Moments in Dirt and Ink

Caliente Field Office BLM ( map link ) I spotted the trilobites on the list of BLM recreation sites on my Ely District Recreation Opportunities Guide and drew some little bright lines around it so I wouldn't forget to stop at #18. There's actually two signs to help the public find the spot and a short piece of maintained road to parking with a toilet, trash, picnic tables, information signs, register, even tools. Well, the public has been a bit too hard on the tools, so there was not actually a rock hammer when I looked. They suggest you have one for best experience. And eye protection. And you are allowed to keep common stuff like plants and trilobites so long as it is for your own personal having. I haven't got a hammer so I am dependent on what might already be visible. (I decided against bringing along the hatchet that doesn't get any use.) Parking and picnicking and information. Oh, and there's Joshua trees . Beside the sign and register, there...

McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area Click for map. I keep thinking, "Oh, I should do that," as I pass by the exit for the Trail Through Time. It may just be that these lower level areas of Colorado don't hold so much pull for me, but I have actually turned off the interstate at this very exit to take a hike before. Maybe it just feels a little more "built up" than my usual. Today that is changing. Happily, it is not near the 104°F it was when I last hiked the area. Today I will stop by to see the bones. A set of information signs to start off the trail. One illustrates the general area of the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area and one maps out the trail ahead. The walk into the loop along the road that services the dinosaur bone quarry area is a bit uninspiring, it must be said. Interpretive signs start up quickly with background information about the Jurassic Period and such things that are relevant to the dinosaurs found in th...