One of those days

Hello again

Let's see... I'm sitting in the public library waiting for a very large file I'm trying to upload. It's the Video of my Cabin. I hope the librarian doesn't kick me off before I have a chance to finish. I'm on the second day of my two days off.

You see, Dale has changed my days off from Thurs-Fri to Tues-Wed. I also have a two day wilderness first aid class on Saturday. So I'm not going to be out in the cabin this week, and Dale and I are going to do some sign work on the trails around park HQ.

This last trip out to the cabin was only 3 days long, and yet I did discover a few new things.
I found interesting phone line fittings on some trees around my cabin. Back in the day, when the forest service had watch towers around here, they ran phone lines between them. The towns that grew here tapped on to those lines. Why put in phone line poles if you have trees? The copper lines are all gone, obviously, but the ceramic rings are still nailed to the trees.
A Pretty weired thing to find in the middle of a forest, a bit like the street light in Narnia.

I've had yet two more encounters with rattle snakes and they were both very close.
The first one was on my way in. Brian drove me out to the Dome road (on the other side of the park). The hike from the Dome to the cabin is only about 4 miles and downhill. It's also a beautiful view as you are coming down into Capulin Canyon (where the cabin is). Brian drove me because I was carrying a pretty heavy back pack- and hiking 10 miles, across two major canyons and a few minor ones, with the Jumbo jar of peanut butter, the Jumbo jar of Jelly (strawberry) and the Maxi-Jumbo bag (it's a small sack really) of beans, didn't seem like a lot of fun to either of us. Only problem with the Dome trail is that that whole area was hit by a major fire back in '96 and there are a lot of dead trees fallen across the trail, so you find yourself going over a quite a few downed logs. Doing that with a full pack ain't fun either. Just as I was going over the last downed log before the creek- we're talking a shout away from the cabin, just when I had both feet on the ground on the one side of it, but still some of my balance on the other end of it, that's when the fat brown rattler that was resting in the shade of the log decided to let me know it was there... I mean, it could have done it before I went over the log (I could have checked too)- As before, I promise- I would have moved! This one was really close and there was no where to jump- I got caught between the log and a big boulder, but this fat one just gave me another little notice and crawled away. I swallowed my heart back down to it's place with only little difficulty.

The second rattle snake friend I made was hiding in a deep hoof-print in the sand on the trail south of my cabin. I was headed down canyon with a heavy sign post on my shoulder and a Pulaski (funny name for a tool, isn't it?) in my bag. One of the signs in the southern part of the park was just leaning on a pile of rocks and needed a sign post. So that's where I was headed. We also had a group of the park's biology and fire-effects folks camping out on one of the mesas all week. They are collecting data and stuff... They had a packer ride in every other day to supply them with water (from my creek) and food. So, I was walking along the trail, following the tracks of the packer and his horses when suddenly I look down and see a medium size, grey rattle snake all curled up in one of the deeper hoof prints left in the sand. It had rained earlier that morning and I think it was just enjoying the shelter and possibly the heat that the hoof had left behind. This one didn't even bother moving or rattling when I jumped. It just stayed there, gave an indifferent look, and went on tasting the air with it's tongue.

My conclusion from my three encounters with these animals (and from talking to Dale) is that they will get out of your way if you give them as much as half a chance. They don't always rattle- if they think they can stay hidden by keeping quiet, and the only quick movement they'll make is biting. You (the average hiker) are too big too be food- which makes you a waste of venom, plus a pissed off big animal (which you will surely become once bitten) is a lot more likely to try something stupid like stomping. Snakes don't like stomping. If you just stay still and let them be- they will crawl away. Another interesting thing, that I didn't know, was that they are deaf. They can feel the vibrations you make on the ground when walking- but they can't hear you.
Only after I finished digging, and put up the post for the sign did I notice that no-one bothered to drill holes in the wooden sign- so I had no way to put it up. So now, instead of the sign leaning on a pile of rocks, it's leaning on a post. Quite an improvement- don't you think?

