Did a nice hike yesterday to OZ and met up with Nevada Naturist and his friend. Also met another nice group of folks and talked for a couple of hours with one of them named Matt. We bantered back and forth discussing our ideas on what makes the universe tick. It was enjoyable conversation and being the subject of philosophy, or in Matts case, belief based on faith, its all slippery ground but interesting to contemplate. The weather was great and there were quite a few folks down at the springs, nice mellow crowd. I caught a big Gopher Snake and held it for a couple of hours while I chatted with a friend Dan who rides his horse down to DCHS from his house over the hills. Dan has been coming to the springs for about 30 years. He mentioned that on the route he uses to access the canyon by way of the Route 3 trail he noticed on his way in that " someone " had made a big mess all along that trail by cutting lots of bushes and vegetation along the sides of the trail. I hiked that trail on my way out at the end of the day and was supprised to see all the mess and damage. Who ever did it cut bushes everywhere on both sides of this trail in such a senseless manner, many of the large cut bushes, cut down to about a foot high, were more than ten feet off the trail. Dan expressed that he was not pleased with the damage he saw. The branches of the cut bushes are scattered all over the place. It really just looks like someone went berserk with a chainsaw in that area. Such a shame to see on just a simple and beautiful walking path to DCHS. A pointless bit of destruction that in its end just accomplished making a big mess. With that said, I had another great time down at them thar springs and the beauty of OZ and its surrounding area will always shine through the dark clouds of some peoples destructive acts.
