Silent Valley Animals

These pics were either taken there, or around the old dirt road that the ranger told us about in my last post. The following pics were taken on that day.

Of all things, a golden eagle. It first I thought it was a hawk. But this bird was larger than any predator type bird that I've ever seen. Somebody told me that there were golden eagles in the area that actually attacks hawks. I'm thinking this was one of them. I wish I kould have gotten a better photo.

Red-winged black bird. (First for me)

Red-tailed hawk

A female red-winged blackbird (another first)

Hooded Oriole (also a first for me)

I don't know what kind of snake it was, but it was REALLY long. We almost ran over it.

Dinner for the eagle and/or hawk

I know they are very common, but this guy was cute.

Spawn of Satan....

------------------------------------------

Well, we've been home for two weeks and it's time to go again. Next weekend we'll head on up to our favorite mountain ridge for a couple of weeks. 

.

.

Old Idyllwild to Banning Road

While we were checking out a campground called Silent Valley, in the San Jacinto Mountains, a ranger there saw our jeep and told us about the old road that ran from Idyllwild to Banning. It has never been paved and was used for at least a hundred years before the highway existed. It still exists today and a good portion of it is maintained.  We took it and discovered that there are several other old back roads in the area. We'll try them out next time.

The Silent Valley campground is a long way downhill from here.

We've come a long way uphill to get to these carved out sections.

California's state flower

Doesn't this thing look like an evil Pacman gobbling something up?

Over one mountain and we used that cut on the far side to go over the next one. The San Jacinto Mountains are pretty high and are made up of row after row of mountains.

I have no idea, but it looks like somebody lived here.  I used the internet to find more information about this road and what used to be on it. I found very little. I'll have to keep digging, because when the weather cools off, we'll be spending more time there.

Of course, there always has to be a narrow part with a VERY steep drop off. This one was probably only a thousand feet or so.

Flowers on granite always looks good.

.

.