who are not Native American easily forget that humans are indeed a longstanding part of this ecosystem. I assure you there were a lot of cones left at the tops of the trees and on the less-accessible slopes for the Pinyon Jays and the squirrels.
We neglected to figure out the identity of this plant that was in bright yellow bloom on road cuts and in disturbed areas all across Nevada. We also did not get around to exchanging names with the busy flying creatures who frequented the blossoms. If you know the name of either the plant or the insect please let us know.
We ventured into the area along Baker Creek below "Grey Cliffs" where we found these pictographs.
I won't reveal any more of their location than Gretchen Baker reveals in her guide to GBNP. She describes their location as being in the narrows of Baker Creek.
continued...
The park was beautiful, as always. The Mountain Mahogany was loaded with seeds.
The Utah Junipers were also loaded with "berries."
The area around the Baker Creek campground was loaded with fresh Pinyon Pine cones and the harvest was in full swing.
On Saturday and Sunday there were 50 or so people, mostly with Utah plates, harvesting the cones. They used rakes and fruit pickers to get at the upper cones and all wore long gloves to protect themselves from the sticky pitch. The Pinyon Pines only have abundant harvests every few years so the pine pickers have to move around from year to year to find that years bumper crop. The Park allows them to pick "5 gunny sacks per family." At first it seemed strange to me that the Park Service would allow this harvest. But I then reflected on the fact that humans have been picking these pine cones for their nutritious seeds for centuries. Sometimes those of us who are not Native American easily forget that humans are indeed a longstanding part of this ecosystem. I assure you there were a lot of cones left at the tops of the trees and on the less-accessible slopes for the Pinyon Jays and the squirrels.
We neglected to figure out the identity of this plant that was in bright yellow bloom on road cuts and in disturbed areas all across Nevada. We also did not get around to exchanging names with the busy flying creatures who frequented the blossoms. If you know the name of either the plant or the insect please let us know.
We ventured into the area along Baker Creek below "Grey Cliffs" where we found these pictographs.
I won't reveal any more of their location than Gretchen Baker reveals in her guide to GBNP. She describes their location as being in the narrows of Baker Creek.
continued...
