Emergency Closure

All those inbound from the North, South, and East (do not expect anyone coming in by boat from the West) an Emergency Closure will be in affect at the Hole In The Wall Recreational Area on Thursday, May 22, 2008 from sometime in the morning until sometime in the afternoon or late evening. The area that will be affected will be from Mile 0 to Mile .1 of Bronco Lane and the entire bowl area of the recreational area. Long delays can be expected on the Old Sterling Highway from the north mesa of the Anchor River Valley to the intersection of Private Drive and the Intersection of Private Drive and Bronco Lane. Those that are traveling and experiencing long delays to access Bronco Lane are asked to yield the right of way to all dump trucks and caterpillars. If your traveling plans are delayed, please feel free to spend a little time at the Anchor River Inn Lounge or at the Eagle Nest. Contractors responsible for the resurfacing the project area have assured us that the HITW will be ready for occupancy by Thursday evening, or as soon as they can get their CAT out of the hole.

New Additions To HITW

For those that have not had the opportunity to follow the progress or enjoy the opportunity of participating in the prior planing and preparation for the Memorial Day weekend of the annual Clan Rendezvous, I have kept a photo journal.

The Gazebo received a fresh touch up coat of paint today, thanks to Lady Eagle. Having had the responsibility over the past four years of watching over the "little ones", Dutch has earned a rightful place and is now designated as HITW Guardian of the Little Ones. You might note the new kitchen area that was erected last weekend with the help of the She Wolf and Papa Bear.

This the new look of the Widow's Walk or Bell Tower of the Gazebo. You can just see the new security device, the Alarm Bell which can also be used for banging when meals are served, announcement of guests, the Grand Poopah reserves the right to "ring that bell anytime I want". Although you cannot see it it n the picture, a "wind warning system" has also been installed which is tied in in with the new King Salmon weather vane. If you hear the alarm going off, all you need to do is duck your head out and look up to see which direction the wind is coming out of. It will help in your decision on which side of the fire pit you may want to set.

Lady Eagle spent the day with the paint brush in her hand, the Duck House got a new paint job and looks real good in the natural earthy two tone wood look.

When not helping me cut firewood and remodeling the kitchen, the Lady Buff has been busy landscaping and laying a new natural rock patio. Bull Buffy had best be careful when going home after spending a few hours around the fire pit an in the dark. Mac has been a valuable partner in the project since he was responsible for pulling the wagon.

Kitchen Remodel

Spent a few hours cutting the stack of firewood today, of course with all the man tools out, Lady Buffalo decided that she wanted to remodel the kitchen. Something about not liking a particular kitchen counter and the rustic appearance. She preferred something a little more modern.

With a few minutes, the old kitchen cabinets had been removed and modified to fit the fireplace. I tried to to talk her out of it since it had "history" and some of the best spruce dimensional lumber that could be found.

Thank You Whoever

Remember those mysterious numbers that appeared in all of our mail boxes last Christmas? They came in Green Envelopes and then after the first of the year, another set of numbers were delivered in Red Envelopes. Part of the puzzle has been solved, evidently it was some kind of a raffle and my number in the Green Envelope was chosen as the winner!!!! This was my prize, one of my favorites candy bars, especially with hot coffee as a chaser. Did anyone with the Red Envelope win anything or is that raffle going to come later? Thanks to whoever came up with the concept of the raffle and a special, Thank You for Gift. I managed to ration them out to three bars per day. Just finished up the last of them for my bedtime snack.

Old and New News From HITW

Ranger Wild Bill called me on Monday to let me know he had just bought a tractor for "Lonesome Duck Ranch". A small walk behind tractor with a blade on the front. From his description, it sounded like something that we could use at the HITW and in a garage sale, he had paid $75.00 for it. Wanting to check on their availability and "new" prices, I decided to research it tonight on the web. Much to my surprise, the "Mighty Man" has not been built in years and considered as a very good find among tractor collectors. The picture at the top shows a "Mighty Man" pulling a modern truck in 1949 as a demonstration of it's power. The smaller picture is the "Mighty Man" with the optional "riding seat attachment" pulling a wagon full of cabbage. Now, if you are thinking of calling "Wild Bill" and offering him double his money for his tractor, he is now aware of it's value. I could not resist telling him the good news this morning at 2:00 a.m., his time. He does not wake up well, even with good news.

Current HITW News. Light rain in the area but the water line continues to recede, should be ready to move in and start some work projects by this weekend. If you are planning on going fishing this opening weekend, you may want to re-consider. The lower river is near flood stage and the upper river is out of it's banks in several locations. Current coloration is between mud and muddier. Heard the distinct call of "Butch" or "Sundance" in the HITW this morning, perhaps it is time to go buy some peanuts for them and some alfalfa pellets for hippy hops that are now classified as endangered species at the HITW. That had best be chicken breasts that show up on the barbecue!

