Had a successful hike to Deer Haven today, finally. I've been wanting to get there since last spring. Tried in November but was confused and thwarted by unexpected fences and cattle herds. Today Gary and I were planning a nice long day hike, and once loaded up in the car and looking at the map, I mentioned Deer Haven and Gary said "let's do it!" Drove out to Conata and parked by the trail head. Expected it to feel much colder out than it did. It was low 20s when we left, with a wind chill in the single digits. I did some serious layering: 2 sets of thick wool socks, capilene pants with a warm wind layer on top, six layers of shirts, fleeces, and jackets, and a wool hat under my sun hat. Completely ridiculous, but I was warm all day. The wind died down and I think it must have been in the low 30s. Beautiful day with an endless series of cumulus clouds rolling by overhead. Later in the day they began to break apart as they drifted past, and by the time we hiked out it was clear. The warmth and remaining snow meant lots of mud and slick surfaces. I was wearing plenty of it by the end after several slips and falls. Among the discoveries of the day: a Least Chipmunk, many Mountain Bluebirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Big Horn Sheep, coyote tracks and scat, a beautifully intact small oreodont (Leptauchenia?) skull with vertebrae, and many fossil fragments from what appeared to be a small horse (messohippus?). After scrambling and balancing and navigating around large erosion pits, we took a rest atop some rocks. Here we ate lunch, laid back to watch the clouds pass, and listened to the water burbling and tricking it's erosive path down the buttes. Walked around a bit more up there, and at one point I noticed what I was looking at right across from us on the next rise over: a bunch of big horn, watching us. With all the mud and slickness, it took longer than we expected to get back to the car. As we drove back to the quad, the almost full moon was hovering just above the butte line. After a quick change, we drove down to Interior to have dinner with Julie and Joe. Julie makes great pizza and we had a good time conversing, dining, and being entertained by their adorable little girl. Such a good day.
Melting snow and resulting mud en route to Deer Haven.
Badlands NP border fence.
Trees of Deer Haven visible in the distance.
Beautiful little oreodont skull.
Closer to Deer Haven.
Erosion trails through the snow.
Our footprints, looking back.
Ankle joint from a mesohippus.
The options narrow.
Scrambling up the snow covered slot canyon to find a way to the top.
Not the way up, considering the loose boulder and falling tree...
