Moosen!

I don't know if you remember but a couple of posts ago I talked about buying a gadget that allowed me to take pictures through my binoculars, well it finally came. And check out the very first picture I ever took with it:

Only the second time in my life that I had seen a moose and it was a cow and calf! It was a super exciting moment: we were driving around a bend in the road and something super dark was diving off the east side of the road. Amadeus skidded to a stop and I hurried and shot these pictures. 

Other exciting things happening in my life: on Thursday a couple of Amadeus' friends, Mike and Betsy, came with us to experience a day in the life of the goshawk crew. And let me tell you they were awesome hikers. I'll be honest and say I was a little worried, cause it definitely wasn't the easiest day we've ever had but they both kept up super well. A couple times I stopped to see how far behind they were and Betsy almost ran right over me. But because I am an awesome photographer I totally forgot to take a picture. Either way it was super fun. While we didn't find any live goshawk we did find this little fledgling that probably died last year (you are reading this, so I'm assuming that pictures of dead things don't bother you too much):

This also happened this week:

Yep that's right, if you can't tell I caught my first skunk. Luckily it was just a little guy. But getting rid of him was quite the adventure. A few of my sources (one being the Buenos Nachos Wildlife Biology hotline, staffed by Jim Lamb) told me to sneak up on it with a blanket and cover the cage, then I could carry it wherever I wanted to get rid of it without getting sprayed. Well, first of all that required a little more bravery than I was feeling and second I had the trap staked down and so didn't think I could move it without causing a ruckus. I was happy that the wind was blowing pretty good that day and I just got upwind and shot it in the trap, watching a nice plume of greenish/yellowish mist rise off it after the shot. You're welcome for the details. 

I also caught some ring neck doves in a trap I was trying to catch a squirrel in:

 And I basically caught a rock chuck by the finger nail:

On Saturday Mindy and Marcy were gone so Blinn and I took a drive up Diamond mountain and went to the fish hatchery. I got a lot of good stories out of the deal, especially some crazy hunting ones, and free lunch. An afternoon well spent.

While they were gone I also got to try my hand at keeping up with the chores by myself...it was quite the adventure. A lot of work for a two person crew. Here is a picture of the pigs after the ripped their feeder off the wall so they could both eat at the same time. It's interesting to watch how they fight to get the most food. Bacon may be good and all but I don't think I will ever raise any pigs.

The oat field we planted earlier is coming up pretty good:

It is incredible how satisfying it is to see those little green things sprout up out of the ground. 

Here is a shot of some of the amazing views I get to experience everyday down here in our little patch of heaven. The moon just starting to peek up over the hills.

A couple more pictures to end the post:

I'm sorry I didn't get any selfies in this week but this picture of a cookie will have to do. All I can say is that Mindy makes some of the most divine chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten (I still love yours too mom) and there is nothing like coming back to the truck after a long day only to have one waiting for you. 

A nice wildflower I need to look up:

And can you find the butterfly?

Until next week, keep adventuring!

"Nothing Gold Can Stay"

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

By: Robert Frost

I thought A LOT about this poem this week. I even recited it to my coworker during one of our long hikes. Some people think it is kinda crazy, but like I wrote last time, SO MANY of my childhood dreams are coming true right now and I am just having so much fun everyday. When you are in one of those moments you sometimes start to dread the ending, you can just feel how sad you'll be when the adventure of a lifetime is over. But like this poem teaches we just have to cherish the golden moments, enjoy them, live in the moment and be grateful for the awesome, beautiful, wonderful, fulfilling life that God blesses us with.

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to write another post. I literally think about it daily, but between hiking 8-12 miles a day and learning all about farm life, I run out of time and energy by the end of the day. Which unfortunately also means some of the awesome stories slip through the cracks but I will do my best to fill you in.

The Elk that Stalked Me

This is not a joke. I was sitting on a log in the middle of all these lodgepoles, keeping an eye on a nest, when all the sudden I hear some big crashing noises in a thicket to my left. Of course it is pretty loud and I have no idea what is going to come popping out of there, but I just hold my position on the log. When all of a sudden out comes this little calf elk and just starts walking toward me, like he doesn't know I'm even there. He gets within about 20 feet before I decide to move so that neither of us gets too jumpy. But it was a pretty cool experience that isn't even done justice by this photo.

On another day Amadeus and I start out on what we think will be a two hour hike to a nest (which we started at 2pm, thinking we could be done before quitting time)...well 5 hours, 3 big boulder fields, an incredibly thick stand of lodgepole, some scratches and two goshawk NESTLINGS later we finally make it back to the truck. BUT. The two baby goshawks and an awesome shed I found literally made it all worth it. And Amadeus and I learned a thing or two about not just blindly trusting the detailed Forest Service directions we receive. Sometimes you've got to follow the elk instead, they actually know what is up in the forest. And sometimes you have to be willing to think a little more like Darwin, or really any other great scientist. Good science takes time and sometimes what seem like wasted efforts, but if you don't put the effort into good observation...you'll never get anywhere.

Thus Amadeus' first selfie after the long hike!

