I'm working in Utah again this fall. During the past week, I went to tour a couple of sites on the north end of the La Sal Mountains. That whole area, from Moab to Grand Junction to Durango, has become horribly crowded. The highways and campgrounds are twice as busy as they were even just two years ago. On the other hand, it is hard to blame the poor SOBs: These views into Bull Canyon (above) and Fisher Creek (below) explain some of the attraction.
This time the plan was for EDO to run while I rode the bike. It is the only way we can travel at the same speed. It is difficult to believe, but we left the house in the first snowstorm of 2020. By the time we got to the Gap it was dry again, though, which was just as well. We intended to circumnavigate the entire Gap on a series of two tracks, but got detoured by a flock of sheep (well guarded by three Great Pyrenees). In the event, we were out for about an hour, and covered probably four or five miles.
This morning, EDO took the American College Testing (ACT) college admissions test. When she was finished, she sent me a text and I met her at the local mountain biking trailhead. We rode together up Liken-it, and then down the Iron Giant Trail (IGT). I was finished at that point, but EDO wanted one more lap, so she spent another 45 minutes on the bike while I went to Home Depot.
420 Grand had been semi-abandoned before I moved in. As a result, it had become a haven for wildlife—skunks and racoons—as well as feral cats. Little by little I have reclaimed my one tenth acre from small animals. It's not that I dislike them in theory, but in practice I don't prefer skunks under the house and racoons under the wood shed. The latest effort has closed the space under the wood shed. Putting up boards is one thing, but many of my friends are good diggers, so there needs to be a tunnel-proof border to discourage burrowing.
I said earlier that I might need 16 loads of fuelwood for two houses. If so, I'm halfway there. This picture is of load number eight. It is the first one that I cut with a shirt on. That is, the work has been so warm that I have been cutting in a t-shirt, which is not usually a good idea. On this day, though, it was in the high-50s, a relief, and, yes, there were clouds. Clouds without rain, unfortunately, but it was the first break we've had from the sun since August.
This (above) is the flood gate (or stop gate) for the Hog Flat Reservoir. This (below) is the reservoir itself. After 140 days without rain, is there anything missing? I think the reservoir should be re-named: It should revert to the name it had when hogs roamed the flat.
VSO's favorite Wilco song (at least so far) is Passenger Side. She has done a great job learning it and playing it solo. But, EDO came up with an electric guitar part for it that rings like a bell—it sounds just like the way the Edge would play it. (EDO covers a lot of U2, so I guess it is no surprise.) The two of them sound really good. Listen HERE.
