Descent of Clouds

I could see the old access road leading down into the basin. I don't know when it was last used, and it is blocked off by boulders now, its path heavily overgrown. None-the-less, I climbed up onto one of those boulders to get an overview of the situation and could make out a possible way down. The guy with the Labrador Retriever would not have stolen my bike if I had left it, but I couldn't be sure who else might come along, so hefting it onto my shoulder, I scrambled over the stone barricade and started down the slope.

For months now, going back to whenever water began to back up behind the dam, I have taken note of an especially large boulder, seemingly on the edge of the lake. From a distance the thing has looked to be as big as a house, and I have been searching for a way to it. Approaching from the north seemed to present the most likely way, so here I was this morning. The way went down, winding through the chamise, buckwheat and rabbit brush until I reached the driftwood zone, maybe twenty-five to thirty feet wide, the high water area littered with wood washed down from the high mountains. One piece in particular, I thought, would make a good guard for my beoir, and it found a secure spot on my hydration pack.

I never did quite make it to that boulder, the bottom of the basin is a series of deep steep-sided pits and willow thickets - an interesting place, but difficult to more around with a bike in tow.

Anyway by the time I finished exploring, the clouds had descended even lower and would be creating a little drizzle before much longer. A successful morning by any count. Exploration, one of the reasons I ride.

The video this time has no music, just the sound of birds, wind and water.