geofri Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 Went for a paddle north of the city, December 1st. Little chilly but still saw one gator and some toydahls. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bish1309 Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Outstanding. Your pictures tell great stories! Thank you for the time and effort spent to entertain. More....lol 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 7 hours ago, Bish1309 said: Outstanding. Your pictures tell great stories! Thank you for the time and effort spent to entertain. More....lol Thanks! I have fallen behind, have photos from a few more trips to upload. Looks like my last post failed on the upload. More soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 Spent Thanksgiving up in Oklahoma. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 "hunted" buffalo. Boy was it fun.. what a rush to be so close to such a huge animal. We were careful, though it turns out our first experience we pushed a little too much. The raised tail is a sign given before a buffalo will charge you. Got much closer the following day, but positioned much better and downwind of a stiff breeze. Cool fungus of sorts After my New Mexico trip I had somebody asked me "why so many pictures of cactus?" So now I go out of my way to take pictures of any cactus I see. They are cool and still a novelty to a northerner like myself. None of the lakes here are natural, all army corps of engineers. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 Climbed a few hours to get up here. You really wonder on some rocks how one right next to another ended up in such a different shape. There are also a lot of free-range longhorns in the area 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 Here's where it got really fun. What a rush! Healthy turkey population in the area as well 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 So Monday I loaded up the danger ranger with kayak and dive gear, and drove west to the Amistad reservoir, which was formed by a dam on the Rio Grande river. A couple smaller rivers also flow into it. Setup camp to this view. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 It is a really big lake with a lot of wind, and I had to rethink my original plan of paddling up river into one of the tributaries and then camping Backcountry for a few days away from anybody visiting the park. I would have made really good time going upstream because it was downwind but I would have had a very difficult time making it out without having to stop and spend the night somewhere probably two days of paddling into 15-20mph wind to get back to my truck. The steep rocky banks limit places to camp as well so that would have been tricky. Fortunately it's a ghost town this time of year and so there was one old guy in a camper way across on the opposite side of the camp area and he was quiet and I never saw him other than the first day so I just stayed at a campsite next to my truck and did day paddling within three to four miles of my campsite. Despite the hassle of dealing with a big kayak I really appreciated the stability and storage on this trip. It's 15'4" in length. Most of the trip was very overcast and so all my photos are very depressing gray. Was hard to get any decent color in them. More cactus because.. So many interesting rocks and formations. I've been fascinated with my past couple trips two more arid parts of the country... Stuff last so much longer. Whether it's tracks, scat, or discarded trash, stuff in the desert is so well preserved. There were a ton of goats free range around(although I'm not super-confident in differentiating between rabbit and goat droppings) and it was funny to see how bits and pieces got caught in the rocks as a tumble down the hillside and would have landed in the water if not for all the crevices. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 (edited) On the way home I pulled off the highway after crossing the bridge and hearing some very tempting water call my name. This was under the bridge you can't tell me you would resist that green clear 57F water! There was a nice stretch couple hundred yards on either side of the bridge that was deep up to about 15 feet and although somewhat barren very pretty. I took a lot of GoPro footage the must have came out pretty lousy. It quickly got shallow and turned into rapids upstream I wish I had more time to explore. Went through my first border patrol checkpoint on the way home. I didn't flex my rights and simply said "yes sir" and was on my way. Edited December 9, 2018 by geofri 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 I like your photos. Just be careful not to Steve Irwin yourself. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 48 minutes ago, Moshe said: I like your photos. Just be careful not to Steve Irwin yourself. Thanks. Yeah, I'm really a fairly cautious person, but I'm not always consistent about it. Much rather go doing something I love outdoors rather than being in a hospital room or something. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 Just now, geofri said: Thanks. Yeah, I'm really a fairly cautious person, but I'm not always consistent about it. Much rather go doing something I love outdoors rather than being in a hospital room or something. When there is as choice, definitely. It is nice living vicariously through your photos. I don't get out in the forest as much as I used to. When you are still, animal life continues on around you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 When there is as choice, definitely. It is nice living vicariously through your photos. I don't get out in the forest as much as I used to. When you are still, animal life continues on around you.Favorite part of hunting is settling down and dozing off a few mins as dawn breaks and seeing everything come out of hiding! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 17 hours ago, geofri said: 20 hours ago, Moshe said: When there is as choice, definitely. It is nice living vicariously through your photos. I don't get out in the forest as much as I used to. When you are still, animal life continues on around you. Favorite part of hunting is settling down and dozing off a few mins as dawn breaks and seeing everything come out of hiding! I always tried not to, I had no idea when I would wake up. So, instead, I listened to the sounds before the sun came up. The rustling, the brush breaking, coyotes howling, etc. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 16, 2018 Author Share Posted December 16, 2018 Visiting family up north,I have a very skilled mother and sister. Hard to find a woman who can measure up! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 On 12/9/2018 at 12:24 AM, geofri said: Here's where it got really fun. What a rush! Healthy turkey population in the area as well Before I was married I was invited to a Buffalo ranch my in-laws knew in MN. I got a history of them. How, their horns are actually made from their hair. He even had an albino one mounted. He sold the meat the local eating establishments. I went out with close enough to pet one. They were surprisingly docile. Then we went inside for some of the best buffalo burgers I have ever had. I have always been fascinated by Buffalo. They have very lean meat. Almost like venison, only different. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 more in WV. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 There are a lot of good people here. Also lots of land rich folks..like Texas I suppose. We were privileged to know someone who turns out to have a very large cave system which runs through their mountain. It's over 6miles.. and various groups have helped to map a lot of it. (Later found out about the map and some history after exploring with my brother). We didn't go anywhere belly crawling was necessary, so we were limited to about a quarter mile deep. No helmets, and poor lighting without enough redundancy to risk going any further. Two species of bats within 100' of entrance.. still trying to get an ID on them. Couldn't capture with camera..a strange mold or fungus or minerals covered the ceiling and with the condensation it glistened Iike pyrite. There were gold and silver patches. Keyhole passage. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 At the end of the easy access was a small passaged about 6'up on the wall of a large chaimber room(maybe 30'x20'x15) about 20' long the passage leads to a round room 8' circle with a vaulted ceiling 30' high with a sprinkle of water coming down.. sounds just like standing in a large shower(hence the name "the shower room") Some super cool textures. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 Upon reaching the surface again we were greated by the SWEETEST fresh air! Haven't smelled fresh clean and sweet smelling air like that since I was a kid. The cave seemed well ventilated but the air was thick and wet down there. We we're underground almost 3 hours Was a sunny nice day so we did some outdoor above ground level walking to end the afternoon. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted December 21, 2018 Share Posted December 21, 2018 56 minutes ago, geofri said: I like the picture of the ancient handprints. Not being able to be a spelunker even if I wanted to these days, I have to ask. Is it all water in the caves, or is there some sulfuric acid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted December 21, 2018 Share Posted December 21, 2018 On 12/9/2018 at 1:43 AM, geofri said: On the way home I pulled off the highway after crossing the bridge and hearing some very tempting water call my name. This was under the bridge you can't tell me you would resist that green clear 57F water! There was a nice stretch couple hundred yards on either side of the bridge that was deep up to about 15 feet and although somewhat barren very pretty. I took a lot of GoPro footage the must have came out pretty lousy. It quickly got shallow and turned into rapids upstream I wish I had more time to explore. Went through my first border patrol checkpoint on the way home. I didn't flex my rights and simply said "yes sir" and was on my way. That is usually for the best. If that was from the Rio Grande, it is not naturally green. It is usually a mixture of toxic waste, sewage and desiccated bodies that the bomberos missed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofri Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 I like the picture of the ancient handprints. Not being able to be a spelunker even if I wanted to these days, I have to ask. Is it all water in the caves, or is there some sulfuric acid?Not sure, I'm not really good with rocks or geology in general. I think it's a lot of sandstone and lime.. so maybe more alkaline than acidic. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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