"First Call"/"Reveille"

"Colors"

Christmas Eve

CHRISTMAS AT THE HOLE IN THE WALL

With just five days remaining until Christmas Eve and our family gathering at the "Hole In The Wall" it is time to prepare and finalize the plans. We have to have a plan. Next year, we will have an election as to whom plans!

As of 2321 on Sunday, December 19, 2010 the following Clans have indicated that they will be in attendance. Best total count that I currently have is twenty eight persons of varied heights and sizes. At least two of the 28 will not be having dinner, as they bring their own dinner in the shape of bottles and nipples.

"*CONFIRMED GUEST LIST"
Eagle Clan (2)
Buffalo Clan (4)
Wolf Clan (5)
Moose Clan (5)
Bear Clan (3)
Lynx Clan (2)
Woodpecker Clan (5)
Brittany (2)

"NOT ABLE TO ATTEND"
Beaver Clan
Raven Clan (26th Evening)
Charmin

"UNKNOWN"
Donald (2)

DINNER MENU
Diner Menu Is As Planned On The Earlier Posting, Directly Below This Posting.

Stan: "Stan's Secret Chili" or "Seafood Spectacular Stew"
Dana: Guacamole
Marina: Baklava
Rodney: Rodney's Three Day Meat Balls In Sauce
Eagle Clan: Hot Dogs / Buns / Cheese For Chili Dogs
Crystal: Pizza (I think that Is What She Told Me)

ITEMS NEEDED
Chili (In case mine fails due to unavailability of the secret ingredients)
Hamburgers / Buns For Chili Burgers
Hot Dogs / Buns For Chili Dogs
Plastic or Paper Bowls / Plates
Plastic Silverware
Deserts
Coffee, Hot Chocolate
Alcoholic Beverage
Whatever You Want To Bring
Pre-cooking Would be Good Because We Ain't Got No Kitchen
Dogs / Burgers Can Be Cooked On the Fire Pit

Dependent on manpower and time, will start decorating on Tuesday / Wednesday.
Moose Clan brought in one truck load of firewood ~ will need to acquire additional

Warning
"Curfew Will Be Enforced at 8:00 pm for everyone under 19 so they will be asleep when Santa arrives".

Wishing All Of You A Very Merry Christmas,
It Will Be Good Having Everyone Together Once more. We have so much to be thankful for.

Christmas At The Hole In The Wall

It "tis" the season once again, wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. We were having a discussion pertaining to Christmas during dinner. It was mentioned that the Poopah should make a plan, I did not realize that it was my area of responsibility to plan Christmas. I always thought Santa took care of that. So in the last five minutes, I have formulated a plan!

All indications are that everyone from out of town will be in town, although Anchor point is not considered a town, it is the village by the river. For those that do not plan to be in town, please let me know so I cannot plan on you.

This is the plan, if anyone has a conflict let me know as soon as possible. If you have other concepts or ideas, please let them be known as I do not like dictatorships but I am in charge! Everyone is so busy with visiting other families, Christmas morning traditions, etc. thought it best if we choose one of two times.

Day and Time: Christmas Eve
Dinner At the Gazebo: 5:00 or 6:00 PM
Menu:
Chili (Two Recipes)*
Hot Dogs
Chili Hot Dogs w/Cheese
Chili Burgers w/Cheese
Guacamole / Chips
Pie
Fudge
Coffee, Alcohol, Hot Chocolate
Paper Plates
Paper Bowls
Plastic Silverware
Napkins
(Main Courses Can Be Made And Brought Into Camp ~ Heated up On Fire Pit)
Please Let Me Know What You Will Be Bringing So We do Not Overload On One Item

DECORATING:
Would like to decorate the area, lights, Christmas tree. We can start on this the week prior to Christmas ~ will need some help and finish up on Christmas Eve Day.

MUSIC:
We need some good Christmas sounds on a CD to play during dinner with a good speaker system. The bowl has a good ice covering and I will keep it plowed out to a smooth finish.
So, we also need some good dancing music, both oldies and whatever the teens like to dance to. If you have never danced in the snow and ice, you have never danced, you can do some fancy steps!
The Moose Clan is responsible for the music and set up.

