Photo by Robin Patten. Robin Patten I never thought much about lizard intelligence until the year I camped for several nights in a secluded spot in the Grand Canyon. A small lizard lived near my cooking area. She would appear at both breakfast and dinner, splaying across her rock the way lizards do, as if … Continue reading Desert Notes: Lizard Intelligence
Category: Columns
Desert Notes: Birds of Spring
Morning comes, and the vultures are rising, lifting off their cottonwood roost, slowly spiraling upward until they reach their desired height and head north in linear flight.
Desert Notes: Hanging Gardens
Cave primrose (Primula specuicola) in Southeast Utah. Photo by Robin Patten. Robin Patten, April 2022 Sheltered in their alcove habitat, maidenhair ferns began unfurling new fronds around the same time the Say’s phoebes started calling and sandhill cranes sang their way across Cottonwood Wash. At least that was the first green that I saw. On … Continue reading Desert Notes: Hanging Gardens
Deeply Incised Goosenecks of the San Juan River: the reason for their location and when and how they formed
A disclaimer: I'm a retired whitewater river guide and retired geologist. How do you tell if a river guide is telling a tall tale?
Stewart Aitchison: Living in the Desert
"There is a treeless place amid the rocks."
Paw Prints: January 2022
BARC Photo Foster dog care continues in and within a 50 mile radius of Bluff. Special thanks to our fosters: Leonard Lee, Heather Jemott,Georgianna Simpson, Cookie Powell, Natalie Nez, and Jessicaand Gabe Holiday. I want to also thank Lorinda Yazzie, OpheliaJoe, and Mark Oldham who I overlooked in the last BARCUpdate. Paul and Dudley with … Continue reading Paw Prints: January 2022
From the Archive: Hot Water(fall)
Lake Powell, located in southeastern Utah, drowns a portion of the Colorado River and the lower segment of the San Juan River. And, yes, you read it correctly - there is a major waterfall on the lower San Juan River below the Clay Hills BLM boatramp. While the waterfall has been widely publicized by river-runners, most everyone else has either ignored its presence, or still assumes that the San Juan flows quietly unimpeded into Lake Powell. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
Bluff Paw Prints: BARC Report Sept-Dec
Eds. note: This report was written on Jan. 3, but wasn't published here until Feb. 9. Dogs being fostered. Photo: Dudley Beck BARC Activity Report September 1 - December 31, 2021 The closure of our kennels in Bluff in September of 2021 due to valid noise complaints has had a tremendous impact on our ability to … Continue reading Bluff Paw Prints: BARC Report Sept-Dec
Historic Photo Retake: San Juan River near Bluff, 1925
By Brandt Hart This set of photographs was taken just west of Bluff. They clearly illustrate a lesson in changing vegetation and river ecology. In the top 1925 image, the San Juan River flows freely. The river then, for the most part, was unencumbered by dams and diversions upriver which allowed massive floods to routinely … Continue reading Historic Photo Retake: San Juan River near Bluff, 1925
Lefty’s Soap Box: Aphids and Ladybugs (March 1996)
Aphids are nasty little critters. Their joy is ganging up on the flowers of chiles and sucking all of the life out of them. Outdoors, at least in Bluff, aphids are seldom a problem. Sometimes they cluster on the flowers of the Siberian peas, but they are easily sprayed off with a hose, or the wind blows them off, or the ladybugs get them.
Canyon Echo 