On another note I caught a magpie by the beak in one of my traps this week. I guess he thought that rock chuck guts sounded like a good afternoon snack. I also caught a mink and another feral cat, but I didn't get a good picture of them.

I'm sorry that those are all the stories I can think of for now. I played the violin in church, Mindy and I played detective as to how and why a rabbit had been dismembered and left in our shed, and I got a fitbit so now I'm kinda crazy about getting ten thousand steps a day...although let's be real that is only very hard for me on the weekends. The first day I had it I hiked 11 miles and had some 27,000 steps...
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

One of our crazy chickens, I was just trying to get a good picture of his beard.

We did get this cool view from our crazy 5 hour hike. 

View from the Red Canyon Visitors center.

I also tied some flies this week, if you can even see that little guy. Although I haven't been fishing out here yet.

A great view of Moon Lake, the Ashley seriously has some beautiful country.

Ok seriously, I want to know: who has ever drank from a glass Gatorade bottle?

The Gold. An awesome sunset that my phone camera did not do justice to. 

Well, thank you to my three faithful readers who have made it this far. Hope you are enjoying the journey vicariously, because I am seriously having THE BEST time.

Fine Tuning the Machine

Welcome back to Syd's wonderland.

We'll get back to the title in a minute, first I want to tell you about how some of my earliest dreams are coming true. As a small child I roamed the backyard in Wranglers, red cowboy boots (I don't know how the red clothing fixation started) and a battered old straw cowboy hat handed down to me by my cousin Cody. Oh, and let's not forget the wooden Colt revolver replica that was always tucked into my belt, sometimes with a wooden 30-30 stuffed down the back of my shirt. That little half acre of grass that we lived on was all the wild west one could ask for. A little later a few books lovingly recommended to me changed up the backyard scene. The "Storm Testament" series by Lee Nelson and "The Francis Tuckett Adventure Series" by Gary Paulsen threw me into a love of mountain men, trapping, muzzleloaders, and my dads old leather breeches (that required a loin cloth to be worn properly). How does this apply to my current situation? Well, when I was about to move out here to Vernal my uncle called me up to tell me what rent would be: 2 rock chucks and 4 prairie dogs a week. And as I later found out, the whole of that could be payed with one raccoon. And thus began the real life of Syd the trapper. A week, 4 rock chucks and 1 coon later...let's just say I'm still looking to hone my skills.

Ok, I know you probably can't see it, but that's my first coon in there. 

Here are a couple other firsts from the week:
I saw my first moose trot across a remote mountain road this week. With thick lodgepole pines on either side it disappeared rather quickly, but still pretty cool.

I also got the crap scared out of me by a ruffed grouse I almost stepped on:

And I got to watch a woodpecker making holes through my binoculars for a while. You'd think that after learning how to study raptors so I could tell Goshawks apart from the other hawks in the Ashley, I would also pay close attention to other birds. As I looked at the woodpecker all I thought was, "Oh, it has some red on it's head, should be easy to look up in my bird guide in the truck..." turns out that there were 13 different woodpeckers in my book with red on their heads. My boss told me it was most likely a Red-naped sapsucker, but I'll be sure to pay closer attention next time.

Look CLOSELY and you can catch a glimpse of my woodpecker

On a random side note, imagine how big your head would have to be if this was your jaw:

And no, Dad, I'm not holding it as far away from my face as possible to make it look bigger.

Ok. Finally. The title.
Tuesday's log: 12 miles, Wednesday's log: 7 miles, Thursday's log: 3 miles
Ok so I asked if we could do an easy day today. Why? Because I realized that when you do work like I'm doing, your most important asset is your body. If it's not working...you can't work...you don't get paid...etc. Sometimes the hiking we do is rather easy, so 12 miles would be nothing, but when a good quarter of those miles is through downed timber...it gets tiring quick. While I can boast that there have been no blisters this week, the balls of my feet have never been more sore, and my right leg likes to remind me that I pulled my hammy last summer. Not to complain. It has just helped me realize that, just like any of my dad's old cars, we've got to keep premium oil in the engine, change the tires out when the tread gets worn and pour a 5 gallon cooler of water on the Powerwagon engine when climbing steep hills pulling the fifth wheel...Or for those of you who don't speak fluent "Rich" that means eating food that is actually nutritious (not just chocolate and PB&Js), stretch those tired muscles, WEAR GOOD SOCKS, and pay close attention when the check engine light comes on. It's been a good week and my body is finally getting used to it. I'll race any of you to the top of a mountain covered in fallen lodgepole pines when I'm done.

Here are some other random pictures you might enjoy:

A sneaky picture I snapped of my hiking buddy.

Old school tree stand

There are lovely wildflowers everywhere

When looked at from the right angle: an ent holding a war staff, guarding a beautiful mountain meadow

In closing all of this is made worth it for the beautiful mountain meadows I hike in and the large number of elk I both see and smell that always cause my heart rate to increase.

If you had the eyes of a goshawk you could see a tiny elk escaping in this picture.

Also I'm thinking about buying something like you see above, so that you don't have to squint so much to try and see what's in my pictures.

Keep adventuring! Feel free to leave comments if you so desire.