ENTERTAINMENT
Our last entertainment was so fantastic, if anyone wants to put together some live stage shows, that would be tremendous. I understand we have a celebrated vocalist that should be able to boom out some good Christmas carols!

GIFT EXCHANGE
In an attempt to cut down Christmas cost for everyone since the family is so large, I thought perhaps we will do a "gift exchange". There will be two categories, adults and juveniles.
Adults: 18 to 65
Juveniles: 17 to 0
If the two groups do not come out even, we may have to move someone up or down to the next group.
Terry and I will put all the names together of those that plan on attending and draw the names. We will notify each of the family the names that they have drawn.
Gifts may not exceed $10.00

ALTERNATIVE CHOICE GIFT EXCHANGE
Will have a drawing of Clans, one Clan will exchange a gift to another Clan and we will draw the same way. Since it is a family (clan) gift it can exceed the $10.00 limit.

Let me know which way you prefer so we can let everyone know.

One other option that we can explore dependent on how you feel, some members will not be able to attend on Christmas Eve due to other family obligations or traditional home Christmas morning celebrations. For instance,it would be great if Tad and Sarah could attend, not knowing but I would assume they would like to have Christmas at home. Erica's family does a Christmas Eve celebration as well.
The other option is that we have just a normal "fire pit" gathering on Christmas Eve and then have our Christmas Party on the 26th, that way everyone is not traveling the same day and we may have a little daylight to work with for dinner.

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

I have also heard that there may be a surprise "guest" showing up on Christmas Eve, so if we change the date, I need to let them know.

Come on now, give me your input before I have to make a decision!

P.S. How about a Hole In The Wall Christmas Caroling Ride Around Anchor Point, that would be fun! Might get free drinks at the ARI!

Talk to Me Folks

Low Pressure Front

Looks like Anchorage is going to get wet, again! Snapped this picture just prior to sunset this evening from the beach at Anchor Point. I thought, I could sense a low pressure area moving into the area. Good Luck Anchorage, it is moving fast up Cook Inlet.

Two Serious Warnings

WARNING
After a large meal (a Thanksgiving feast can easily exceed 4,000 calories), cardiac output of blood is increased and diverted to the intestinal circulation to aid digestion, which can take as long as six hours, leaving other organs, including the heart and brain, relatively deprived. The work involved in all this shunting around of blood might be the equivalent of vigorous sex or moderate exercise.

DOPPLER RADAR
This is what the Doppler Radar looked like at 8:09 pm, November 23, 2010
Green is Moderate to Heavy
Yellow is HEAVY
Coming your way Anchorage, it just passed us by and we just had the outer band.

A Real Cowboy In The Hole In The Wall

"Dancing Stan"

Congratulations to a clan of the HITWRA for a new, fresh baby girl!

Karter Marie Covault

Born to a great couple of people for parents and has three

of the best siblings she could have for teachers =).

Looking forward to meeting her.

Alaska Department Enviromental Control

The HITWWRAWRA has been served a notice by the Alaska Department of Environmental Control that the waters from Upper and Lower Kroc Pond is not safe for drinking, swimming, boating or any fish taken from these waters may be contaminated. Any future use should be curtailed until such time a proper filtering and circulation device can be installed and approved by their engineers. According to their water analysis, the water contains a high count of kroc and duck fecal matter and a variety of other minor contaminants draining into the system from a structure labeled "Duck House". Evidently, they think we are raising ducks in the "Duck House", come spring I will get pictures of the flocks of ducks that visit the ponds on their seasonal migration to show them that it is not our fault the wild ducks are crapping in our lakes.

Control

I suggest this method for hauling firewood to camp

You need to drive right and take things slow,

otherwise you'll soon see the highway patrol.

AK state trooper's car at the AK museum of transportation.

And the best fireside game of the year was...

Although it is difficult to see the coins
flying, the value of the game decreased
as the quarters were missing in the end.
Good to know we are teaching our kids the
dollar's worth. Good involvement from all ages.

sponsored in start by everyone's favorite wood gatherers:


I think the young children slept well that night

shH InThe Wall Gang

6th Harrington Memorial Silver Salmon Derby

The 6th Annual Harrington Memorial Silver Salmon Tournament is now into the history books of the Hole In the Wall Recreational Area and Wildlife Viewing Area. Although, we had some scattered showers to heavy rain, it was a great weekend, the weather changed to good on Sunday. The camp enjoyed allot of family members and good friends along with some great food as usual. Although, the number of fishermen in the derby was less than the previous year, we still had a great showing of three generations on the river.

