A little bit of fence fixing

Off I go with tangled and salvaged hotwire and some nicely coiled wire to redo the fence down near the creek.

The backpack has gear in it, along with some tools and of course lots of water. I'd had this job in mind since last fall.

Over the winter I keep this section closed off as the deer run through the fence during rut and generally take down the fence.

Last winter, some animal chewed through both the lines and the insulators in some spots. I know that raccoon chew on plastic, but I never figured out who the culprits were.

I thought I'd turn on MapMyHike to see what my walking while doing the job would look like. I did get in a little over 2 miles of walking while restringing the fence.

At one time we had a 'ridge-road' or trail that was made by a bulldozer  all the way to the end of our land. Since I don't drive the 4 wheeler back there anymore... [very steep], I haven't had the trail redone. 

I just walk it and go around the obstacles. I am the only person anymore that moves through the land so no need to clear a new path.

Here is someone else who likes to use the 'critter' trail. It is used by the mules, deer, bobcat, raccoon, and coyotes. When I pull the trail camera about every two weeks we have nearly 700 or 800 photos of wildlife moving past the camera on this trail.

I pulled the old hotwire and began to get ready to string up new wire.

Just to the left of this photo is a steep bank that drops about 20 feet down into our creek bottom. With the past drought, the creek is mostly dry, but in good years it flows nicely.

At my feet is a pile of chewed electric wire. And no, the wire was not 'on' over the winter. I don't keep it hot unless the mules have access. 

The wire needed to be replaced this year anyway. It has lasted 5 years and had been patched quite a few times.

I finished everything up including detangling a big mess of wire that I'd brought with me. It took roughly two hours and a lot of walking back and forth.  

Below is the tangled up wire that had been in another pasture at one time. I had 3 lines with one low to the ground when we had Dexter Cattle in the woods and pulled it after we sold the cattle.

A good chunk of the time was devoted to de-tangling. But the wire was in perfect shape and there was no reason to toss it.

It was a big job I had been putting off for quite a while. All the summer lines have been checked and fixed. Next up? I'll go through and clear off anything that is under the wires.

Forest Fencing can be a never ending job.

Rudolph and Christmas Eve

Rudolph: Well, the deer said I should go into the dark woods and look for magic mushrooms. 

These look pretty magical, do I eat them 
all?

Whoops....
 

The Reindeer King:  Awaken Rudolph! You have been transformed 

and can now do your duty on 

Santa's Sleigh!

Rudolph: Wait, wow! What? Hey look at my big red glowing nose! It worked! It worked

                 But I feel like I am in a dream!

The Reindeer King: No dream, but you didn't have to have so many mushrooms.

Rudolph: Wow, I feel magnificent. I can see things too. Wow Dude!

King: It's Christmas eve my son. Time to get back to Santa and the other Reindeer. So many have
been searching for you.
Go now!
No time to lose!

Mushy Mushy & funny signs

With temps rising into the 40's I knew that the snowshoes would collect snow pack as I walked. Lucky me, however as the guys with the 4 wheelers had been out tearing things up on the neighbor's land. See the oldest brother says it is trespassing and gets upset. The oldest brother lives 4 hours away. The younger brother that lives there lets his work pals [some who are of dubious character] take their UTV's and 4 wheelers out and rip up trails.

The local law says if one brother says they can be there, it is not trespassing. I've talked with the UTV dudes and they know I am out there most of the time. We've run into each other a few times. [Only because I allow them to see me.] 

We talked on Sunday while I was out walking Charlie. I was happy they worked up the trails in the woods. Charlie and I could walk in packed down snow.

Charlie was ecstatic. He ran like the dickens up and down the slippery mushy trail. We hadn't been on a long hike since the cold spell. I walked along trying to ID trees and just watching out for coyotes. 

When we finally got down to the creek and valley, Charlie took off like a bullet and charged through the creek and scrambled up the opposite bank. He was chasing a turkey. 

Tiny dog on top of the stream bank. One of the places where the 4 wheelers have damaged the soft bank of the stream. I'm the shadow. Charlie spent a long time watching the turkey as it flew across the valley.

