Wednesday, December 22, 2010 - Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM
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Hanging in there, Prickly Pear Cactus, Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM, January 23, 2009
Life's tough - while it lasts
Life can be a struggle out here in the desert. Those pesky creosotes, in taking over so much of the desert, haven't made life easy for the natives. Some don't survive. Others put up a valiant struggle against long odds and manage to barely hang in there. Like this Prickly Pear cactus.
Night camp
Site 9 - Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM
- Verizon cell phone service - good signal
- Verizon EVDO service - good signal
- Go to Leasburg Dam State Park website
- Locate Leasburg Dam State Park on my Night Camps map
- Check the weather here
Absolute Silence
I remembered hearing of a backcountry Park Service ranger who was cleaning up after dinner one evening when he heard a chilling scream. He ran out of his cabin in time to see a mountain lion standing with a dead deer next to her. The lion saw the ranger and bounded off. The ranger realized this might be a rare opportunity to closely observe a mountain lion, so he stationed himself a short distance away from the deer carcase. He sat in absolute silence, and listened closely as night deepened. After sitting in darkness for well over an hour, he gave up hope of the lion's returning and stood up. In the powerful beam of his flashlight, he could clearly see that the dead deer was no longer there. ...
Caught in Fading Light: Mountain Lions, Zen Masters, and Wild Nature by Gary Thorp