I very humbly accept the honor of having won the 6th Annual Tournament (again) with a nice Silver Salmon that tipped the scales at 12.5 pounds. The second largest Silver Salmon was caught by Granddaughter Heather Harrington at 11.5 pounds.

Stan Harrington With Derby Winning Silver Salmon

Everyone saw a little action with the Coho Salmon, although a few seemed to be loosing more fish than they were landing. At the end of the morning, we had a nice string of fish with a very high average weight for the number of fish retained.

"Tournament Fish"

Unknown to us until the last minute, it was also the date for the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce Kids Fishing Tournament on Anchor River. Grandchildren Heather Harrington and her brother Hunter both qualified to enter their salmon into the Chamber of Commerce Tournament. Heather's fish, weighing in at 11.5 pounds won the Chamber "Kids Fishing Tournament. Later in the day, the Chamber also sponsored a hot dog cook out and casting contest for the kids. Hunter Harrington won the casting contest in his age group and was awarded a new fishing rod. Heather Harrington also won the casting contest in her age group, but being a good sport, relinquished her 1st Place fishing rod to the next contestant since she had already been awarded a fishing rod for catching the largest fish. Not to be left out, little Riley James Harrington, my Great Granddaughter also won the casting contest for her age group and proudly accepted a new fishing rod. It was a good day for the Harrington's.

It was awhile later, that we recalled the historical records of the tournament dating back to the days that the Kids Derby was hosted by our tackle shop, Anchor Angler. The derby has been held annually for the past 15 years or so. Son, Heath Harrington won that derby on a couple of occasions when he was young. With his daughter, Heather winning the derby this year, it is the first time that a father and his child has won this derby. That is tradition.

Heather and Riley Harrington In Center
Hunter Harrington on far right.

It was a great weekend, we will gather next August to once again remember those family members that also loved to fish the Anchor River. That is tradition.

A new event incorporated into the weekend was a wagon race between the Grand Eagle driving Tissy, Tissy, Tight Ass and the She Wolf back seat driving the "Yeller Wagon" with Moosey Hunter at the controls. I hang my head in shame to admit, honestly that the "Yeller Wagon" wrupped my butt bad! However, that is not the end. Look forward to another race next year, details and rules will be posted at a later date.

The Eagle Clan, from the heart want to thank all the younger members of the Clans for the entertainment that they provided on Saturday evening prior to dinner. Not only was the "Rap Music" super great but the off the cuff testimonial following the music was very special and spoken from the heart. In my lifetime, I have had a number of testimonials and awards banquets in my honor, but this particular song and impromptu presentation, meant more to us than any of those in the past. Thank you, we love all of you.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4957104174316551&id=100000510538383

The Homer cabin in which I was raised, I never realized how small it really was. Would make a real good

cook shack if it could be moved and

relocated to the pit.

Family Fight

The Hole In The Wall Recreation Area and Wildlife Viewing Area is comprised of four generations of family members related to the Harrington family. The oldest, and the wise one of course is the elder at age sixty five with the youngest being two months old. However, with this many family members, occasionally tensions will rise and create situations that could get out of control. A good old fashion "Water Balloon Fight" is one way to defuse the tension and make everyone happy.
Although, the two youngest members of the families were protected from getting a water balloon in the face, three generations did participate including "Granny".

"Little Shane" was protected by his older sister, but he surely enjoyed seeing his brother get wet.

Facial expression of "terror" and Demi is running for her life.

Who Was the Oldest Kid?

"Gang Fight"

Very Little Parent Supervision, Since They Were Also Involved

Some Adults Even Cheated And Used Two Balloons

Some adults preferred to sit on the sideline and eat! But, were eventually attacked by the "little ones" and drawn into the fight.

SO VERY CHILDISH ON ALL THEIR PARTS
WHERE WAS THE PARENTAL SUPERVISION?

