At The Top of Our World

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A continuation of "Dozing Off" - August 29th

Once the climb up the canyon road is finished, you find yourself in a very different world, one hard to imagine from a Rat dweller's visual perspective. The centers of the mesa tops here are flat grasslands, not much different than you would find in eastern Colorado or Kansas. This is the heart of the region's ranching business, the place where cattle put on weight throughout our winters. It's only when you venture to the edges, past the trim of twisted sandstone outcroppings and pines that you once again realize that this is a land of extreme moods and faces.

We drove through the bottom of our ranch and up the long straight roads through the grasses and sage until we began the light descent to Slim's place. We stopped by 'the lake' on Slim's ranch to take photos. There really was a lake there this Spring although an old timer said that this was the first time it had been so full in forty years. As summer moves in, the skirts of the lake retreat until there is only a newer excavated pond left to hold water. The now dry area of the lake in the distance had become a riotous theater of gold manned by sunflowers (see photo 1) since our last visit. Those seedy-headed flowers provide a dove-hunter's paradise there. And the deer and the antelope do literally roam up here on the range, just like that old song line.

We pulled into the entrance to Slim's place and stopped at his gate. Locked and secure - good! Mark unlocked the gate and we slowly trolled along the fence tightly paralleling the road. No wild dozer breaks in the fence that we could see - excellent! As he turned the corner, it became apparent that the road up to the camp had been gouged out by rains as the Dodge fell into a rut-now-ditch when the ground broke away under the wheel. I thought this might be where we were going to stay until someone passed by on Monday but the Dodge was able to able to drag itself out backwards on the second try. Since the navigable section ahead became even less inviting, I volunteered to walk the remaining eighth mile up and look around. Although I find them fairly comfortable, Mark will not venture far in the rubber boots we wear so often in this rainy season and was quite content to sit in the truck's A.C. and wait. As I picked my way up around the sharp run-off cuts, I became even more optimistic - there where no other tracks preceding me other than rabbits and coyotes and maybe the odd bird pecking around. The orderly cabin and bunkhouse confirmed that all was right and unspoiled. I wandered back down the hill, stopping long enough to pick up some chalky deer antlers which had been strewn around Slim's deck. Since I had promised to make him an antler chandelier, these would come in handy and look just fine by the time I had done some rejuvenation work on them. Mark laughed and shook his head when he caught sight of his ever-scrounging junk collector returning with serious new 'STUFF!' but he was pleased to now be able to call Slim with an 'all clear' report. And Slim was greatly relieved and genuinely appreciative of the help. It's a joy to help out neighbors when they are as wonderful as Slim.

Our main mission done, we stopped to inspect the two new 'dirt tanks' which had been constructed this Spring (probably by that same bulldozer which has just been abused!). Dirt tanks are cattle watering holes which have been excavated in areas where rain and snow run-off tend to run down through but you never know if a new tank will hold water until the big rains come. Yes, both did! Thank you, thank you! The more watering holes for cattle, the less weight they walk off commuting for a drink. If the cows are fat and sassy, then our tenant grazer is happy and life is good for everyone.

That bit o' bidness done, we headed over to the east side which is one of my favorite stops. I love the view down into the canyon there (photo 2). You can see the game trail following the wash and occasionally catch a glimpse of the elk and mulies. Our land pretty much stops at the foot of those mesas in the background on the right and left sides. Likewise for photo 3 which shows the same canyon about a mile to the south of where photo 2 was taken. We were headed back home and stopped at the top of the big hill when I took that last photo. That steep hill becomes lethal in the rain but was pleasantly benign that day. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon - wish you all could have come along for that ride, too!

My beloved proofreader has already crashed for the night so please forgive any glitches in this post.