Saturday, April 29, 2017
34 Kim Jong-uns
Today, Saturday, I saw Kobae moving a little on the porch and looking over his shoulder at me. That tells me he was about ready to go stare at the fridge and wait for his servant (me) to bring him his food. So.....I fed the three Breakfast at Tiffany's locations with a little extra sunflower seeds to get the rock squirrels that were lurking waiting for Kobae food to depart for the feeding spots. One minute after throwing food down at each of the locations I photographed 12 out back, ten on the side, and 12 out front. There are at least 34 of them and I'm sure I missed 5 or 10 that came to the feeding spots later. I had my best friend from high school show up with three of his friends and while we were talking they kept going for Kobae's food and I kept blowing them off the porch with squirt guns. They'd come right back at me again. Twice while I was standing right in the doorway to the front of the lodge squirt gun guarding Kobae's food while he was eating two ran right by my legs and in the lodge. I chased em out with a broom and squirt gun firing away. Shortly after I noticed them jumping up on tires of cars in the parking lot plotting for ways to break in so I sprayed all tires and engines with Critter Begone.
Having had the truck, jeep, and generator all hit by them before the mechanics tell me that some vehicles spark plug wires and starter wires are made of a vegetable derivative of some sort, I forget which vegetable, making them a tasty treat for critters.
They still hung around the vehicles but didn't jump up on them anymore. That doesn't mean they're defeated it just means they're designing a new plan. In the military I was a prison guard for eight years and it always seemed unfair that as a guard we had a million things to do and the prisoners had 24 hours a day to figure out how to escape. Who's odds does that favor? That's how this is starting to feel. They haven't come up with a nuclear weapon yet but I'm nervous they're working on it.
Having had the truck, jeep, and generator all hit by them before the mechanics tell me that some vehicles spark plug wires and starter wires are made of a vegetable derivative of some sort, I forget which vegetable, making them a tasty treat for critters.
They still hung around the vehicles but didn't jump up on them anymore. That doesn't mean they're defeated it just means they're designing a new plan. In the military I was a prison guard for eight years and it always seemed unfair that as a guard we had a million things to do and the prisoners had 24 hours a day to figure out how to escape. Who's odds does that favor? That's how this is starting to feel. They haven't come up with a nuclear weapon yet but I'm nervous they're working on it.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Base Camp Throw Down: Pretty Cool
Each year they leave me a special disc after their weekend of disc and camping is over and it's much appreciated.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
A Day Off
If you count four loads of laundry, hanging on the line, and cleaning three rooms as a day off.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Just Some Stuff
The lodge has been so busy since early March and the weekends for campers is crazy. Usually most if not all the rooms are full and there are 25 to 30 campers on the hill by the hogans. On Saturday there were 25 campers on the hill playing disc, eight more staying in the lodge, and 30 random people showed up off and on all day to play.
Coming back from town on Friday I ran across two guys riding their bicycles and ask them where they were headed. They said they didn't know for sure but they had lots of water and lots of food on the trailer so they were just going to keep going until they ran out. They showed up at the lodge after a wrong turn five or so miles down Kane Creek Canyon, left there stuff here, then biked around Jackson Hole. After hanging out with Kobae for awhile they loaded up and headed down Lockhart Basin saying they'd be back in two or three days, but so far they haven't.
On Sunday a camper came down from the hogans and said he saw what must be ringtails run under the side of the lodge. He described them as gray with long tails. I showed him a rock squirrel and he said that wasn't what he saw. As I'm driving back from Last Hurrah on Monday I see two really small, almost miniature red foxes run across the trail right in front of me. I've had a high point of 11 gray foxes. I've seen one kit fox. I've seen one red fox on this side of Hurrah Pass and that's it for foxes. To see two very young ones is a big surprise.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
If You Remember
Last year on Halloween Kobae and I were hiking down the quiet streets of Tierrasanta in San Diego, Kobae minding his own business and I reading a book when a TV reporter and camera person from San Diego Channel 10 showed up and started following us. In time I wound up in my Bunny costume I had just bought to take Kobae trick or treating as the Tortoise and the Hare, the head piece is a sweat box just in case your ever tempted to have your own hare costume. The TV reporter was going through her phone a day or two ago and realized she had forgotten to send a couple pictures that were taken to Heather and she just forwarded them on.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Epic
People driving off the roads and trails is of epic proportions this year. Every road gets a little wider and more people are going off the road and making new trails. Unchecked, the whole place will be a dirt trail. In addition once or twice a week I find people camping on the property out on the fringes and kick them out. On the other side of Hurrah Pass there is a sign that says no camping next six miles but it appears that doesn't mean much. Doug has employed Lance to take the front end loader and put large rocks and piles of dirt where they have been traveling to prevent further spread of the problem and I've begun taking the electric trials bike each evening and patrolling the property to catch campers before they've settled in and see if there's anybody on their way back to turn in their rental that just had to destroy a couple more bushes and leave their mark off the trail.
