Desert sunset

@goodlil666 I know the deserts well and have backpacked in all of them.

@windinhishair Awesome do you live in the southwest? I have hiked and backpacked all of the north American deserts as well. But the Sonoran and Mohave are my favorites. The Sonoran desert is one of the most biodiverse deserts in the world and definitely the most diverse in north America.

@goodlil666 No, I live in the northeast but lived inEl Paso and Other places in Texas for awhile. I love all of the deserts, but I know the Chihuahuan Desert the best. The Sonoran is great and I have had some wonderful trips in Organ Pipe. I particularly enjoy the Sky Islands and have started a book about them.

@windinhishair The sky islands are an amazing feature that are truly a natural treasure. They can provide a respite from the summer heat and a winter playground at times that is a short distance from the desert floor. It's wild that in a distance of maybe 20-40 miles you can pass through almost all climate zones found in the USA. Over the years I have discovered many seasonal encampments of the native Americans on the sky islands . So cool to find relics of the past like that when enjoying and exploring our public and private lands.

@goodlil666 I couldn’t agree more. I have found many petroglyphs and pictographs on my hikes, because I like going to beautiful areas off the beaten path that Native Americans enjoyed as well. Many people find the desert frightening, but I find it to be a very magical place. I have seen two mountain lions while backpacking. They are amazing in the wild.

@windinhishair I am right there with you for my love of the desert and all it has to offer. I have come across countless petroglyphs and cliff walls covered like a billboard with amazing images of there lives . The animals and critters they hunted and encountered. From cintipedes,scorpions, rattlers, every kind of large and small mammals, lightning storms, themselves in war dress, geometric designs, etc,etc. I have even photographed and contacted the universities anthropology departments with glyphs I had never encountered before and provided locations after they responded they to had never seen anything like them and wanted to study them.

That is the only places I go are the WAY OFF the beaten path secluded, isolated , remote, hard to reach places that are seldom seen or visited by man. In my years of back country travel I have seen mountain lions, bobcats, desert bighorn sheep, gila monsters, a dozen varieties or rattlesnakes , coral snakes, ringtails,coatis, and just about every small and large mammals and reptiles native to the southwest. Even did volunteer work for the game and fish department in reintroducing the once thought extinct black footed ferret. Have also done volunteer work for the Forrest service in damage assessments and erosion control after devastating forrest fires as well as work on helping locate, record and document historic sites in creating the Aqua Fria National Monument and developing use and access regulations for outdoor enthusiasts of the area.

I grew up in Ohio and Kentucky working on family tobacco farms until I was 20 yrs old. Visited on vacation when I was a teen fell in love with the desert and finally moved to the desert.

@goodlil666 You have been to so many interesting places and seen so many interesting things.! You and I have some interesting parallels. I grew up in Michigan and moved to El Paso halfway through high school, then went to college in Texas, received a couple of degrees, and started working there. I went into the desert as often as possible, and my general rule was the furthest from civilization the better. I am good at reading topographic maps, and would plan to go to areas with no trails that the topo maps indicated would be promising. I saw some of the best petroglyphs and Native American encampments there, and rarely saw anyone other than a backpacking partner. Once in a remote trailless area in Big Bend I came across a desert spring and noticed that there was permanent water and several leopard frogs that looked different. I caught several adults and juveniles and sure enough, all lacked the spots on their legs and were very different from the Rio Grande Leopard Frog. I reported it to the park rangers, but they didn't seem too interested, so I contacted the State Herpetologist when I got back and gave him location information. He was excited because he has always believed there were relic populations of different leopard frog species. I don't know what happened after that.

@windinhishair That's awesome !! Yes topo maps were a must for me and always carried topos of the areas I was hiking in.
When the anthropology professors asked me for GPS coordinates of the petroglyphs I reported I told them I don't have a GPS but would locate them on my topo map and email them a photocopy. The professor responded you go into that area without a GPS? Its such a remote and little traveled area he said he wouldn't dream of going there without a GPS. I thought that was humorous he was afraid to enter remote wilderness areas without one. I never needed or felt the need for one. A compass and a topo is all I ever needed. I

It's great to correspond with other nature lovers that truly love the experience. I spent many years and hours in public libraries educating myself on the flora, fauna, geology and archeological history of the areas I live and hike. No internet back then so that was the only way to learn a lot of these things. Over the years I have tried to pass on my love ,knowledge and respect of the great outdoors to my daughter, grandchildren and other family , friends and young people interested in it.

@goodlil666 I don’t even use GPS when I drive, let alone hiking. I can’t imagine doing it as it detracts from the wilderness experience. If you can read a map and compass, you can easily get around. Only twice in 50 years did I not know exactly where I was. And that only lasted until I got the maps out to pinpoint my location.

You are smart to pass down your knowledge to kids and grandkids. I have done the same, and all of them like the outdoors and nature and feel very comfortable in nature. I had a complete set of Audubon Field Guides and the rule was when they found something, they would look it up. I didn’t realize how much it was working until I heard and saw a tree frog and said to my three year old son, “Look at the tree frog!” “No, Dad”, he replied, “that’s an Eastern Gray Tree Frog.” He was correct, of course. Lol

This has been a most enjoyable discussion with you.