Rock Squirrels

Occasionally when I look outside in the early morning there is a little food left in the bowl from the night critters. By the time I walk out on the porch to feed the morning critters it is gone. Today I decided to see how that happens.

A Thing with Chairs

Crime Wave

For the last week or so this White-tailed antelope squirrel has been slowly but surely stealing the mop on the front porch.

Ms Bates

Ms Bates shows the proper procedure to hike while carrying your babies. There are days however when all that hiking can be just too much.

Sunday Evening

Despite another 24 hours straight of soft rain sand bars are beginning to emerge in the river again.

Breakfast at Tiffanys

It's been awhile since I've visited Tiffanys but the last few days I've heard two bird songs I've never heard before and maybe we have a spin off of the White-tailed antelope squirrel. Time to find out if I can find them.

A Guy Walks into a Bar

A guy walks up the driveway. Kristin found another job in town so for the last six weeks I've been doing the cleaning. He's walking slow. I've seen this walk many times before. He's trying to figure out what to say. I go back into the bunk bed room to finish making the last bed. As I come out he reaches the porch. The glazed look in his eyes tells me he knows he's had a close one. He says "You probably have heard this lots of times before but I'm tipped over and need someone to help me get the side by side back up." He tells me he's about a mile into Jackson Hole. Arriving he's tipped over uphill driver's side, on a downhill. Never saw that before. The two of us were able to lift it back up but I didn't remember the camera until then.

Saturday Evening

Anti-Cline of Color

12 and 24

After 12 hours of rain sandbars are shrinking. After 24 hours of rain, gone. As Andrea said apparently not the high water mark last week.

Trouble in River City

Each year the high water mark for the Colorado River, at least here, is right around 1 June. Over the last four or five days sand bars are developing in the middle of the river. There is still some snow in the La Sals and I don't know what the Rockies look like but it's generally been pretty warm the last couple weeks so just wondering how the river can go down during the snow melt unless there just isn't much snow up there.

Best Friends

Time to say goodbye to my best friend. See you in the summer Linster.

Utah Fit Ventures

Thank you to Utah Fit Ventures who spent the weekend at Base Camp doing various activities. Great people. Linny and I took them thru Land of the Skinny People before their departure earlier today. Linny did alright as well selling a few candy bars and beers at outrageous prices.

There's a Baby in My Pants

So I'm on the back porch talking to Debbie and Rick. Debbie is talking smack as usual when Adam walks around the side of the lodge and says "There's a baby in my pants." He's said worse so nobody is surprised but still curiosity visits the porch. Adam is staying in a hogan (mud hut) and when he returned something had given birth in his pants. No, not what you're thinking, a critter of sorts.

We hike up to the hogan and probably the mother was startled when Adam came in and abandoned her birthing duties. We hear scratching in the wood and it feels as if the mother is nearby. To me it appears to be a Kangaroo rat/mouse and is giving out little squeaks and rolling around. Adam and I gently place it on the floor in the corner of the hogan to keep it from falling off the counter that his jeans were on. While doing so we hear a different tiny squeak and find a second baby in Adam's pants also placing it on the floor in the corner thinking when the mother feels the danger has passed she'll return for her young. Adam stays with a flashlight and tells me later he saw the mother retrieve the babies placing them one at a time in her mouth and carrying them off to safety.

True, a weird nearly full moon beginning with a mud hut happy ending. How often does that happen?

Walking back to the lodge, a star filled sky above, a river of soft ripples below, and surrounded by a quiet few will ever know, I thought "What a marvelous night for a moon dance."

Little Bit of Beach Left

Dillons Down Jackson Ladder

Morning

Evening

Groceries to Johnny

Why can't there be a non windy day when Johnny needs stuff? Thirty mile an hour winds with 45 mile an hour gusts.

Post # 3,000: Thanks Pete and Linda

We're into the ninth year of this blog and this is post #3,000 and a fitting post to the lifestyle out here. Over the course of a year Linny and I do lots of rescues. They aren't all life saving but we pull people out of the river who are in high winds, grounded on sand bars, or injured from issues previously in the river. We help with flat tires on all types of vehicles, repairs, people out of water and food, lost, dehydrated, crashed, vehicles tipped back over, injured and need of first aid and or a ride to the hospital. One day Linny's mom ask how many people we had rescued in some form during about a three month stretch of driving Linny to school and back each day and Linny said "Probably about 100." I was getting ready to admonish her for exaggerating and realized she was probably about right.We also have a sign on the front door that tells people if we're not here and you're in trouble take whatever tools you need out of the garage, food and or drink out of the fridge. Twice people have showed up with entire vehicles full of food and drink to return the favor of them having been "saved" when they were in trouble using food and drink while we weren't here. This time though I've returned to find all this drink and a sign that says "Tom, sorry we missed you. Just a little token of appreciation for your kindness every time we bring people by! Anything we can ever do from the Jct. side of the world just call. Our door is always open! Pete and Linda.

Jeep Week