Tar Creek 04/13/2011

12/10/13: The US Forest Service will be enforcing access restrictions to Tar Creek soon. TC is part of the Condor Sanctuary established as critical habitat to this endangered bird and other wildlife. Epic numbers of visitors, and the trash and graffiti they have left behind, has led to the acknowledgment by the Forest Service that access must be curtailed and enforced. For more information on the impending action visit: Tar Creek Closure.

Back to Tar Creek. It seems to be my year to tour-guide Tar, and that's okay with me. It's always a little bit new to me. Jack Clayton, one of the X-ray gurus in the department where I work, all-round good guy, accompanied me yesterday. I've been trying to get him down Tar for about a year but he had a knee surgery a few months ago and we've been waiting for it to get better. Finally the day comes and wouldn't it just have to be over cast, cool, and generally un-ideal.
The day started with us chasing a couple deer up Goodenough Road. The morning was pretty boisterous, birds everywhere, bunnies, squirrels. No Condors down at the bottom of the canyon though. The water level remains high and the pools look like they'll be in good shape well into the summer. The "trail" from the Land of the Lost down to the bottom is getting overgrown with brush and some poison oak now grows in a couple strategic places, as if waiting for an unwary victim.
Jack (and Jack's knee) did just fine and we had a great day, though I was cursing the weatherman for his maladjusted prognostication (the clouds were supposed to be out and gone by noon ("Damn you, Josh Rubenstein of Channel 2!"). I had been looking forward to some sun. We'll just have to get back down there on a nicer day. By the way, I know this hike is like a broken record for me and I will be mixing it up in the coming weeks. Maybe I'll throw in a couple old hikes that would be new to the blog. Take care, enjoy the pics, see you out there.