"A Good Day On The Water"

The Skipper of Beaver I and his crew had a good day on the waters of Cook Inlet today. Bringing in a limit catch of Halibut. The largest fish (on the scales) weighed in at 140 pounds. Two additional fish in the 75 to 90 pound range. The remainder of the catch were just nice fish.

Skipper Tad Covault ~ Nephew

Crew: Uncle Bob ~ Son Heath Harrington
Grandson Donnie Treshness ~ Nephew Tad Covault

Next Two Largest Fish

Combined Catch Plus Big Fish On Scales

Can you imagine what they would have caught if I had been fishing with them! However, for "amateurs" they did well.

First King

The "Hole In The Wall Recreational Area and Wildlife Reserve Area entered two historical moments into the HITW Annals this date. Hunter Stanley Harrington hooked and landed his first King Salmon while trolling in Cook Inlet with his father, Heath Harrington and his Grandfather Stan Harrington. It was also the first King Salmon to be boated by the new F/V She'll Dew III, a documented Salmon Research Vessel. The King Salmon weighed in at 25 pounds, mature male, based on scale samples taken, the King Salmon was inbound for spawning. Results of the DNA testing will provide additional data pertaining to which river the King Salmon was destined and age. Job well done to Hunter, do not know who was prouder, the fisherman, father, or grandfather. Hunter is the fourth generation of King Salmon Fishermen.

"First King Salmon"

Traditional "Kissing Your First King Salmon"

"Skipper and Son"

"Entrance To The Hole In The Wall

Gone Fishin

While on "stakeout duty" tonight at an undisclosed location, I could not help but notice that the F/V HITW was sneaking down the beach headed to sea for a fishing trip. I thought this to be unusual since I was not invited and they waited until after I left so they did not have to invite me.

They forget, I have the eye of the "Eagle" and despite the distance, I was able to make the determination the occupants in the vehicle was a "Moose" and a "Woodpecker". However,


I most likely had a more successful evening than they did, they caught this fine specimen of an aquatic specimen which are very rare in the northerly seas of Alaska. However, they did try to pass it off as a saltwater specimen of a "Large Mouth Bass", they catch, they get to eat it!

I surely do believe, although I missed a fishing trip, I was more successful in my adventure. You can see my results at http://photosrh.blogspot.com/

I think my parenting instinct has gone extinct...

NEVER NEVER NEVER leave me in charge of small animals or children....children cuz i have plenty...but Spike and I are well he is JUST to small to keep track of...he has made Uncle Bill a granddaddy...or he will be in a few short weeks...he ran off in the pit...i lost him in my Yukon...and now...well lets say the black and white dog is no longer black and white...he found the oil pan eric left in the tent on the ground...and FELL IN!! WTF?...and Uncle Bill is on his way home, its dinner time and Im blogging instead of cleaning, cooking, packing, and mowing...but the runt dog is soaking in Dawn in the kitchen sink...

I do love having him around he is great for a few laughs...but Uncle Bill is gonna think I am dog gone loser! hehe (thats a good one, I dont care who you are!)

I think my parenting instinct is going extinct...

NEVER NEVER NEVER leave me in charge of small animals or children....children cuz i have plenty...but Spike and I are well he is JUST to small to keep track of...he has made Uncle Bill a granddaddy...or he will be in a few short weeks...he ran off in the pit...i lost him in my Yukon...and now...well lets say the black and white dog is no longer black and white...he found the oil pan eric left in the tent on the ground...and FELL IN!! WTF?...and Uncle Bill is on his way home, its dinner time and Im blogging instead of cleaning, cooking, packing, and mowing...but the runt dog is soaking in Dawn in the kitchen sink...

I do love having him around he is great for a few laughs...but Uncle Bill is gonna think I am dog gone loser! hehe (thats a good one, I dont care who you are!)

Although it would have been a great wine for breakfast,

The bottle was just a means of comparison
to the size of our biggest biscuit ever!


It really dressed up well with the 2
gallons of moose/pork/beef sausage gravy.
The large pan made a mean skillet of spuds,
bacon, onion, and eggs a few days later over
the fire pit that fed more than 10 people.
Great addition to camp. Thank you, Lynx.


Aside from roasting wieners at the fire,
the last week was a great relaxing time
to spend visiting with family and friends.
There was even a Bear sighting or two.


