We saw a Cow Moose on the drive in, across the road from our camp and thus in the wrong Wilderness Unit. Still, it was great to see they are definitely in the area and there was no calf that we saw.
Brrr this weekend was chilly. Friday night it sat right around zero, and it did not vary much off of that most of the weekend. Woke up Sunday to -3, and frost. Still, we didn’t mind terribly much. Fires and tarps and good winter gear helps a lot. Still better being chilly out there then warm in the city.
Started to winterize the trailer, drained all the water and put anti freeze. I moved out all the items that can freeze from the pantry and bathroom. Patmores did the same thing. And the tarps came down, thought they will roll out easily enough next weekend. IF Sven remembers his ladder.
The four of us went on a quad ride Saturday. Before breakfast, we went out to the Junction. Sven and I were about 5 minutes ahead. Saw a grouse, shot at it and so weird but she just wandered off! Sven and I both saw her bounce and figured she was dead. We both looked away, and when we looked back she was wandering off into the bush where we never did find her. Ah well.
After breakfast, Sven and Richard went out on their own to get a load of wood. Patricia and I stayed in camp to take down all her many solar lights. Now you cannot see her camp from space anymore. It was really nice to spend the time together, but we did miss Sven getting the General stuck in the overflow! He and Richard thought it looked low enough, but it wasn’t. Looked like Sven got in there pretty deep, but Richard was able to winch him out.
The four of us went on a quad ride Saturday. Before breakfast, we went out to the Junction. Sven and I were about 5 minutes ahead. Saw a grouse, shot at it and this is so weird, but honestly she just wandered off! Sven and I both saw her bounce and figured she was dead. We both looked away, and when we looked back she was wandering off into the bush where we never did find her. Ah well. After breakfast, Sven and Richard went out to get a load of wood. Patricia and I stayed in camp to take down all her many solar lights. It was really nice to spend the time together, but we did miss seeing Sven getting the General stuck in the overflow! He and Richard thought it looked low enough, but apparantly it wasotn’t. Looked like Sven got in there pretty deep, but Richard was able to winch him out.
So then the four of us went out for a ride together; around the Overflow Bypass and it worked quite well. All of us passed through it with no mishaps. We went down Bear Shit Alley, had trail lunch at the tree stand, and then down Hope Lake Road. I felt bad for Richard, because we saw not a single bird.
BUT WE SAW A MOOSE! A COW MOOSE! WITH NO CALF, EVEN. This was super exciting for us, as know we know where to find them. She was in a marshy little clearing near water, right on Bear Shit Alley. If the lore is correct, then she will be there regularly. We just have to wait for rifle season to start, November 1. Or Sven could sight in his bow and we take her with that. We are pretty excited about it. Most of the work in moose hunting is finding them, and we found her.
Went back to camp and Patmores carried on with closing up camp; they have a lot more gear than we do and thus more work to do. They’ve pulled down most of it now, so we had dinner at our camp on Saturday. Too funny, Patricia and I both made pork and salad for dinner! Without any pre-planning whatsoever.
Sure was nice to just sit around the fire and visit with them. It’s only been a couple of weeks but it felt like a lot longer to me. Toft’s got to stay up past 8.30 haha.
Sunday morning, Richard and Sven went out again and got another load of wood; split this one between our two camps and I feel a whole lot better about our winter wood supply now! And we can split it by hand the old-fashioned way; that in itself warms a person up. I know, because I’ve done it. Once.
My little birds had quite a feast, there were dozens of them flying all over camp. Seems the white breasted nuthatch is quite dominant at the feeder now, though of course the chickadees are there in droves too. Saw a couple of blue jays lurking about, but they are more aloof and just fed on the dropped seeds on the ground. But I met two new birds! One was a Slate-Colored Janco, all grey with a white underbelly. It acted just like the sparrows, in that it fed on the ground and rustled around in the bushes.
And a Hairy Woodpecker came to visit! Must have been a female, she had no red on her head. And she actually came to the suet cake! She was almost bigger than it was, but hey she made it work. I was surprised at how un-shy she was. That was really very cool to see. I love my little birds, it’s great feeding them, photographing them, and then learning what they are. Guess I have a genuine hobby.
Patricia has to babysit Dean next weekend, but hoping Richard at least will come out. Maybe we can get some chickens up at Touchwood for him, and a deer for us would be awesome.
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