A Man and His Buds

Dogs. I've had a lifelong relationship with horses and dogs, and if pressed I couldn't give you an answer as to which is my favorite. Could you answer anyone if they asked you which of your children do you like the most? Back in 2010 I jokingly said to my wife, "I need a wolf." Damned if she didn't find me one that had a bit of dog in him. Most of his genetics expressed as wolf, including much of his behavior. He weighed in at over 100 pounds and was a handful.  Here's a photo of him and my other dog.

As one might imagine having a wolf can be a bit troublesome. If you think you might train a wolf, forget it. What you can do is bond with him and become a packmate. He was my hunting and fishing companion. I would heave a trout to him and he'd give me a look almost to say, "what, this is all for me?" Crunch, head, fins, entrails, everything, gone in a flash.

My other dog, my favorite breed Heinz 57, they have a little bit of everything in them. He's my working dog. He hustles the horses when needed and worked cattle well. He's also my truck dog. A man has to have a dog in his pick-up.

I had to put my wolf down not too long ago. They tend to die fairly young for canines. My other dog has mostly retired and his days are filled with power lounging in the sun, and pick-up rides. Oh, and wienies, lots of wienies.

Mountain Horse Training

I've been remiss. It seems I haven't written a thing here in months and I also have failed in putting my thoughts down on mountain horse training. 

A friend of mine sternly reminded me of this recently. So, without further ado I have posted a list of things a good mountain horse should be able to do and in subsequent posts I will provide some rationale and the methods I have used to meet these requirements. As usual, this is my list and others might want to add or subtract as deemed necessary. Here we go:

1. Ground Tying

2. Tack/Untack Both Sides

3. Flapping Objects

4. Startlement Horse

5. Startlement Rider

6. Wildlife Encounter

7. Chain Saw

8. Obstacle Crossing

9. Backing

10. Sidepassing

11. Weight Drag

12. Load/Carry Saddlebags

13. Don/Doff Clothing

14. Lead/Follow

15. Firecrackers

16. Gunfire

17. New Trailer Load/Unload

18. Cross Water

19. Cross Bridge

20. Ground Leading in Harsh Terrain

Wildfire and Other Things

What a month. Through August and the first two weeks in September it's been busy. I must have made two dozen trips evacuating other people's animals from the mountains. Wildfire. Every time there is a wildfire in California my mother phones me and asks "is everything OK?" Usually the fire is nowhere near us, well except this time, and she didn't call. Needless to say I get quite a few calls from my mother during wildfire season. The last drought caused a lot of tree kills due to the bark beetles, as I mentioned in a previous post, and often leads to an intense fire season.

It was quite the season this year and it was a near run thing at my place in the mountains. After the break is a photograph from the road up at about the 5000' elevation. The red dot is the approximate location of my place up there. The fire also threatened a small community at the base of the mountains.

Over the Hills and Through The Woods...

It's getting close to that time of the year when the snow flies. I like to hit the mountains once there is a fair amount of snow. These pictures are from last winter after the first storm. There was 3 feet of snow in that storm. That's me snowshoeing in (uphill, both ways) with a sleigh full of supplies.

Mush, Mush I say.

Sweet Seclusion.

It's always enjoyable to be up there when the snow is coming down. I'm at about 7000' and just below the ridgeline so the clouds pile up there during a snowstorm. The snow crystals form right in front of your eyes and then fall just a few feet to the ground. It's odd, but quite mesmerizing.

It's Never Been Like This Before

Every so often I'll get in a conversation with someone about our droughts here in the mountains of California. The snow pack in the Sierra Nevada mountains is the major source of fresh water in the state so knowledge about it is vital. Fortunately there is data to be had that I can use to inform myself. I get the snow pack data for the two watersheds I am interested in from the California Data Exchange Center.

I update my files every year at the end of the snow season. This is usually April 1st. It's always surprising to me when people talk about the Sierra snowpack from news reports they hear or see, but don't actually look at the numbers. In fact some of the things I hear from people is so far from what the data implies it's troubling. Let me be clear from the outset, this is not about the overall water situation in California. It is about the two watersheds that directly impact my life. They are the Kern River Watershed and the Owens River Watershed.

An Upcoming Trip

It's time for a little back country riding. The "boys" have new shoes and they are ready...

...and so am I.

This trip will probably be to see a good acquaintance of mine up near Kennedy Meadows. My normal route from Walker Pass to Big Pine Meadow is shown on the map below the break, but I'll be casting about for different ways to go so it will probably take me a bit longer. I'll probably put about 75 miles in the saddle. 

Off to the High Country

I need some high timber around me. When things take on a bit of a pall for me I know it's time to get away for a few days. Fortunately I have just the thing. Up in the Sierras amongst the tall trees I have a place and it's only an hour drive from the house. The wildlife is prolific, bear, deer, mountain lion, and it's on the Monarch butterfly migration path. They all like the meadow just below me.