It was good to see most of the group and
play some ladder ball.


Looking forward to seeing the Moose clan soon
and Uncle Bill (i believe) soon after.


Thank you, Eagles, for always being the best
of hosts and company during the habitual
Memorial Day weekend camping and gathering
at the HITWRA(WRA).

First Visitors ~ 2010

The Wolf Clan was the first of the Clans to spend the night at the HITWRAWRA for the 2010 season. Good to see a little activity in the "Hole" once again. Several essential chores completed, the domestic water system is now ready to activate as soon as the reservoir is filled, clean up chores, but a good deal of time sitting around the "fire pit" enjoying the warmth and wood smoke.

All, I ask her to do was to mount the King Salmon on top our sign!
She was just a little upset when I mentioned,
"You don't mind working for your dinner, do you".
I mean like it only took five minutes, gave her a ladder, and by best screw gun!
What more could I do to help her?

Mid May, is a little early for the "girls" to enjoy the "Hole", they spent most of the time looking for a little warmth and love. Their comforter was only to willing to provide them a safe haven to sleep and gain a little body warmth. Way to go "Barley"!

While "Barley" was out roaming with the "boys", the girls adapted and found
that the warmth of concrete around the fire pit, was almost as good as "Barley", except for the smoke!

HITWRAWRA II

It is definitely spring! What a beautiful day to spend in the HITWRAWRA, warm, sunny, no wind and a few Eagles soaring overhead. Spring is underway, a few of the migratory species have returned for the season. This morning had coffee with Mother Bear, Blondie Bear was still hibernating. Later in the afternoon, the Beaver family also made their first appearance at the HITWRAWRA of the season. It was great seeing them and the "kits" along with their "new" pup. Had a great visit.

They were busy Beavers, showed up about a half hour after the "Cook Tent" was erected and lashed down for the season. I am not sure, but it appears that tracks were left on Messican Lane, presumably parked until Lady Eagle and myself had the "Cook Tent" set up. But that is all right, it was just good to see them, sit in the sun, and visit. Within five minutes of arrival, the "kits" were on the sand hill.

Had a good day in camp, the de-waterization system is once again stowed away, with the cistern containing about 25% capacity in storage for fire protection. Flower beds raked out, cleaned up, and historical heirlooms removed, cleaned, and re-installed for display purposes.

I would be remiss if I did not apologize to the Moose Clan: To date this season, I had not been on the "back" deck of the Moose Den. Lady Eagle put a trash can back there today and upon her return she asked if I had put the "moose poop" on the deck. I swear, I did not do it! Evidently, the front yard was not sufficient so they also used the door deck. A picture of a Moose standing at the door that would have been priceless. All Moose poop remains in same location that it deposited.

I also must apologize to the Moose for another observation that I made. The tree between the Bear Den and Wolf Den, has two large branches broke off from the snow load. However, the Moose also stripped the bark on these limbs and two other trees. However, today while cleaning up and with the snow being gone, I discovered my error. This spring would be a good time to plant a lawn between these two dens. No need for fertilizer, the rabbits have done an extremely good job. I have never seen so much rabbit poop. It is spread out over the entire area. It was only then that I realized I had blamed the wrong animal. The branches that had been stripped of all bark is 6 - 7 feet off the ground. But that is now, the trees were bent over with the snow load and with the assistance of the snow berms that were plowed, it was the rabbits that barked the trees. The Bear Creek Arbor tree also suffered the same barking as well as several others.

A few days ago, on the driveway into the Eagle Nest, I noticed three or four small spruce trees (3 to 5 feet high) the bark had been completely peeled off of the them about two feet from the ground and up about 18 inches or so. On extremely hard winters, I have seen Moose bark spruce trees if they are hungry. But why would they bark these small trees and it was like a knife was used to peel them. At first I thought perhaps a porcupine but now I am inclined to believe that this was also the work of the Rabbits standing on the driveway snow berms. I will leave these trees intact for your inspection.

However, we also enjoy seeing our little furry friends so we will not retaliate or go onto a extermination campaign. In fact, I may even plant them a garden for their summer enjoyment.

It was a good day, still some clean up work to accomplish as well as some maintenance chores, but we are open and operational. The Duck House is in great shape and open for use. Not wanting to embarrass the first user, I will not tell you their name but their initials is SB.

