Spectacular river drainage:
I stopped to study this snowfield-spawned drainage with my binoculars, as it looked like it might be appropriate
for Pinguicula. However, I
had solid location data for a site further up the canyon, so this lovely side-stream,
however inviting, would have to await a future trip. I continued on at a brisk pace.
Oh, I have to tell you a story that occurred, not on this hike, but that evening as I drove back to Boise, Idaho. It was a
stormy night--the first night of rain that Boise had experienced for months. As I navigated the 55 mph country roads, I
rounded a hilly turn and was faced with a nightmare scene. The road was spangled for about 200 meters with gigantic, black,
leggy, creeping insects. These things were really big--about 5 cm (2 inches) long--and all over the road. My windows
were rolled down, and I heard with grotesque clarity the popping sounds
my wheels made as I crunch-crunch-crunched over them.
Yccchhh! I pulled over and looked at these things--they were big beasts that looked like mutated fleas from the
Klingon homeworld. Best of all--when I poked them they made a shrill bleating cheap like an angry tribble. Very weird!
(By the way, I later determined that I had seen a migration of "mormon crickets" (Anabrus simplex).
Look them up on the web--I did, and learned that because of these critters, the California gull is the state bird
of Utah. The world is a strange place.)
