Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Leave No Track
The more Tom explores the Anasazi site the more he finds. While his outstretched arm and fingers tell him he has about two hours of daylight left it's not enough to thoroughly explore the whole half bowl area. While two hours should be plenty of time to hike back and down Jackson Ladder to the side by side and return to the lodge he's not sure what he's got here. There could be much more to this site. A site Tom would like to remain undisturbed. What would have been a 30 to 45 minute hike back to Jackson Ladder has just doubled in time because Tom can't leave a track returning to Jackson Ladder. His return will be by all hard surface and that will significantly lengthen the route back to Jackson Ladder. For half a mile or so Tom takes all rock ribs and hard surfaces until he feels he's far enough away and then follows a big horn trail. Not five minutes into the big horn trail, he sees some arrow head flakes and points lying on the ground. He backs up and finds he was stepping on a pottery shard at a completely different location. Back to invisible footprints and by the time he reaches Jackson Ladder darkness is closing. 
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3 comments:
This series of explorations is exciting, exciting stuff. So glad you shared photos and experiences.
You find the neatest stuff.
Outstretched arm and hand, got an email. Here, it doesn't matter what time it is, what matters is how much daylight you have left. You can establish that by fully extending your arm, then turning your hand sideways. Put the bottom of your hand on the horizon, then count how many hands on top of hands it is to the sun. You have one hour of daylight for each hand, or fifteen minutes for each finger if you prefer. It works both for Linny and I as your hand is proportionate to your arm. It doesn't work if you're right up against a cliff or ridge of some sort but if you've got a relatively flat spot you're golden. Additionally each night I keep track of what phase the moon is in and what time it comes up. It will rise 48 minutes later each night so I know when I'll have additional light and how much should I need it.
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