All is very good!

P.S. "Ole One Eye" had his first chase of the season, although flying at altitude of about 150 feet, Ruger scared him away.

P.S.S. "Epic" and "Dutch" had their first meeting, no problem despite their hormones, but I think "Dutch" realizes that "Epic" is just a puppy!

HITWRAWRA Update

NOTICE: Effective this date, Messican Lane is now open to through traffic. However, Messican Lane is not a thoroughfare, therefore you will need to turn around, back up, or go into 4 wheel drive to access the Old Sterling Highway. On Messican Lane, you can expect occasional flooding from Upper Kroc Lake to Lower Kroc Lake. The annual snow pack on Messican Lane has been eliminated.

The Bowl area of HITWRAWRA and surrounding slopes is now clear of all snow with the exception of John's Glacier. Base of the Bowl area is 63% dry with the outer fringes still showing dampened soil to a dept of 7.3 inches.

Bronco Lane remains blocked due to the extension of the de-waterization line from the water collection point to the distribution point. This closure will be removed on May 8th at 1043 local time. Bronco Lane remains rutted and pot holed which contain moisture, recommend that drivers use caution and adhere to the 5 mph speed limits.

Over All Assessment: The cleanest break up that we have experienced. No major flooding, no landslides, water distribution center worked our extremely well and above expectations. Trees in the area of the Bear and Wold Den will need some chain saw work. Snow loads broke several large branches and the Moose population did a great job in stripping the bark on several trees. Everything really does look good and should have a easy set up.

Had to laugh, I surveyed the exteriors of each cabin to see how they wintered. I could not help but notice that the front yard of the Moose Wallow was littered with "Moose Pellets". However, there were none around any of the other cabins. It was like the Moose knew where they were suppose to poop. I hope to preserve the area until the Moose Clan can return and clean up their own yard!

Talked to Ranger Bill twice in the last couple of days, he was in Boise or enroute when I talked with him. Tonight, he should be speeding to the west coast. I would not be surprised to see Ranger Bill and Dana come riding in one day this spring. Something about "sourdough cakes topped with spoon fudge".

In the event my birth children do not keep track of trivial things so that they can tell their children today is the 70th Birthday of Brother Larry Harrington, a.k.a Uncle Larry, a.k.a. Great Uncle Larry, a.k.a. Great, Great Uncle Larry. You know, I should really get a birthday card and have Natalie and Riley sign it to their Great, Great Uncle. He is always giving me crap about being a grandpa!

On a sad note, William "Bill" Overton passed away this past Tuesday, he was living in Olympia, Washington.

That is all!

How Safe Are You

You do not know me, I could live next door to you! I am a very mean person, I could be a stalker, a rapist, burglar, child molester, or any other weirdo that seems to be plaguing our society. You cannot trust me, I gather information from you and use it to my advantage, either to fulfill my personal desires or simply to sell your name and personal data to marketing firms. Would you invite me into your home?

Recently, I joined Facebook to socialize and stay in touch with my family and good friends. After being on the social network for a few days, I realized that all of a sudden I am seeing postings from people who I really have no great desire to talk to, let alone associate with.

A couple of days ago, after giving it some thought I decided to conduct an experiment. Currently, on my "Friends List", I have thirty six (36) names, including family. It is either that I do not have many friends or I am picky of my friends. The experiment was simple, to see how much personal data I could gather on each of you and your families. Not a difficult task to accomplish. Out of my 36 friends, I easily acquired 36 email addresses. From those 36 email addresses I was able to translate those to 24 street addresses or phone numbers by using a variety of Internet people search programs. From data that I collected, I know the number of children you have, their email addresses, street addresses, age, and in twelve cases what schools they attend. By reading your daily postings, I know what men work away from home on extended shifts, those women whom are single, and when you are away from home on a trip. Out of thirty that are employable age, I know where twenty eight of you work.

Out of everyone on my friend list, I have hundreds of pictures of you, your family, including your children. From your profile list and your postings, I could easily form a profile on each of you.