The Rock Squirrels
The rock squirrels are outlaw legend around here. They all have long criminal histories and are teaching their young the same. You've seen their pictures at the post office and on the FBI web site.
They know when people are checking out and as they go to their vehicles they will run in their rooms and tip the trash cans over. As they leave their vehicles to go back and get more luggage the rock squirrels will get in their vehicles and see what they can steal. More than one vehicle has gone to leave and stopped part way down the driveway, opened a rear door and a rock squirrel jumped out, stopped again a little further down the driveway and another one jumped out.
Hikers, folks on bicycles, guests, anybody with a backpack is strongly advised not to leave your pack outside. They can break into or eat through your pack in under a minute and any food you have will be gone. Yes they are cute but behind that smile evils lurks.
The big thing for me the last couple years is they try and steal Kobae's food while he's still eating it. I had two, now four large squirt guns I spray them with whenever they come to the porch because I'm sure that no good is in their heart. Sometimes I can throw the food out to the Breakfast at Tiffany's spots around the lodge and that will distract them, but not for long. They have chewed through the screens, eaten wiring in a few vehicles, and are always trying to get in the lodge.
When last fall came there were 26 rock squirrels and every day one or two disappeared. When the first snow came there were only four left. I assumed the nine raccoons that frequent the place were taking their toll in rock squirrel dens at night. However with the emergence of warm weather I count 26 of them again. Apparently once their dens and bellies are full they just retire for the winter. They are back with a vengeance and I sense a long and lengthy battle over the summer.
They know when people are checking out and as they go to their vehicles they will run in their rooms and tip the trash cans over. As they leave their vehicles to go back and get more luggage the rock squirrels will get in their vehicles and see what they can steal. More than one vehicle has gone to leave and stopped part way down the driveway, opened a rear door and a rock squirrel jumped out, stopped again a little further down the driveway and another one jumped out.
Hikers, folks on bicycles, guests, anybody with a backpack is strongly advised not to leave your pack outside. They can break into or eat through your pack in under a minute and any food you have will be gone. Yes they are cute but behind that smile evils lurks.
The big thing for me the last couple years is they try and steal Kobae's food while he's still eating it. I had two, now four large squirt guns I spray them with whenever they come to the porch because I'm sure that no good is in their heart. Sometimes I can throw the food out to the Breakfast at Tiffany's spots around the lodge and that will distract them, but not for long. They have chewed through the screens, eaten wiring in a few vehicles, and are always trying to get in the lodge.
When last fall came there were 26 rock squirrels and every day one or two disappeared. When the first snow came there were only four left. I assumed the nine raccoons that frequent the place were taking their toll in rock squirrel dens at night. However with the emergence of warm weather I count 26 of them again. Apparently once their dens and bellies are full they just retire for the winter. They are back with a vengeance and I sense a long and lengthy battle over the summer.
Haydukers
I found Veggie and Karma (trail names) on Hurrah while on the way to town. The 10th and 11th wanderers of the Hayduke Trail this year. Usually I get four to six a year but this year they have been out in numbers. It seems crowded on the Hayduke versus most years. Still with a trail that's 880 miles long that's only one hiker per 80 miles so I suspect it will survive it. I haven't seen a single Discovery Trail hiker this year and I usually get at least two to four of them each year.
Monday, April 17, 2017
Something Different
Mason emailed me a month or so ago about a different sort of excursion. With two friends he showed up Saturday with a pack raft and bicycle each. I took them to the boat ramp where they took their bikes apart and put them on the small rafts. Then they kayaked down the Colorado for 20 something miles to Lockhart Canyon where they let the air out of their rafts, put their bicycles back together, packed their rafts and rode 20 something miles of Lockhart Basin back to here.
Kobae
Despite a weekend with 25 campers and 15 dogs (a new record by double almost), Kobae chased but three of them.
Thursday, April 13, 2017
The Parking Lot
It took me 90 minutes to visit every exhibit and I took 154 pictures. As I was leaving I found this in the parking lot a couple stalls away from my truck.
Rigid
To me, this was the craziest thing I saw at the Jeep Show. This huge beast of a vehicle in the first two pictures was towing this large coach trailer. Music was blaring and it had signs indicating it was a learning center so I went inside to see what the deal was. The whole inside was packed with screens like the inside of an ESPN trailer at the Super Bowl. I ask the guy what the purpose was and he said that each of those screens runs a demonstration of how Rigid lights are better than any other lights. What? They had at least a half a million into those vehicles to show their lights are better?
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