Thursday Morning: In Search of the Ravens

I've decided I don't really want to get into it with the ravens though I know eventually we will. I'll try and make it friendly but they are problem children and it's unlikely. However after my experiences with the hawks a few years ago I do know the only thing that will make them set up and take notice that they have an admirable foe is to visit them at their homes. So after a couple days of rain and not being able to shake my cold, it's a nice day, and I feel a little better so in anticipation of the eventual confrontation with the ravens I'm going to start mapping out all the places in the cliffs that they call home. That's what Jax and I are searching for on this day. First we find a rabbit leg. Then a couple locations, one potential next, one look out rock, with raven scat on them. The next month or 45 days is the most dangerous time to be exploring the cliffs from the bottom up. Rocks that have been thinking about falling for many years and ledges on the edge of breaking and falling get one final encouragement from Mother Earth. It rains or snows, the water gets down in the cracks, and freezes. When water freezes it expands around 10%, that last little nudge that the pondering falling rocks and ledges have been missing. Now, when it warms up a little and the ice melts, there's nothing to keep them from crashing down on whatever might be below them.

Even More Stuff

We've set the date for this year's disc golf tournament. It's March 10th and as like last year it will be a no drivers tournament. There will be the usual 18 holes with four to six more baskets on the long holes to eliminate drivers. Then it's going to spill over to a new back 12 to 18 more holes on the recently acquired property and finish back on the original Hole 18. So, somewhere around 40 or so holes. I want to see how the property holds up before making 18 to 36 more holes permanent.

Our web page and email hosting company is going out of business so we're switching to a new location. Soon, within the week probably you may not be able to find us until the settings are redone. The address won't change, it just takes a day or two sometimes for the web to adjust to our new location. If after a couple days you can't find us, click out of your browser and then back in again and we should show up.

A few weeks ago Rachel and I managed to find all the parts and put the tube worm back together. At one time, years ago, Linny and I had named him, but I can't find the posting.

Sunday: In Search of Raven

Jax and I spent Sunday afternoon in the canyons under the road going up to Hurrah Pass searching for ravens.

Just Some More Stuff

With my little bit of extra time now, thanks to Johnny, I'm catching up on reading, things, books, I had planned for quite some time. While I was knocking off a book every three to five days before the run up to online booking the next book took 4.5 months to read. After multiple encounters and a long running winter battle with a sharp-shinned hawk someone recommended I read "H is for Hawk". About a lady determined to train a hawk, but the only book she can find about training a hawk is from a guy a century before who was a pedophile, did most all training of his hawk wrong, and mentioned his fascination with children. Well that's how I remember it. Despite all that it was a very, very, good book.

A few days ago when Jax and I got ready to go on our hike I called him and heard someone else call him also. I looked over on the garage where the voice came from and there was a raven looking the other way. I'm absolutely certain it was the raven that spoke. When they fly overhead or follow us around I call to them "raven, raven". I want to be able to be out hiking with guests some day and have them talk to us. To look up in the sky as they follow us and say "Who are you?" and they answer "raven, raven." They're just looking for trouble so I should learn as much as I can. I've learned much already. They can mimic other birds, they kill other birds babies and rub their deaths in deeply in front of the parents, they are territorial to their nest with young. They can dive at you, throw gravel on you (they're all right handed), and flying in with speed push larger rocks than you would think possible down into the canyon at you. I stood on the back porch once when six of them were out on the rocks watching me. I stared down at the sheep pen and then looked back over and they were all looking where I had been looking. One of them flew down to check out what I was looking at.

They killed my frienemy. The sharp-shinned who I battled a whole winter and then we came to an agreement and he became my friend. They killed him and planted some of his feather around the body standing up in the dirt. Maybe a tribute to their enemy or the battle just fought. They eat their enemies and their young. When I was out with Ivan the Terrible learning to track a few years ago they would fly ahead and then come back, then fly ahead again. I believe they were leading us to a possible kill so they could have the carcass. They speak bird, they speak English, at least here. They know how to say Jax.

Some say a crow has three pinion feathers and a raven four. Others say the crow has four pinion feathers and the raven five. It's a matter of a pinion. A gathering of crows is a murder of crows, a gathering, like I have of ravens some mornings, is a conspiracy of ravens.

I've bought two books from the guy that seems to have the most real world experience with them. I've moved them to the top of the reading list and while I'm reading them, I'll be going out to search for ravens. Just Jax and I, a conspiracy of man and man's best friend.