I do not mean this to scare you to death, but in the world we live in today, danger could be living next door. You are trusting, like I am, but then I gave it some thought and did a little more collection of data. I have 36 friends on Facebook, but each of those friends have other contacts that I do not know, yet they have access to my information including my family members. The number is startling. From the 36 friends that I maintain, 4,135 individuals have access to my information. They are friends of friends that can and do post on our inner circle of friends. The number of friends that those individuals have would be astronomical. If I can gather 4,135 unknowns out of just 36 friends, how many do have lurking in the background that you know nothing about.

Spend a few minutes and go through your "Friend List" then go their profile and see how many friends they have, whom you do not know anything about. It is scary how fast the list multiples.
Again to make my point from my prospective: 36 Friends = 4,135 People of which I do not know 4,099 of them or anything about them. "A Thought To Ponder"

New Designation For HITW

Hydrology Report: I am overwhelmed with the success of the Dewaterization Project. I know that there has been a little concern on the validity of this project. The first excavation was completed by Lady Eagle, Anna, and She Wolf. The kids packed the mud up up the hill to where I constructed a mud and rock wall to divert Bear Creek into the excavation site. That project has proven to be very successful, even for planting flowers until Ranger Bill got a hold of the weed eater. Ranger Bill also excavated the site, until he had to be winched out of the mud because he went in over the top of his hip boots. Bull Moose got into the final clean up phase of the excavation after "Bobcat Man" roughed it in. Eyes rolled, snide remarks were made when the coffer dam and decking was built.

But the end results, it works great! As I write, the pump is on auto pilot and keeping up with the water flow draining into the cistern. Water is flowing into the site from all directions, still one low spot in front of the cook tent that has always collected water. This will be taken care of as soon as the dump trucks can get in. Currently, we are in the best shape that we have ever witnessed during spring break up. With the rain today, approximately 81.4% of the snow pack has now been pumped out of the area. A slight sluffing of soil on Grannies Gulch but to date no major landslides.

The snow storage area on Messican Lane has decreased in height from six feet to approximately 2 feet, so we should be able to re-open Messican Lane to traffic, one way only with the next week. Because of the fire hose route and break up conditions, Bronco Lane is closed to through traffic. Cabins wintered very well, a slight heaving of decks but nothing that will not correct it self.

NEW DESIGNATION

The current site is designated as the Hole In The Wall Recreational Area. During the past three years, exhaustive research has revealed that this same area hosts a year around population of wildlife, waterfowl, and birds of prey as well as a large variety of migratory and resident song birds.

During the last wildlife survey, in the time allocation of 6 minutes four Snowshoe Hares were counted indicating that the total population may exceed the grazing area. Other wildlife in the area include Moose, Bear, Wolves, Lynx, Buffalo, Beaver, Rabbits / Hares, Ermine, Porcupine, Shrews, and common field mouse. Some of the more notable birds enumerated would include a large population of Eagles, Ravens, Woodpeckers, Song Birds, and Pink Flamingos. Seasonal migratory waterfowl would include Mallard Ducks, Lessor Canadian Goose, and Sand Hill Cranes.

Although, no photographic evidence is available, it is consider that it is very likely that an exotic specie also exists in the area. Undocumented evidence indicates that there is a possibility that two of the major bodies of water also contain Krocodiles. Origin of the specie is unknown, however, the early settlers in this area named these two bodies of water, Upper and Lower Kroc Pond. Not to be confused as the "original" Kroc Pond which has since been claimed as a Moose Wallow.

Based on the research and data collected on this area, considering that it was previously designated as a "Recreational Area" we have just received official documentation designating this area as a "Wildlife Refuge". Henceforth, this area can be referred to as "Hole In the Wall Recreational Area and Wildlife Refuge Area or HITWRAWRA, pronounced as HIT WRA WRA.

Example of the flourishing population of
the Snowshoe Hare that populates the HITWRAWRA

Migratory Waterfowl ~ Kroc Pond Area

The HITWRAWRA has a stable population of resident squirrels including the species
of "Claire Allen", "Butch", and "Sundance Kid".

Area received the designation as a "Wildlife Refuge" primarily due to the discovery of one particular specie that is considered endangered. The total population of this specie is unknown due to their rarity. This is the only known photograph of this rare specie. Although little biological data is known on this specie, however it is considered likely that this particular specie is a cross breed between a Kangaroo and Jack Rabbit.