Found, actually I borrowed, but going to buy myself one, a new tool today. Most likely you folks that are mechanically inclined have seen them or even have one, I had never saw one. Have you ever had to nail in an area where you can not get a whack at the nail with a hammer, a screw gun is to big to fit and a hand held stapler will not penetrate. Well, I ran into the problem today while installing my sheeting on my roof, up under the eaves of the house it is impossible to get a nail set. I finally concluded that I would just gorilla glue it and figure up later how I would attach the asphalt shingles. Happened to run into "Bill the Woodman" and I told him of my problem. He invited me over to pick up and use his palm gun! Ain't never heard of nuttin like that, but it is just a little larger than a computer mouse, fits into you palm, center it over the nail and press down and the nail disappears into the board under 100 pounds of air pressure. My roof will be done tomorrow! Takes so little to make me happy these days, but I will be happier when I see one of these in my tool shed!

Battle Has Commenced

Lady Eagle spent some time a few days ago clad in her break up boots in an attempt to de-water the HITW. She was able to trench out a small ditch to vent some of the water. This evening, I decided to move in the heavy equipment to see if we could speed up the process. A few minutes with the only piece of heavy equipment that I own, I was able to open up a larger trench and gleefully watched as water started flowing in a westerly direction. The outflow was keeping up with the inflow so I am optimistic. Checked on it a few minutes ago and the projection is that the water was dropped 2 -3 inches, the picnic table is now dry! However, I am concerned since Middle Kroc Pond has filled to capacity and now flowing at will into Lower Kroc Pond. Lower Kroc Pond has now eclipsed the shoreline and freely flowing over the neighbors driveway enroute to the barrow ditch of the Old Sterling Highway. Hopefully, the Old Sterling Highway will not wash out.

Still have some snow berms to melt down but the worse is over, the Glacier Field is looking good, it is full of snow and would stay intact if it were not for Global Warming. Grannies Gully also still holds some snow with water flowing underneath as a result of the drainage from Moose Meadows. Snow is gone in front of all the dens and wallows. The main entry (Bronco Drive) has dried out nicely and as long as we do not get a lot of traffic it should be in good shape. The sand hill is dry and ready for the little ones!

With a little over two weeks before "opening weekend" the Anchor River is high and very dirty but the good folks from Fish and Fur are making an effort in getting the sonar counter installed before all of the salmon escape upstream un-counted. Papa Bear made a drive to the mouth of the river this afternoon, reports that the mouth has continued to move to the north about a half mile or so.

Devyn, the flower bed is now clear of all water and appears to be dry and ready to plant. I could not get in that far to check up close since the water line is at the rocks at the base of the bed. The screen is still in place protecting the seeds that you planted. As soon as I can I will get in and check them out to see if any buds are showing. Our flowers are just now starting to come up at the Eagle Nest.

Will keep you posted.

To Ranger Wild Willy

There are several highways that cross the Continental Divide in Colorado, as a family we have driven all of these high mountain passes at various times of the year. No doubt that Red Mountain Pass and the Million Dollar Highway between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado will bring back more memories than any of them. However, one that become a household name in the 1970's was the pass that crosses the great divide between Alamosa and Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Wolf Creek Pass. It is a modern highway now, but back in it's day, it was one of the most feared passes in Colorado. Two lanes of sheer terror, especially in the winter but it was also the entrance to one of the most beautiful areas of Colorado, the towering pines of Pagosa Springs.

No doubt bother, Ranger Wild Willy has driven this pass in an eighteen wheeler, so I will dedicate this song to him.

"Wolf Creek Pass" ~ by C.W. McCall

Quite by accident, I found this on the web, it will answer some questions that Heidi had earlier after watching "True Grit", where it was filmed and some stories behind the scenes in the movie.

"True Grit"

Spring Update

With just sixteen (16) days remaining until the Anchor River opens for the first weekend of King Salmon fishing, spring is showing good signs. The wetlands at the mouth of the river is filled with ducks, geese, and cranes. The snow berms from plowing are down from 6 - 7 feet to 2 - 3 feet. "Grannies Trail" up the side of the bluff is now flowing a good head of water, however, the east slope stream which remains unnamed is turbulent and would be a good Class 4 white water adventure. It is flowing a torrent at the current time. A slight improvement in the bowl area since the last posting, however, we still have a lot of run off to contend with but it is draining. Lower "Kroc Pond" has broke up for the season with some minor flooding occurring and washing over "Private Road". Another week, we may be able to get in and start work, that will give us the time we need to finish up with some spring chores at the Eagle Nest.

Lower "Kroc Pond" is now a designated landing zone on the northerly flyway. A good showing of geese and ducks have been using the pond for overnight stop over area since it is in a protected area being that it is in a designated recreational area and hunting is prohibited. "Crackers" is still hanging out at the Eagle Nest but I think "Butch" and "Sundance" has made the spring migration back to the Hole In The Wall. The little ones will be excited this year, we have a small herd of wild horses living in the HITW now. Well, the herd is only one horse right now but maybe more will show up later. Could not get a decent picture of him, he is a little wild but a beautiful "White Bronco". I think he is broke to ride.