Post With Label Nature

Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts

Stargazing in the Nevada Desert - Mount Irish Petroglyph Site

Saturday, November 23, 2024

The Nevada desert has a way of surprising you, no matter how often you visit. It’s full of out-of-the-way landmarks that don’t make it into travel brochures. One of those places is the Mount Irish Petroglyph Site, located about 120 miles north of Las Vegas in Lincoln County, Nevada, a spot where ancient stories are carved into stone.

The petroglyphs aren’t just art either. They’re the effort of people who lived here long before modern society. Stories in stone, inspired by the same vast desert landscape you’ll experience when you visit.

And yes, there’s something about standing out there, far away from city lights and noise, that makes time feel different. The night sky looks endless, and the stars feel more present than anywhere else—not just visually, but spiritually. It’s not just about seeing the petroglyphs or the stars; it’s about feeling like you’re part of an existence so much bigger than your day-to-day.

Stargazing around Mount Irish - Lincoln County, Nevada

Mount Irish Petroglyph Site

Here, among the petroglyph-covered rocks, you can look across the landscape and also gaze up at the same stars that inspired ancient hands to carve their stories into stone. There’s a quiet magic in standing where history was made, as constellations light up the night and bridge the gap between past and present.

Accessibility: It is recommended that when traveling out there, a sturdy two wheel drive vehicle may be sufficient to navigate the roads to the site but 4WD vehicle is preferable. And don't forget your camping gear and supplies. Especially if you don't have room to sleep in your vehicle.

Nearby locales:

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge

A calm oasis of sorts about 30 miles south of Mount Irish Petroglyph site, this refuge offers more than wildlife sightings.. it’s also an amazing place to camp at and stargaze.

Tikaboo Valley

The vast expanses of Tikaboo Valley, known for their eerie beauty and famed proximity to Area 51, are a magnet for both stargazers and UFO enthusiasts. Out here, beneath a dome of uninterrupted starlight, the sense of the infinite is undeniable. And who knows? You might just catch sight of unidentified objects traversing the night sky.

Best Times of Year to Visit Mount Irish

What month is best for stargazing at Mount Irish?

The best time of year to visit Mount Irish for stargazing is from April to June. That time of year has many reasons why it is a great time of year for stargazing there:

Stable weather conditions that give a clear view of the sky.

You'll have more hours of darkness if you're something who enjoys stargazing for hours on end.

The area around Mount Irish is known for its dark night sky views, making it an excellent location for stargazing year-round.

Some tips to help with your stargazing experience:

Plan your visit during a new moon phase for the darkest skies possible.

The summer months (late spring to early autumn) offer views of the Milky Way's core stretching across the southern horizon, especially around midnight or later.

The best stargazing opportunities at Mount Irish coincide with new moons and meteor showers throughout the year. The Perseid meteor shower, peaking around August 12, offers a spectacular summer display with up to 90 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. The Geminid meteor shower, peaking on December 13-14, provides a winter stargazing spectacle with potential rates of up to 150 meteors per hour.

For the Geminids, be prepared for cold temperatures, as winter nights in the Nevada desert can be frigid. Despite the chill, the Geminids are known for their distinctive greenish hue, making them particularly captivating.

Aligning your visit with these celestial events can significantly enhance your stargazing experience at Mount Irish under Nevada's dark desert skies, offering not only dark skies but also the added bonus of meteor showers

Recommendations of what to bring with you

Bring a Red Flashlight: As simple as covering a flashlight in red cellophane. Preserves your night vision.
Seating: For if you plan to be stargazing for a while.
Layers, Winter Gloves, and Handwarmers or other supplies for warmth: Desert nights can surprise you with their chill.
Binoculars or Telescope

A Magical Sound Made By The Earth - Singing Ice

Monday, November 11, 2019

Singing ice is somewhat common and occurs with ice on frozen ponds and lakes. It is otherwise known as acoustic dispersion and occurs in a few ways. Which includes skipping rocks across the surface of the ice, from taking a chance ice skating on ice that's still thin, and (as in this video) from the movement of the ice and the water beneath the ice. When you get to experience it, in person, it is an amazing sound. It is like a spiritual sound and a musical instrument of nature trying to speak with its own voice. Almost unearthly at times.

When I was young, we used to have a depression in our yard that would fill with water from autumn rains. When it would get cold enough to freeze I would skip rocks across the surface of the ice to hear the unique sound of the 'singing' ice. It was nothing as remarkable as what's heard in this video though. If you ever have the chance, I definitely recommend going out to an undisturbed, newly frozen pond and experiencing it for yourself by skipping rocks off the surface. It is an experience that is worth traveling or hiking to a pond or lake, in late fall or winter, to hear the sounds firsthand.

