Friday Evening

The Fingers

Scott, Suzanne, Michelle, Jax and I did get some hiking in the finger canyons.

The Way to Skinny People

Scott, Suzanne, Michelle, Jax, and I were hiking to Land of the Skinny People when the rain came.

The Albino

Two, maybe three years ago I first saw the albino Eurasian Collard Dove eating at the feeding areas. My thought was to feel sorry. When the hawks come and Eurasians all take off it's pretty easy for the hawk to sort the albino out from all the others. I figured it's life span was limited. For eight or nine months I never saw it again and figured the bad happened. Then it showed up for a few days last year, disappeared again, and then showed up today. Miracle in my book.

Didn't Quite Make It

After I push the button I have 10 seconds to get back and lay down next to Kobae to show we're hanging out on the porch and being cool. Didn't quite make it.

Monday Morning from the Basket on Fourteen

Three Baskets

Monday morning checking the course to see how much of a beating it took over the weekend but not bad at all. I never noticed three of the baskets are in a straight line. They all have significantly different tee boxes but it's just weird (to me) that they all line up and I never noticed.

Refreshment Stop

With 20 something disc golfers here for the weekend they have place a strategic cooler of "refreshments" at the half way mark.

A Day

On Thursday morning disc golfers showed me pictures of mountain lion tracks by hole eleven. No big surprise there when Miss Cat visits from on top of the Anti-Cline I've tracked her through Dripping Springs, past the Wind Caves, through the Base Camp gate and there she turns right and in time I'll find the remains of a deer somewhere down that canyon. Even on the disc golf map Hole Eleven directions say watch out for mountain lion tracks and the mountain lion that goes with them. At 4am Saturday morning dogs are barking from up by the hogans which are packed with disc golfers. Miss Cat has visited again and this time there's a witness not just tracks.

Tracks don't last long in the wind and the wind came.

Two rooms that are checking out came in by boat but Tag A Long doesn't have a boat coming by until 3:45 so I lend them my truck and they head for town. Then the wind really came. These next two pictures are during a lull in the wind. Most of the time I couldn't see the river. Fourteen disc golfers were out on the course huddles in overhangs and deep in bushes trying to keep from getting blasted by the blowing sand.

Around 6pm or so I jumped on a trials bike and rode to town to get the truck. This is the third year this group of disc golfers has gotten together here for a weekend they call the Base Camp Throw Down and this year they brought me this and they all signed it. With all that happened on this day., still the event of the day for me. Thank you. Pretty cool.

Morning From Prommel Oil Well #1

In 1926 the Snowden and McSweeney Company drilled just a few miles from where Base Camp is now in search of oil and it was abandoned shortly after. This is morning from there.

Waves

I'm About There

I couldn't have imagined a time when I would have about reached my limits with any of the critters around here but the Rock squirrels are getting close. Today when the front screen door was just open for a couple minutes a Rock squirrel came in and while looking for food knocked over what was a pretty cool vase.

Two Broom Days

I've never seen more than 12 Rock squirrels at a time here. Yesterday I saw 22. It's out of control. When I feed critters, it attracts more critters. I know that. In all the years though the various populations have stayed pretty much in control but the Rock squirrels are becoming an issue this year. Even with Kobae leftovers there's not enough to feet 22 of them. On Tuesday I had to hold two brooms. One to push Kobae's food to him and the other to whack Rock squirrels that were trying to steal it. They've always been afraid of him but yesterday I saw one lick banana off his face so apparently they've lost the fear. They broke into a hogan and tool food yesterday, always jump up underneath vehicles to see if they can get in, are eating all the pods of the trees before the flowers can even bloom, got in a back pack left on the front porch and every time I forgot to close the screen door they ran through the lodge. Now they're trying to get up in the grill to get any leftovers.

Kobae Appearance

After four days of little sunshine Kobae finally makes an appearance.

The Turkeys Return

Close Call

After not seeing a hawk for five or six days I walked outside to feed and the Eurasian Collared doves took off. On the ground and up the hill was a Cooper's hawk waiting. It grabbed one of the doves and started to elevate. I headed for it yelling. The dove escaped and took off in flight before hitting the ground.

The Island

Feeling Comfortable

One sleeps while the other keeps guard.

New Friends

The Water Bowl

Do I Feel Silly

For the last week I've been sending guests and campers down to the beach. This morning I went down to kayak the island and there is no beach and apparently it's been gone awhile.

Something New

Driving back from town I see a turkey walking down the road. In ten years that's maybe the third one I've seen. As I round the corner I see two deer come down from the trail going to The Tombstones. I've only seen that once before. Back at the lodge I'm loading the Rock squirrel videos on the blog while I'm in the office and I hear a bird call I haven't heard before. I sneak up to see what it is.

Remodeling

Rock Squirrels

Something Different

The Nightly Ritual

In the past I've sat outside on the porch and waited for the ringtails to show up and then feed them their hot dogs. Over the winter was a little too cold to sit out their for unknown hours so I sat their hot dogs up in the rafters and let them come whenever they liked and their meal was there. With warmer nights I'm seeing them more frequently just from being outside more. Still crazy as ever.

Haydukers Stop By

With 800 or so miles still to go over the next 60 plus days two wanderers of the Hayduke Trail stop by to fill up on water before heading down Lockhart Basin to Needles.

The Gate

Each year the cowboys come through with cattle and close this gate to keep track of them but with a sign that says "Close Gate" so people know they can go through. However the cowboys are long since gone around December and yet, and despite, my wiring the gate open, somebody keeps closing it. Folks that rent vehicles to go to Chicken Corner think they can't go through. Two side by sides showed up around noon and said the gate was closed and they didn't go through so this time I wired it open in about fifteen places and brought the sign back with me. Interesting to me, the footprint of whoever closed the gate initially is the same shoe print that did it last time a month or two ago.

Can You Find The Dog Hiding From Kobae?

Disc Golf Tournament

Sandbar

I thought it would be neat if all the guests and Michelle got to go down the river on a little excursion. I'd been down a bunch of times so I didn't go. Ooops.

What's This?

I saw John and Scott looking at this last time I was on Three Guys but was a little bit of a hurry so didn't pay much attention, but this is pretty cool stuff whatever it is. Click on picture to enlarge.

From Three Guys