Stuff

Couple of weird nights. Two nights ago I walk outside and there are five foxes waiting for a hot dog, two ringtails, a skunk and a bunch of baby raccoons. I'm putting food down and feeding everybody and it's a nice night and then somewhere off in the darkness I hear what sounds almost like a train coming. It's out by the Base Camp sign but it's coming this way. I've been through these before and they have completely torn the porch roof off in previous times and sent it out on vacation. I think it's complete now. Every porch roof has been replaced but in fairness they weren't nailed down that well originally.

I put water containers up against all the trash cans and bunjis over the tops. I run inside and close the back door so the mini tornado doesn't pull everything out of the lodge. Just as I get to the front door the violent wind hits. I have to put all my weight against it but it closes and then things get tossed around for three or four minutes. Then it's over.

I walk back outside and the porch is still there, and the roof. The food and water bowls are gone so I'm off finding and replacing them and the rest of the night is wonderful. There was a 15 minutes or so lull while the little people all compose themselves and then it's back to the porches for everyone.

In the morning I find a big cross beam lying on the side of the front porch and when I look up I see just how close the roof was to leaving on permanent vacation.

Three nights ago guests call and say that the road from Denver was closed for a rock fall and they won't get here until 11pm so Linny and I head out to meet them at the bottom of Hurrah and immediately after we do they get stuck coming up the hill in the dark. I send the driver up to the truck to come down with Linny and I drive it up and down Hurrah to the hogans. The following morning they go right back out to Arches. I don't know.

I thought we were almost out of Colorado Chipmunks but I stuck the GoPro by the back water bowl and this is two of the 20 or so occasions where Colorado Chipmunks came to the bowl over two hours.


The smoke was about cleared out but a big fire is blazing south of Salt Lake on Hwy 6 and the road from Salt Lake to Price is closed.