Saturday, October 18, 2008

Goblin Valley

After learning that the weather would be warm this weekend, we headed down to see the goblin rock formations. They were pretty cool:

Then we drove out of the state park and did some hiking. Colorado Side-blotched Lizards of all sizes and geodes were everywhere (note: the Northern Side-blotched lizards found up around Highland are much more colorful). Lizards seem to be able to deal with freezing temps at night as long as the sun comes out and the daytime temps are still in their range.


There was ocean front property?
There were castles in the sky:

I flipped a lot of small rocks:



The only snake seen on this outing was a Striped Whipsnake that was badly smashed on the road. Goblin Valley has Midget Faded Rattlesnakes, but overnight temps had dropped low enough to make them impossible to find. I asked a ranger if he had seen any snakes lately and he told me that I wouldn't have to worry about snakes in the goblin area. I then told him that I was looking for snakes to photo and he told me where a Midget Faded den was. We will have to return in the spring.

1 comment:

Tobin said...

Don't hurt your back on those little rocks old man. LOL I haven't been to Goblin Valley for years. What was the rangers reaction when you told him you WANT to find snakes? When you return in the spring, give us a call!