We headed upstream back to our land. The going was easy along the creek and got harder once we headed up my old snowshoe trail which was pure mush now. 
Step, slide, step, stumble, 
it was like an incredible work out. CrossFit had nothing on deep mushy snow! Balance and leg strength!

I thought we'd have it easy peasy when I reached the summer meadow. Alas. Not so.

Poor Charlie. Being a Low Rider presents issues in deep snow. But he went snow swimming.

He was still hunting turkeys. He'd pause every once in a while and scan the trees. Or perhaps it was squirrels he was watching for.

He was dragging butt by the time we got home. And I was tired of walking like a drunken sailor. 

I'd taken my little red pocket camera and for some reason I'd bumped the tiny switch on it to log my gps coordinates. I never do that . However, it was interesting to find out that the elevation change from the creek at the muddy bank to the house was 323 feet in elevation change. 

Lastly. I got bored and decided to order a couple of signs of my own.  Back by our fence line where the not so nice absentee landowner put up his signs. He also has a deer stand setup to shoot on my property. I will re-string the barbed wire and have a few more tricks up my sleeve to make deer hunting awful that little section.

One should not piss off an 'old' lady who has nothing better to do than think of creative ways to subtly get back.

And yes, I do carry a pistol.
And no, I never intend to hurt anyone. This person invites friends to hunt and they set up their stands to shoot on other's land. The whole group is disliked intensely by our ridge community as they 'think' they can do what they want. This land is really quite remote so I bet they think I wouldn't notice their stand OR their arrows on my land.

Today? I'm going hunting some ice caves on KVR. 

Busy

Friday....

Charlie and I started out early enough to 'beat' the crowds at Wildcat Mountain State Park. I wanted to hike the cross country ski/hike trail on the ridge top and check out the lookouts.

I wasn't exactly clear on how the trail integrated with the equine trails, but I thought it would be great to get out on all of the lookouts. I was disappointed in most of the lookouts however. 

To be clear, they put up the barricades to keep folks from climbing out on the pinnacles of rock and falling to their deaths. However, they have let the scrub brush grow up which obscures any views. Oh darn.

Um, I didn't take any photos of the log barricades. Oh well. Charlie and I stopped for lunch and snacks at Billings Creek lookout.

It was getting warm and I could hear the noon whistle from Ontario. Charlie was tired and hot. He isn't built for hard fast hikes and after a bit he just sat in the trail and refused to move.

He also has a crooked leg and foot.

So a while back I had ordered a Kurgo backpack which is designed to carry a pet. I normally put a DSLR softie camera saver in the back when Charlie isn't along. It carries cameras well with plenty of room for lunch, hats, mittens, an extra jacket, hand warmers, and sleeves for water bottles. It is behind me in the above photo. It also has a rubber bottom so you can set it down in damp/wet or muddy areas. 

He did quite well in the backpack and rested up. He prefers me to wear the pack like a front baby carrier. On second thought, I think I'd prefer that sort of pack for him as he ages. But for now, this works. Little mini Dachshunds[he is also half Pekingese].... are not known for loving long hikes even though Charlie has always been a champ. 

He will trot along happily for about 4 miles before needing a lift or a rest.

We headed back to the car. I missed going to the Johnnycake Outlook, but that would have added two miles. Charlie wasn't up for that.

Friday night we stood on the porch and watched the deer come in to the mules' pasture.

Generally, my red mules will run the deer off. But last night it was quite the peaceful scene.

Saturday...

Charlie recovered nicely. We did a pre dawn walk through the freshly harvested corn field and watched the sun rise

Then it was on to the rock formation and picking up rocks, and pulling up Buckthorn trees.

Spending time out there was a way to enjoy the unusually wonderful weather.

I brought along some things to photograph and make Fall/Thanksgiving cards.

Charlie was almost a willing model.....I had a pocket full of treats...

And then another one for good measure...

I quite like this one for a Thanksgiving choice. Real leaves, fake leaves, and mini pumpkins at my new favorite place.

The Rocks.

Years ago when my boys were teens, they went here often and called it 'The Fort'.

Charlie loves it here. He can stand or sit on this rock out crop and watch over the the forest. Perfect for a little dog!

Sunday may just be a day off from pulling Buckthorn and brushing the pasture. It is and endless job and a good way for me to keep out of trouble. 

