Winter is my favorite time of year in this desert, yet I didn't get out much this winter of 2024-2025. Back problems have become the bane of my existence and cold weather makes it worse. Yet snow adds so much to the scenery, or does the scenery add to the snow? Anyway, I only got to enjoy a small amount of each, scenery and snow. Ok and a bit of mud, that goes with the territory.
And being slow to get these images posted, I'll get to enjoy them all over again myself, like it was yesterday.
So many pictures of the same places I have to say, I don't know a good image from a bad one. Except that when there, the images and the memories are one, making me wonder how lucky I was to have been there at those particular times.
And despite there not being any single outstanding reason for these images, they all say the same thing to me...solitude, with a chance of weather.
Ore likes to introduce himself to the locals, he's a neighborly kind of boy. "Hey, anybody home?"
As usual, it is an every night thing now no matter where we are, me and Ore played ball.
Though he, like me, both have a dirty mouth.
Orley is only 3 years old but has gray hair around his mouth making people think he's an old dog. It works well for him when his friends want him to buy liquor for them.
Squalls came and went, looking for us. Yet nothing much happened besides distant virga.
Bedtime is always great with todays conveniences, like iPads with movies.
I could hear it hitting the softball of the camper that night. Not much, just enough to make me happy to have the camper come morning.
Three or four brief snow storms blew through during that day, not dumping too much snow and melting pretty quick.It was a great day, tho I had lost the far scenery.
Scenery? What's scenery Dad? And who gives a flying fig, I just wanna run!
Next morning was much the same, ah but with a bit of blue sky, enough to stitch a
Dutchman a pair of pants.
I meant to get up early, in time to move on while the roads and two tracks were still frozen. Well, both of us like to sleep in these days, so it was later than I'd wanted.
And no, Ore does not sleep under the covers with me, he has his own doggie blanket.
Driving out, and by a nice sized cattle pond, we saw a sandhill crane with is significant other. Their sounds in the distance are otherworldly, like something from Jurassic Park.
And since we had slept two hours longer than I wanted, our next drive involved mud. Argh!
I might have made it under freezing temps, but not that morning. So much for a clean truck, not that it's important to me. I just hate leaving such a mess at the self-clean carwash when I get home.
And of course tires will throw the stuff even with mud flaps, darn it...
Ok the end of that trip, another coming on, stay tuned...
Going home to regroup and load up, it was chukar season, the hardest bird in the US to hunt. They run up incredibly steep hills of rock, then fly all the way down to the bottom, making you chase them up and down all the dang day. Yet they are the tastiest bird I know of and even if you don't get one you do get to burn calories and are in better shape for it.
And yes, mud is terrible. If you can't drive in it you sure have a hard time walking with 10 pounds of it on your boots, each foot
Orley getting his strategy together, he knows the birds are out there teasing him.
I had gone home to get my side-by-side and hopefully save my truck from mud, it didn't work out. And I brought my wife back too, so she could enjoy, well, enjoy the mud. And look, it was a fantastic trip regardless, we deal with it all.
Not only that but the mud had packed the tie down straps and gas cans...before freezing. I had to beat the frozen mud off the straps and fuel cans to be able to get them off and use them. That was a new one on me.
The road had started off dry and lower in elevation but as I drove higher and further back it all went to mud. I could barely drive with the camper and trailer so I backed onto a berm, small dam actually, for a cattle pond that was covered in ice. It ended up being a great place to camp.
Most of the water in the pond was gone, leaving a solid layer of ice.
In the morning the roads are frozen solid for a while.
But it doesn't take long for roads to thaw out from wind and sun, just enough to make the mud that throws from the tires.
I was there to hunt chukar the devil bird, but we have fun so many other ways and see landscape not many others pay the price to see.
When roads thaw out, look out.
Somebody with a heavy load drove through without getting stuck
Frozen pond, in the evening it makes big noise as it refreezes what had thawed during the day. Kinda spooky to hear, you do get used to the very loud cracks and groans of the ice.
Dinner time. Carnitas tacos are always better in the camper on a night well below freezing. We set the forced air heater at 45º for bedtime so it doesn't run all night and use too much battery. Plus we have our catalytic backup heater we use every night, it's all nice and toasty...with long johns on.
Oy, it was a cold morning to go hunting.
When Lynn is camping with me, Ore has to sleep in his usual place on the floor, in front of the heater.
After breakfast it was time to get going for the two Amigos, ok 2 Amigos and 1 Amiga on this trip.
Looking for chukar, ok listening too.
Orley gives them a point, kind of generic point because the birds were running. They can outrun me but not a dog. It works out real well and it's a joy to hunt with a well-trained dog and friend.
It was getting dark, time to be back at camp after walking miles and miles hunting those pesky birds. And after a few days the snow had melted from the top of the "dam" for the cattle pond, which had let us move farther from the road towards the open desert, it was perfect.
When I'm not throwing a ball for Ore, he's wanting me to throw wood.
Looking east makes it what? Dawn, yes indeed.
And with morning it was time to have breakfast and leave, having had too much fun.
Before leaving Lynn shot her new pistol a few times at an empty water jug. Look close to see her shell casing as it flies to the right.
Giving it some solid hits and a good grazing. We also nailed it a few times with the ol pellet gun, another source of fun in the desert.
When we left, Orley took a nap like usual, with his nose in between the ice chest and the seat. That way we can't sneak out without him, I'm guessing.
Thanks for reading, have a great day!
