All Kinds of Stuff

Jax and I spent a couple days off and on chasing cows off the property and then the cowboys showed up and got ten of them but as soon as I saw them going up Hurrah four more walked around the corner into the property. The next day they were gone. I think even the cows know there is trouble waiting. Then the rain came and cut off the road to Last Hurrah. Teresa and I shoved the road back together again.

The drag marks got washed out by the water going down the creek bed. Jax and I headed down to the beach after the rain quit to see if we could pick up any tracks of anything. If not, no tracks. and no little people showing up to eat tells me the mountain lion is still here.

Jax doesn't pick up a smell and I don't pick up any tracks. We head into the creek bed to see if anything has changed. It has. The mountain lion as returned and dragged the kill further up the hill to keep it from getting swept away in the rain waters and pretty much ate what's left. More importantly it's not visiting by going up or down the creek bed it's coming in from a trail up above. This could have gone bed. I wasn't looking for that at all.

It's incredible how far the trees that use to have their trunks buried have moved out into the middle of the creek bed and you can see another one a bit down stream about to join them.

Day After Christmas

When Jax and I went outside this morning there were no cows. Apparently the cowboys got here early and guided them out. Still Jax and I made a little drive around the property to be sure. When we got to the beach I thought I'd check to see if there were any new mountain lion tracks. It covered up the kill so it's coming back. Jax and I hiked down the creekbed and it had already returned and finished off the deer.

It didn't cover up the remains this time though really there weren't much remains left.

Later in the day we met Theresa over at Last Hurrah and hiked the Boulder Canyon.

I think the cows left on their own knowing the mountain lion was here. Tonight no critters showed up for feeding. None. The mountain lion is close.

Christmas at Base Camp

Jax and I spent part of the day hiking around the property looking for fresh signs of the mountain lion.

A week or so ago there were two women staying in the female hogan. They called on the walkie one evening to ask if there were any sort of ghosts over at Last Hurrah. I told them I'd never had anything come up. They said they were outside and saw something white pass between the Star Link dish and block it out. It's on the roof of the main house. They decided to retire for the night and went inside the hogan. They called again to say they could hear small children laughing. I told them there was nobody else staying over there. The following morning they checked out a day early.

A few days later Jax and I went up the hill above the lodge to check on Doug's hogan while we were hiking. We walked inside the hogan and immediately heard small children laughing outside the hogan on the south side. Jax and I looked at each other at the same time and listened. We had just walked around the entire hogan and there was nobody around for as far as we could see. As soon as I opened the door and went outside the laughing went away. There were no footprints or anything.

On our hike back to the lodge we ran across another group of cows and Jax took off right towards them. He loves being a cattle dog. He has no idea what's he's doing but he's just happy these big things run from him. This time however the cows all gathered together and stared at him. Jax got within about 50 feet and they all started walking towards him. He ran back to me still happy he got to chase even if they didn't run. I called the cowboys and told them I was having to chase the cows down the drive way every day and he said he would be here first thing in the morning. His wife said that if he came all the way out here on Christmas he wouldn't have a house to come back to.

Kobae's Christmas

Kobae hiked the San Diego neighborhood for Christmas and everyone came out to say Hello.

The Kill

I finally got a chance to clean out the beater that I took Kobae back to San Diego with. All the wrappers and empty cups I threw in the back seat while I was driving trying to stay awake. I'm in the middle of the California desert somewhere and see an Artic Circle off the freeway and remember how wonderful their chocolate malts use to taste. I walk in the front door and tell them I just want a large chocalte malt, not shake, malt and a couple hot dogs. Guy says $20. I say a malt and two hot dogs. He says the malt is $11 and hands me a little cup. I said a large malt. He says that is large. I seriously busted up laughing. The look on his face never changed. We just stared at each other and I gave him $20.

There are cows all over the property, just a couple hours ago, 8pm or so this Saturday night Jax, Teresa, and I chased two cows out of Kobae's pen and three more out of the back yard in the dark.

Jax and I hiked over to the north side of the property today to put water in the solar batteries we took over there from the lodge and added them to what was at Last Hurrah already while the lodge got all new batteries. Both places storage capacity doubled. On the way back we cut through what's left of the boneyard road. I wanted to check the beach and see if there were any new mountain lion tracks. There weren't. Jax and I hiked back to the end of the drag mark where the kill disappeared. There were two sets of drag marks. At first I thought it had killed twice, but then again, maybe it doubled back with the kill.

I followed the double drag marks where they stopped and went up a hill.

There, mostly covered up with the belly open and intestines hanging out along with the legs lay what's left of the deer. The mountain lion mostly covered it up, to me, meaning it's coming back to get it's stash at some point. A few weeks ago one night none of the night critters showed up and on the blog I put the mountain lion is here. If not that night, the next, or the one after that, or perhsps every night.

Dying Time is Here

It's good to walk the propety occasionally to see what has happened here and there while you weren't around. Teresa asks me to follow her over to the creek. She's amazed how much wider it's gotten in the year or so that she has been here and especially the last four or five months. As I look down into the creekbed I think I see something I hoped I would never see again. Drag marks. The mountain lion has killed something just a few hundred feet from the lodge and is dragging it to where it can eat. You can see the body being dragged by the throat and the legs being pulled along on the other side of the drag mark.

This is where the big horn jumped down into the creek bed with the mountain lion not far behind it and tracking it. The kill is just a few hundred feet away where the drag marks start.

Mostly Jax is leading and Teresa not far behind. The tracks are a few days old and nothing new so little chance of danger. I kept expecting Jax and Teresa to walk around the next corner and that's where they'll find what's left of the big horn. If nothing else at least the skull. The tracks and the drag marks stop on a small ledge and that's where everything ends. I keep looking to see where the kill is buried or a few bones but there's nothing but where everything was consumed. The mountain lion then walked out on the beach, got a drink of water and headed up the boat ramp next to the kayaks. I never picked up anymore tracks on the rest of the hike.

Outer Loop

Today Teresa, Jax, and I hiked the outer loop wihich starts with a disguised road going off to the left on the way up Hurrah Pass, circles out past Thousand Eyes and drops down onto the Jackson Road coming back from Jackson Hole.

Was in the 40 degree range today and that's looking like a temperature we're going to see frequently up to the first of the year.

Cowboys came through a couple days ago and said they pushed all the cows out of Jackson Hole but they might have missed a few. We get back from the hike and there are eleven cows in the backyard.