Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The Rural Arms Race

Dateline: Monday, 25-September-2006, Wild Mountain Farms

Christie burst into the house shouting "Coyote! He's right there ... get your ... he's ... where are the dogs?!?" I was at my computer upstairs and couldn't see what she was talking about, but since married couples need a certain amount of telepathy, I got the gist of it and ran downstairs. While I got my rifle, unlocked the gun lock, loaded the clip with "varmint" rounds, and put on shoes, Christie explained that there was a coyote right across the creek, not 20 yards from a pond full of terrified ducks and geese ... in broad daylight.

Dateline: Saturday, 23-September-2006

Christie and I spent the day in town with Janice, Katy, Paul, Lucia, and Ella. Jarred agreed to feed the animals for us so we could have more time with family. While Jarred was in the main barn feeding, the dogs went crazy. He poked in his head out in time to see Louie and Rajah charging toward the barn. He looked around and saw a coyote in the barnyard ... in broad daylight. When the dogs got close, the coyote turned and loped off back the way he'd come. Jarred went to his truck for a gun in case the dogs needed help, but they chased that coyote back over the mountain.

Jarred finished the feeding and came out of the barn to hear a horrible ruckus from the ducks and geese. He looked over and thought he saw Rajah at the edge of the pond. As he was about to scold Rajah for terrorizing the birds, he saw another Rajah a little ways off in the pasture, and two more behind him. As he got closer, he realized that four coyotes were closing on the pond. By the time he was within pistol range, they decided to retreat.

Dateline: Monday, 25-September-2006

We ran out to the back porch in time to see the coyote right by the footbridge. To reach the pond, all he'd have to do is cross that bridge. He spotted us on the porch and backed off to the base of the hill to consider his options. We took a moment to do the same. Without many words, Christie and I agreed that I should shoot this coyote. I took aim and fired. He twitched, then rolled down the hill. Until that moment, I'd never fired a gun at a living thing.

Dateline: Sunday, 24-September-2006

Upon hearing Jarred recount the tale of the four coyotes stalking the waterfowl I realized the coyotes had raised the stakes. It started when they began taking chickens from us. Then, we got Louie to guard the ranch animals, and he put the coyotes back in their place. In answer to that, the coyotes changed tactics, and sent one member of the pack to lead the dogs away while the others feasted. If Jarred hadn't been there, we would have lost many birds. We'd never seen more than one coyote at a time at the ranch before.

Dateline: Monday, 25-September-2006

The coyote only twitched a little after the first shot, but I fired again to make sure he wasn't suffering. Christie and I didn't say anything for a while, letting the import of the moment sink in. For me, it meant we had raised the stakes of our little rural arms race another notch. I felt bad for having to kill the coyote, but I hoped the rest of the pack would be deterred by my action. Time will tell if the coyotes decide to go back to eating field mice and wild rabbits. They may have developed a taste for fowl, which would be a shame.

Monday, September 25, 2006

There's gold in them thar' hills!

One of the great things about living in the west is that the land isn't all used up yet. Case in point is the Garnet Ghost Town. This is one of the most amazingly well preserved ghost towns anywhere. Due to a major fire, the town doesn't look anything like it did in its heyday (over 1000 people lived there), but the feel of the town is still very much alive. When you walk through the buildings, like the three storey hotel, you can easily get a glimpse of what life must have been like.

Unlike most mining boom towns, Garnet was very family friendly. They even went so far as to have a cabin set aside for newlyweds in which a young couple could live until they built their own place, or another couple got married, whichever came first. What amazed me was that so many families would end up in such a remote place. It is remote by today's standards, which is to say you have to drive on dirt roads to get there, and there are no power lines or phone lines running to it. (Wait a second, that sounds like our ranch!) However, when you contemplate what was involved to support a town of 1000 people, it boggles my mind.

Today, there are two roads that lead to the town, one of which is narrower and steeper than Mill Creek Road, where we live. (Those of you who have visited the ranch will appreciate how narrow and steep the road must be.) The other road has been developed by the BLM for recreational purposes, and even on that road, you have to climb quite a ways from the valley where highway 200 runs up to the site of the town. What took my pickup a half hour to drive must have taken all day in a wagon!

Here is a link to the location on Google Maps, so you can see just how far back in the hills we're talking about. Even though it takes a while to get there (about 1.5 hours) it worth the trip. If you're ever out here visiting the ranch, this is a must see.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Snow!!

I woke up on Saturday morning to a winter wonderland. There was snow everywhere about 1" deep and it was still coming down. :) It stuck around most of the day, and I'm happy to say there's still a small pile of it down by the barn.

In other news ... er ... umm ... sorry, I've got nothing. I'm very pleased to report that nothing interesting happened at the ranch last week. Another week or two like this, and I might actually get around to working on a fun project.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Hot Springs Eternal

Our anniversary was the 2nd but we had company in town so we delayed the celebration until this last weekend. After the long summer we've had, the delay seemed almost intollerable, but it was worth the wait!

Friday after work, we headed up to Hot Springs, MT, and spent the weekend at the Symes Hotel. It is a beautiful old place built in 1928. They have somehow managed to maintain the charm and pace of an earlier time. We spent our days soaking in the pools and relaxing. In the evening we dined in their little bistro and were even entertained by a "cowboy blues" trio in the big common room. There was no cover charge, but they did pass the hat (literally) to pay the band.

One interesting thing about the people at the Symes is that they seemed to form a tight-knit community. I got the impression that you don't get "hired" to work there, you get "adopted." There were numerous characters who hung around, from the little old guy who ran the gift shop, to the lady who makes and sells massage stones. They were all interesting to chat with.

I feel much replenished by our weekend away, something that I don't think we could have accomplished by shutting ourselves in at the ranch and telling everyone to stay away. If any of you are considering a visit out here, I'd highly recommend a trip to the hot springs, they are only about 90 minutes from the ranch.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Size Matters!

Oh My God, Becky, look at his Solar Array, it is so big! ;)

We decided to fill out our solar array this year. We got eight panels on a 14 panel mount last fall. Last week we added the other six panels to complete the array. This puts us at 14 x 170 = 2380 watts! The solar installers said this was the biggest single mount they've ever done.

Before the solar power came in, our generator would run 2-3 times per day for 3-4 hours. With the eight panels, our generator still needed to run once each night. Well, two days ago, we had our first all solar day. We got enough power into the batteries during the day to last us all night!!!

Since then, we've had some partly cloudy days, so I don't have a lot of data with which to establish a pattern. However, even if we only last all night every other day, that is still cutting generator run-time in half! At that rate, these panels will pay for themselves pretty quick.

BTW, my little friend in the picture is none other than Chico. Here's a bonus picture of the little bugger. :)