On nice days I cannot sit in our tiny cottage and listen to endless hours of TV crime shows.

It's Bear-y Time!

Oh wait!

Hot. July.

Berry Briers.

Sweat.

Pokey things.

When I was a little kid and I probably wrote about this before...my mom and Grandma Pearl would get us up on a god awful hot humid and sticky morning.

We'd walk or mom would drive us in the 1965 station wagon to some deep dark woods.

We'd get sprayed with OFF and have to wear long pants, long sleeve shirts, and bandanas over our heads to ward off the horrid deer flies and skeeters...to

pick 

blackcaps.

I think my brother detested these excursions.

I don't know if I disliked them as much as he did. We were given pint paint cans with twine string to use as straps across our shoulders so we could pick with both hands.

We were expected to fill our pints before it got too hot.

I think we worked mostly in silence except for the buzzing of monstrous mosquitoes and deer flies.

At some point in time on one of these trips, I recall having to leave before we filled our pints. Grandma tapped me on the shoulder and pointed.

There was a bear not far off looking at us. Grandma just had us turn slowly and walk away.

At the time I thought it was a pretty cool thing. I'm not sure Grandma did.

So fast forward to 2020. 

There is a patch on my neighbor's land that used to have yellow raspberries, or as my Grandfather called them Golden Raspberries.

Rich and I found them in 2008 and filled a 5 gallon bucket with them. We filled another bucket with blackcaps that year. Back then we could actually drive his truck into the area and pick to our delight.

We came back a third day to pick and found the area decimated. It looked as though a tornado had gone through the patches.

Later on we found out that a wandering bear had come through.

Well I went on Saturday afternoon. To tell you the truth, I like just wandering around the forest and picking berries, or searching for morels. It sort of gives me a purpose to gather food while aimlessly wandering.

So I set out to seek out the yellow raspberries. I hadn't been there in quite a few years so I was curious to see if they were still around. I picked my way down our ridge road and then crossed the fence to the neighbor's untended land.

It was hot  and I knew that I'd be walking through tall grasses so I left Charlie at home. I was really surprise at the amount of wild parsnip that had overgrown the old pastures. Enough so that I had to walk carefully while following a faint trail. I kept thinking to myself ... make yourself tiny!

I was delighted to find my effort rewarded me with some nice patches of blackcaps. I picked and dropped the berries into the ice cream pail with a hole cut in the lid. I had an old leash attached to the handle of the bucket to toss over my shoulders. Not much had changed since I was a little kid. Though instead of going before dawn, I was going midday.

There's a spot where an old oak used to stand over the pasture. It has since crumbled and fallen yet it is like an island of shade. I followed the trails around the edge of it, stepping into the shade to cool off once in a while.

I thought to myself that if I were a kid, this would be the spot that I'd make a fort!

Then I found the spot. After many years, it was overgrown but still there!

I was delighted!

I put my stick down and started to pick.

I heard the UTV's revving up in the valley below and thought to myself that they were loud enough to wake the dead. 

While picking, I'm always aware of my surroundings. Well, I try to be. I looked up as I stepped back out of the bramble.

What?

A black fuzzy pony? No. Wait.

A calf?

No, no cattle in this area any more.

Wait. That.

A black bear Butt!

It trotted off.

At first I thought I had been seeing things. So I followed the trail looking for tracks. I found bear scat.

Hello Bear!

I decided I'd probably picked enough and headed in the opposite direction.

I found more bear scat. I found a patch where the bear had been picking berries too.

Well then.

The Bear could have his patch. 

I walked back [making myself thin as a rail] through the parsnip and golden rod to the snowmobile trail and headed home.

Maybe I'll stick to our woods with the company of the Brat Pack.

Hunting Morels and flowers

They are very good at hiding! I do love hunting Morel Mushrooms. Partly because it is the springtime and mostly because I can wander as long as I'd like to look for them and...just dawdle if I want to.
It gives me a good excuse to look at the spring flowers and sit and watch squirrels chase each other around trees...
to listen to birdsong...
to listen to the creeks...
to scramble up deer trails and explore...

To just Be.

Squirrels!

Trillium

Ginger

Bishops Caps

Pinks

Blood Roots

Everything at Once