From there I went on to look for the biology people up on the mesa. I knew, generally, where their camp was supposed to be, and where they were working so I headed towards the general direction. Had to cross a canyon over to the next mesa, so I was expecting a bone-breaking roll down the rockslide/cliff all the way to the bottom of the canyon, and a climb that would kick my little behind up the other side- since all of this was off trail. To my (pleasant) surprise, right before I started rolling down the cliff I spotted an old Indian trail that went up the other side. That saved me the ass-kicking. These old Indian trails can be found all around the park. They, usually, run along the length of the mesas and connect different archaeological sites. They also drop down from the mesas sometimes to where the ancient residents of this region got their water and maybe hunted some of their food. They are no 4 lane highway, they are not even wide enough to ride a horse on, but they will make climbing out of a canyon, and more importantly dropping down into one- a hell of a lot easier, and without rocks rolling from under your feet.
When I got to the top of the mesa I started heading north- again, based on a general perception as to the whereabouts of the survey team, and on the direction the narrow mesa climbed. As far as the landscape goes- it should not have been too hard to spot them- they were working on the top of a pretty flat mesa, if only the junipers weren't exactly the height of your eyes. These trees aren't tall enough for you to get under and enjoy the shade, but they are exactly the right height to block your view. Oh, and they do get dense enough sometimes to force you to go around a whole bunch of them. After about 20 minutes of walking without seeing much I suddenly heard someone go "YO!" and there were Gumaz and Rebeka sitting and having lunch. I sat down and joined them (pulled out my two homemade granola bars) and we had a nice rest and conversation. After about half an hour they had to go back to work and that's when I got to see, for the first time, what these people did. Gumaz is an SCA (intern) like me, and back when I was applying for positions I had also applied for a few position like his in other parks. THANK GOD I DID NOT GET THOSE! The research they are working on has been going on for the past 15 years now. What they basically do is record each and every plant and all the different types of rock and soil along these 300 meter lines they have in different locations in the park. The resolution is one CM. They have two pegs stuck in the ground (so they always return to the same exact line on the ground) and they stretch a length of measuring tape between them. Then they walk along (crouch actually) and write down each plant the tape goes over- where it's foliage starts, on the tape, and where it ends. Talk about your tedious work. You can't argue with the amount of knowledge that's been collected like that over 15 years, but still- I take my hat off for Gumaz. I would go BANNANAS.
The other two members of the team- Kay and Caroline, were back at their camp so I headed over there on my way home. That was easier to spot since 4 yellow tents tend to stick out in the grey-green background. Occasionally I make an ass out of myself- and this was one of those days. When I got to their camp Kay got out of her tent and we started talking. I told her i had just come from visiting Gumaz and Rebeka and she said something along the lines of "That's not a bad hike, they are on the next mesa over", to which I answered- "No they are not. They are down south on this one". What followed was a 4 minute (polite) argument that really didn't go anywhere. Let me just tell you that
A) She was right (of course)

B) It didn't occur to me, even for a second, to stop and think- they have been working on this survey for 15 years now, they use GPS to verify their location and she's been hiking this park for a little longer than me.
We parted as friends- but only because both of us just dropped the subject. I should try a catch her today and apologize.

It was getting late and I headed home, but I had room for one more adventure, and I guess it was time for me to spook a bear.

When I say I spooked a bear I mean that I was just as spooked as it was, only it was quicker than me in running away- so that makes me, kinda' by default, the last man standing.
As I was heading home I saw a bunch of ravens on a tree and decided to go check it out. It was obvious to me that they weren't having a social event, but that something was either dead or dying, and the birds were waiting for their turn to feast. I figured if they could smell it- it wasn't too fresh, so whatever killed it had gone away, and I'd be dealing with coyotes, at the most. Well, just in case, I took my walking stick out. As I was approaching the area I suddenly heard something running in my direction. Something big enough to make stomping noises. Cats can run very quietly- so that really didn't leave too many options as to what animal was approaching. The area was quite dense with Juniper so I couldn't see it. I tried to move to get a better view and suddenly it stopped. I just stood there for about 2 minutes, feeling pretty dumb, and I'm sure it did the same. After those very long 2 minutes I started walking away quietly. Off to my right I could see what all the fuss was about. Hidden in the dense underbrush under a Pinion-Pine was the, pretty old, carcass of a deer. Bears usually can't get full grown bucks, and they sure as hell don't hide them. Apparently this bear got a whiff of the fragrant stash of a mountain lion, and was enjoying his stolen meal when I decided to poke my nose in it's business.
Which was I, more lucky or more stupid?
Between the snake, the sign with no holes, being a know-it-all, and spooking smokey the bear- I think I was just having one of those days