On New Year's Eve Todd and I drove up to Lake Isabella to spend the evening with a bunch of his friends. Mike and Rhonda run their own karaoke business and they had the VFW Hall that night packed with a bunch of folks. We had a few drinks and Todd sang a few songs but we didn't make it to midnight! I think I'm getting old :p
On New Year's Day we slept in, ate a late breakfast, then drove out to his mom's place out near Weldon. After visiting for a little while we then took a drive south out the Kelso Valley Road. This is a beautiful remote area of the southernmost Sierra Nevada Mountains. Really it's where the Sierra and the Mojave Desert merge. We took a drive up the Bird Spring Pass Road (BLM Route SC106) and there I hiked about 1/2 mile north on the PCT just over the boundary into the Kiavah Wilderness. Then we drove to the top of Wyleys Knob to see the view (BLM Route SC28) which was fantastic!
Bird Spring Pass's claim to fame is, "In March of 1854 on his fifth expedition to California, John Charles Fremont, finding Walker's Pass blocked by snow, made the first known passage by white men via the Bird Spring Route." This is according to a marker placed at the intersection of the Bird Spring Road and Kelso Valley Road by Boy Scout Troop 47.
According to the BLM website, Wyleys Knob and the surrounding area is an excellent place for raptor-watching. I can attest to this as we saw two hawks on our short visit.
"Migrating turkey vultures and other raptors from September-October. Golden eagle, prairie falcon and a variety of hawk species are commonly seen from this high rocky knob. Up to 30,000 turkey vultures pass through Bird Spring Pass, north of Wiley's Knob each September on their way south into Mexico."
I also saw a Raven and a dozen or so Mountain Blue Birds near the aptly named Bird Spring Pass. Vegetation here consists of Joshua Trees, Pinyon Pine and Juniper Woodland, Yucca, Mormon Tea, and Sage. I want to go back and visit this area in the spring because from the abundant dried chia flower heads I saw this area no doubt puts on quite a wildflower show!
|