Video by Jonna Jinton

I Heard The Ghost Of Osceola Cry

Sunday, August 21, 2016

General Wiley Thompson, as an Indian agent, oversaw and helped coordinate the removal of the Seminole tribe from Florida. In written history, he's been sold as a friend of Osceola and the Seminole tribe, but he was nothing of the sort. Sure, it's sold that Wiley Thompson's "gift" to Osceola, a gun, was a peace offering. Given his reason to be there though, Thompson business there wasn't for peace, but for having the Seminoles put their guard down and willingly surrender to forced relocation.

Osceola had no such trust in Wiley Thompson and his military force's intent was. On December, 28th 1835, Osceola organized a party of Seminole and they attacked Wiley Thompson and his men, near Fort King, at this opportune time. Osceola and his men shot through the front door as Thompson and other military men were having a dinner party. Some of Thompson's men escaped but Wiley Thompson was hit numerous times and died. Osceola attacked out of retribution over being previously detained by Wiley Thompson.

What was Chief Osceola famous for?

In April of 1836, Osceola and some of his men attacked Fort Cooper. Later, in August, Major Benjamin Kendrick Pierce finds that Osceola has control of Fort Drane. Over these developments, General Jesup made the decision to make a plan to capture Osceola and his forces. This plan was created in December of 1836.

January 10th, 1837 General Jesup carried out a raid on a Seminole village where it was thought that Osceola was at. Numerous Seminoles were captured and a great number fled the area, possibly including Osceola himself. At the time, Osceola may have also been ill.

By Spring of 1837, General Jesup was making more gains. Gains which led to many clans to surrender themselves. Including some from Tuskinia, King Philip, Coa Hadjo, Sam Jones, Coacoochee, and even some of Osceola's people. This surrender causes General Jesup to incorrectly believe that the Second Seminole War was soon to end.

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In June, Osceola and Sam Jones and around 700 of their warriors attack a detention camp near Fort Brooke. The attack is successful, all of the supplies there are taken, and all detainees are released. The area is declared, by the military, to be a hostile area, yet again. Though this caused the Army to up its activities throughout the area.

What happened to Osceola?

By October, the 27th of 1837, Osceola and Coa Hadjo arrive with many of their people to Fort Mellon, with a flag of truce, for a pre-planned meeting. Instead of a meeting, they find out they were misled and are captured instead. Both leaders are sent to Fort Marion, at St. Augustine. In December, Osceola is sent to Fort Moultrie in South Carolina, along with other Seminoles. A move that was meant to break their spirit and that of Seminoles still in Florida trying to free Osceola and others.

By the end of January, Osceola is ill, from either quinsy or malaria, and succumbs to his illness on January 31st, 1838. Which was a little over three months after his capture. His last days were spent in detention at Fort Moultrie. The care he received, from Frederick Weedon, probably would've been little, given the medical knowledge of the day.

Where is Chief Osceola buried?

After his death, Osceola was buried with full military honors at Fort Moultrie.

The war still continued after Osceola's death and ended in 1858 with the Third Seminole War.

In the time since, Florida, of course, has become far more developed and damaged. It's said that the draining of the Everglades has caused increased wildfires in them. Development has also increased and turned parts of the Everglades into specialized farming regions. To protect interests, we're sold half-truths and lies that the increased wildfires are completely natural and that the draining of the Everglades hasn't caused an increase of fires.

That's where the title of the post comes in. Some of you have probably already recognized it, a reference to the John Anderson song, Seminole Wind. The song does a good job of explaining these things, from a cultural perspective. Much like in other states, a lot of environmental damage has been done throughout Florida. Development that stems from the elitist view of 'taming' the land for the comforts of modernity. Something that has gone too far and has destroyed much of what's natural in Florida.

Sure, there's a lot of nature still left in Florida. But for how long? For how many more decades? All to appease the selfishness of upper middle class and the rich. Which, yes, are mainly well-off, white and modernly liberal. You can choose not to like the conservative, but at least the majority of them have no trouble with coexisting with nature and the natural world. As opposed to those that need their "safe spaces" in every aspect of their life. Having fear of the smallest things, even the smallest creatures out in the wild.

This is the type of thinking that needs to pushed out, the subcultural 'thought' that nature has to be diminished for the benefit of those with the $$ to push it away. Not realizing that the more they separate themselves away from nature, domesticating themselves, the more unnatural they become. It's time to tear this down, these limits, that keep us from nature. We need an increase of all of our freedoms. Nature comes first, including our own nature and spirit. Stay silent, quiet your minds, listen to these ghosts of days' past. Listen to their words in the winds.

They do speak; winds of change. Does the war still continue?

Zeph1