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.