Sunday Afternoon: The Beach is Back

When the snow melt comes, end of May, early June, the river below Base Camp floods into the tamarisk. With the tamarisk getting constantly watered and any weeds and wild growth along with them during that month or two of inactivity by people taking the trail down everything over grows the trail. Once the river begins to go down all the mosquitoes hatch and it's a pint of blood loss to go down to the river even briefly.

It's end of July. The beach should be back, or almost back, so on Friday and Saturday for a half hour or so each day in 95 degree weather so the mosquitoes will be inactive I've immersed myself in repellent and headed down to clear the path. At the end of half an hour I'm exhausted, the repellent has sweated off me, and the mosquitoes have awoken.

With Sunday afternoon I'm determined to finish the trail. I've got about 20 feet to go and I should be to the river. Spraying fogger in front of me and all around me plus repellent on me buys me some time, then I have to retreat and do it again, but, it paid off.

Sunday Morning

I walk outside to collect the food bowls from the previous nights raccoon fest and there is a guy sitting on the porch. He's hiking the American Discovery Trail. Five thousand miles from Delaware to the Golden Gate Bridge. He started down Lockhart Basin but he's having water issues and at about the 3,500 mile mark, he's tired. He needs to take a break and get some water. He's going to go back into Moab and take some days off. I offer to give him a ride up Hurrah and maybe a little further. But, things happen.

I Still Got It

Forty years ago I was riding trials on the circuit in Colorado. One of the most difficult circuits of the time. That year six of our riders finished in the top 15 nationally. I was decent. Today I've been doing paperwork all day, it's boring. Time to get out and relive my glory days for an hour or two.

The Water Bowl (96 Degrees)

In the two hours I left the Go Pro in front of the water bowl, 16 rock squirrels, white-tailed antelope squirrels, or Colorado chipmunks came individually to drink. Four times there was inter-action at the water bowl.

Friday Evening

Really Small Mule Deer

If it weren't for the ears it would be about the same height as a gray fox.

Thursday Evening

Pretty Cute

Wow

The last couple days the forecast has said 50 to 60% chance of rain, heavy rain. When it had passed I got almost nothing. Driving into town Wednesday for critter food when I pass the S turn there was a lot of rocks and mud in the road. When I got to the pavement it was mostly mud. When I passed Moonflower Canyon it was 60 to 70 feet of rocks across the road and about a mile before I hit the stop sign the entire west bound lane of the blacktop was gone. A rock three or four times the size of my truck came down, just missed three telephone poles, hit the west bound lane and took the blacktop, dirt, curb, and everything else with it into the river. This the rock sticking up out of the river thirty feet below me.

Blood on he Porch

I heard a horrible fight between two raccoons on the front porch and when I went out to break it up it was over and there was no one there. With daylight I followed a long blood trail until it hit sand where the blood had all been absorbed.

Ringtail in the Rafters

Nice Raccoon, Minutes Later, Not So Nice Raccoon

Raccoons and Foxes

Kobae Likes the Rain

Friday Evening Ride

For the third time in ten years, they graded the road. It's sweet. 

Kobae, Problem Child

Some times by the time it's cooled down outside and Kobae comes out, finishes eating on the front porch, it's dark when he heads back to his house and he can't see very well in the dark at all so I have to put a light in front of him to follow so he can see where he's going. Just as he finally got to his house he smelled the Kit & Kaboodle I had left further out in his yard for the foxes and he wanted some.

Wednesday Evening

Future Vegetarian

Jax watched Kobae eat for 15 minutes or so and then leave some of his food so Jax went down to check it out and see if there was anything there worth munching on but that was quickly unacceptable to Kobae.

Wednesday Evening Hike (Last Hike)

Jax returns to Michelle on Thursday and she has been more than gracious letting him stay for so long. I expect to see him again in the not too distant future. It's pretty clear he's a desert dog.

Drinking Water

With the acquisition of Last Hurrah next door in January it has saved me some time filling up the cisterns by pumping water straight out of the pond in front of the Upper House. As for drinking water, there are two bird baths now which get filled at least once a day, the raccoons by themselves drain the water bowl on the front porch at least three times per night, and the rock squirrels, white-tailed antelope squirrels, and Colorado chipmunks take most of a bowl during the day so about every other week when I go town to get sunflower seeds and bird seed I also fill up the drinking water. Wednesday looked like this. While the number of guests declines during the hot summer drinking water and ice cubes get used more.

Tuesday Evening

Tuesday Evening Hike

Rachel, Elsie, Jax, and I explored the Wind Caves.

Monday Evening Hike

Jax and I hiked out to Land of the Skinny People and then found a new way back, challenging and entertaining.

The Raccoons Win

Two nights ago guests came inside from the front porch and said "You don't have six baby raccoons, you have eight, maybe nine." Last night they came in and said you have at least 11 baby raccoons." I set up three head lamps and the Go Pro and turned it on for an hour going out and counting for myself occasionally. There are three new broods, smaller than the others. There are at least 15 baby raccoons, and eight adults.......at least.

Saturday Evening Hike

Some petrified wood branches from a spin off of Conifer trees 250 million years ago lie in the petrified mud. Jax and I seem to get stuck on ledges a lot.

Where's Jax?

There's a dog here that acts like him, comes to that name, and has all the habits Jax had, except, this dog doesn't look like Jax. He's having an identity crisis. Even he's not sure who he is. I think the grooming lady did a good job. No burrs in his beard/moustache, his ears aren't wet when he drinks water, and he's not orange with stickers all through him and dirt clustered about. Today is the first day he seems to have noticed mosquitoes. Prior I think they couldn't get through the Brillo pad that was his hair.

The Raccoon Tree

Thursday Evening Hike

I'd though we'd about explored every place on the property there was to explore but each day we find narrow little gullies or rock formations we hadn't seen before. Found this little sort of mushroom rock area.

Would be nice if Jax wouldn't either stick his head down every hole we come across or if it's big enough he goes down inside it and disappears. Seems like you go down enough holes.........

Time for the orange dog and I to get back and feed Kobae. Kobae is wandering around a little more. Time to get the packs out and make sure I'm ready to go because the day is coming when he'll head down the driveway and I'll be going with him.