Merritt Reservoir May 2010

[Wandering_About]

Got back in yesterday afternoon from my fishing trip out to the sandhills of Nebraska. As far as fishing goes this trip was a miserable failure--I didn't have a bite in three days of fishing. In talking to other fisherman I only heard of one fish caught over the course of those three days.

Still a great trip though, and because of the bad fishing I had some time to poke around in the hills a bit. I still think this is one of the most amazing and beautiful areas I've ever known. The hills weren't as green as I had hoped, but the warm season grasses were just now starting to green up. Considering doing a trip to the area again over Memorial Day weekend and doing some backpacking or hiking, we'll see. I think the trip showcased some of the severity that the area can throw at you. I think the rather wild weather of western Nebraska adds to the draw and beauty of the area to me. The weather was definitely not good for fishing, although it wasn't horrible camping weather.

The only reason I cut the trip short was that today was supposed to be pretty dreary, and it was supposed to rain all day Sunday. I fished 7:30ish AM to 11:00AM or so on Sunday and did not feel up to hiking or waiting out the rain and 45 deg F weather. I also wanted to get some things done at home today before starting my summer job tomorrow morning.

And now on to the pictures...

This is a pretty typical view from the lake. The less steep shores are lined with cottonwoods, cedars, and a few other types of trees. The steeper shores are mostly grass, yucca, and prickly pears. The sky and clouds are wonderful out here.

Since the fish weren't biting on Friday, I parked the boat along the shore in the Snake River arm of the lake on the side where there aren't really any roads to do a bit of hiking. The wind does lots of interesting things out here, as it blows a lot. This is one of the patterns the wind makes with little plants:

And here's the Superboat, in all it's glory.

Ah yes, this is what I love. Beautiful grassy hills.

Here's a quick look toward the SW, sort of up the Snake River arm of the lake. The dam is built just below the confluence of the Snake River, Boardman Creek, and the Powder Horn valley.

There was a surprising number of turkey vultures floating on the breeze blowing up the steep hills next to the lake. Some of them were floating about 20 ft above me, they didn't seem to mind my presence much. These guys are really ugly.

There are tons of Mourning Doves out in the hills as well. I spooked one off its nest and was able to walk up and snap a quick picture of its eggs.

As I popped over the ridge, I spooked this bunch of mule deer.

And was treated to this awesome view.

Lots of neat flowers in the hills.

To be continued... please wait a few minutes to comment...

 

[Wandering_About]

Yucca. Very common and a fairly useful plant. Great for cordage. The roots are supposed to be good to eat, although I've never had the ambition to dig them up. Having seen old yucca roots in blowouts, I think they look way to woody to be good for food.

The sunset on Friday night was spectacular.

On Saturday, I decided to do some poking around the hills in the pickup (very un-bushcrafty, but I wanted to cover a lot of ground and scout out the area). This is the start of a trail that goes up the Snake River arm of the lake. The sign is no joke, this is a serious 4-wheel only trail. I actually only got a few miles in before having to turn around. I probably could have made it further, but didn't want to take that kind of risk when traveling alone.

This is the hill that stopped me. It doesn't look bad in the picture but it was very steep and whoever had been on the trail before me had dug some serious ruts in the sand, making the going extremely difficult.

After that, I headed up to a different area. This is actually National Forest ground. It is grazed. I followed a trail into the middle of the hills until it ended at some cattle tanks. It wound up through a couple nice, big valleys.

After going back out to the main road, I drove up to the far North end of the national forest ground to a trail that runs along the Niobrara River. The hills are very low up here, almost flat. Found another interesting flower.

And found this interesting little fella

Somebody had been through to check all the windmills... They're a great water source, especially on National Forest ground out here. They built tons of the things. Even if they're off it's not hard to turn them on, and the wind is almost always blowing. The water is perfectly good to drink from the windmill, although I would be very wary of drinking water straight from the tank.

And somewhat bewilderingly, there is a "forest" out here. This is one of the fairly large hand-planted forests in Nebraska. The largest is near Halsey, and that one is truly impressive. This one isn't nearly as large, but it is still a bit bizarre. I only took a short walk in it to snap a few pictures, pine forests are pretty much all the same to me to be hones.

And that was Saturday. I didn't take any pics of camp, nor did I take any pictures on Sunday, as it was raining and dreary the whole time and I didn't feel like soaking my camera.

This trip was possibly a bad idea because now I want to go back again... very soon. It's just such an amazing area. Hopefully I will also hit Merritt again when the fish are actually biting, as it can be a fantastic lake.

Now you can comment to your little heart's desire

 

[chopchop]

Oh give me land lots of land under starry skies above...

Great pictures :thumbup: I wish I could get out there more often.

I love the Sand Hills. It's just such a beautiful, wide open landscape. I spent two weeks in Valentine the year before last. That is some wonderful country!

The Niobrara is one of the prettiest rivers I've ever been on, and it's got some amazing plants and critters that are essentially an isolated pocket you wouldn't expect to see in Nebraska. It's about a 10hr drive for me, and I haven't convinced the little lady to make it up there yet, but whenever we have a shot for work, I'm one of the first ones in the van!

 

[ratamahatta]

man that sunset shot is great!!!!!!!!! thanks that made my day!!!!!!!

 

[gundude73]

the scenery there looks really nice rocket, nice pix :thumbup:

 

[Cynt]

Awesome!
The wife and I went to Creighton Uni. in Omaha. Got to spend a good deal of time out in the sand hills, west & central Nebraska. That and the black hills. Did not think much of Omaha, but had a great time out there, barely would see anyone, and the people we did see where friendly. Headed out there whenever we could. Nebraska national forest is a very interesting place. Had some great times out there, and a few creepy nights. The creepy just comes from the emptiness, and just odd feelings of not really being alone. Still, a great place. Lots of beauty to be discovered out there.

 

[brians]

Fantastic pics. Thanks for the vacation by proxy :thumbup:

 

[udtjim]

Sand?? What sand?

 

[fatcat55]

Great pictures and information. It looks remote and inviting. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jds1]

You've got a good eye for composition in your photos. I really like the windmill shot.

Jeff

 

[grlangr]

Thanks for posting! I grew up just down the road from there and all those pictures really brought it all back (especially the windmill). Fishing was never as fun as exploring when I was a kid up there either!

 

[333rm]

Those are some great pics Rocket, thanks for sharing!!!

 

[JV3]

i love that snake pic. the color on the head is stunningly badass.

 

[lambertiana]

Nice pics. That snake is interesting - what is it? Head is shaped like a rattler, the markings look different.