I suppose I should mention that Michelle called and said she'd be in Friday to pick Jax up and take him to Colorado where she's going to take a month or so off working to read and write where it's really quiet. I ask if she'd like me to meet her at I-70 and the Moab turnoff of 191 to hand off Jax. She said she'd rather do it here. That way she can read and write where it's quiet, hang out with Jax, but I can still take him out exploring every day which is the life he loves. Last night Michelle moved in next door at Last Hurrah so Jax and I are still hiking buddies for awhile and if we're going to match wits with the smartest bird alive we'll have to both be crazy and Jax has a huge head start on that. Sometimes it just works out like it's suppose to.

Just Some Stuff

Johnny, of across the river Caveman Ranch for 13 years fame called a month or so ago and said he needed a job. Boy do I have one. So, he's been working here catching up on all the things I didn't get done over the last few months after the online listings got the lodge and Last Hurrah extremely booked and busy.

Tuesday night Johnny and I are watching tv in the living room when all of a sudden Jax jumps off the couch and starts running back and forth from front door to back door barking. Usually he just does that stuff when Johnny stands up and gets in some sort of martial arts one legged swan karate thing and then Jax goes nuts and starts running around in circles 100 miles per hour, maybe a little faster.

I grab a headlamp and head for the front door. Jax runs around the lodge real fast, stops, take a poop, runs around the lodge real fast three more times, then comes inside and goes back to sleep on the couch. Maybe last weeks dive off the roof did more damage than I thought.

Over the holidays the lodge and the main house at Last Hurrah were both full. As 16 or so guests were checking into the lodge one of the ladies said "Almost everybody here is getting over something." Turns out whatever various colds, sinus, and throat issues they were almost over, I caught them all. Despite my weakened condition I decided on Wednesday to hike up to Hurrah and back to get Jax in another good hike before he departed. We get about 1,000 feet past the Base Camp sign and Jax stops suddenly, stares for three or four minutes at the Anti-Cline cliffs to our right, then comes running back to me and starts jumping up and down on me, then heads back down the road for the lodge, constantly turning back to make sure I'm following him. Jax has been out here a long time as I have and I suspect, like I do, he senses things sometimes, hard to say if it's something that's not right, something that's going to happen, or something that isn't suppose to be here. Maybe he has a feeling that something happened to Johnny so I follow him back to the lodge and Johnny is cleaning rooms and he's fine. Jax goes in the office and goes to sleep on my desk.

On Thursday, my cold has gone from a six on the Richter scale to a 481. Still I want to get out and a couple vehicles show up during the day to play disc golf so Jax and I hang with them for an hour or so.

Two of them don't think their car will make it over Hurrah so through the binoculars I see them get out of their vehicle and start walking down Hurrah Pass. Jax and I head over to Last Hurrah, get the Polaris side by side, drive up and give them a ride and later after their round, take them back. When people have that much heart that they are willing to hike five miles round trip to play how can you not give them a ride?

With Johnny now taking care of the cleaning and maintenance I'm getting ready for the season starting end of February. Usually this time of year I have about $5,000 in advance bookings but I went over $30,000 this morning so probably going to double last year's revenue again. I'm cleaning the office out and getting it more organized and I come across this. My bottle of pee that I've put away for Jane Fonda in case I die before her and don't get to make a personal tribute on her grave. Been sitting on the top shelf for a couple years since I had an incident where I thought I was dying and therefore making it more difficult to visit her in person.

 

While I won't personally get to express my gratitude for her thought process during Viet Nam I went on Amazon and after reading the reviews "works as advertised", "American Legion and VFW loved them", "not one complaint since installed", "visit her daily". 100% rating. Wow, so I bought 20 of them. Feel better already.

Tuesday Ride and Hike

Michelle can't make it to get Jax until Thursday so Jax and I set out to help the cowboys find some of their missing cows and we took a ride to Chicken Corner and then hiked around to see what we might see.

New Year's Day Hike

Michelle said she'd be out to pick up Jax on Jan 2nd so I wanted to get him a good hike before he left. Guests checked out of the lodge early and by 11am or so we hit the red dirt. We hiked up the river cliffs above Last Hurrah all the way to the Grand County/San Juan County dividing line in Jackson Hole and then cut over the to the road and took it back. Five hours and some change. Instead of running off the road to go check things out constantly Jax began conserving energy the last mile or two on the way back and when we reached the lodge he went inside, went to the office, got in his bed and went to sleep. Usually he comes in with a toy and want to play keep away but that didn't happen last night. He is so red and orange and has so much stuff stuck to him it's unlikely Michelle will recognize her designer (desert) dog when she next sees him.