Walking The Dike

Tonight LC, Kory and I walked along the ever-growing shore line on the South Fork side of Buffalo Bill Reservoir.

The water level continues to be dropped lower and lower, and in return we continually find new shore line to walk.

That is now, but back in early August the lake was high.

So high in fact, that on one of our regular trips to the lake we looked at the water and realized with surprise that every piece of shore line had disappeared.

Under water.

Looking at the water in dismay, we spent a few minutes both absorbing the sight in front of us and brainstorming what to do next.

We wanted to walk and Kory needed to run, but neither of those things were going to happen because of this unexpected development.

There are two dikes on the South Fork end of the reservoir.

One of the dikes (massive earth and rock walls that act as a barrier to separate the lake from the homes that exist close by) was about five miles away.

The other was immediately up and to our right.

The dike it was....................

By this time of year the edge of the high-water lake was swamped with drift wood.

Drift wood that had flowed down the Shoshone River from the mountains during the spring run-off and which had in turn been pushed into the lake, eventually making its way to the shore line that edged the lake in all directions.

As we all three headed towards the dike so that we could walk, I looked down and was surprised to see this flowering vine growing in and around smooth-edged pieces of wonderful driftwood...............

From our elevated position on top of the dike we could see just how high the water really was.

There was no shore line at all, and the trees that we had stood under only a few weeks earlier were now standing in water.

At that time we did not know how long the water level would be so high, but as we headed along the gravel trail that spanned the length of the dike, we were all just pleased to be out, and surrounded by beautiful on a late summer afternoon................

By the time we had walked half way along the dike, the scene in front of us reminded me SO much of Alaska.

The water, the trees, the islands, the mountains...........all of it..............

Raucous seagulls perched on boulders..............

The evening was warm but not hot this late in the day.

We were used to walking right down at the lake, so this elevated perch provided us with a perspective that we had not received before, and suddenly I was glad that the shore line had disappeared and that we had decided to walk the dike.

A quiet, peaceful and beautiful walk.

We weren't out for long.

An hour or so.

Just one of many small adventures that we took part in day after day after day all summer long.................

Go outside. Don’t tell anyone and don’t bring your phone. Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand, because we walk the same roads day in and day out, to the bus and back home and we cease to see. We walk in our sleep and teach our muscles to work without thinking and I dare you to walk where you have not yet walked and I dare you to notice. Don’t try to get anything out of it, because you won’t. Don’t try to make use of it, because you can’t. And that’s the point. Just walk, see, sit down if you like. And be. Just be, whatever you are with whatever you have, and realise that that is enough to be happy.
There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it..................Charlotte Eriksson

Antelope Up Close and Personal

These pictures were all taken on a short side road up the South Fork.

It was early July, we had just moved into our new home, and on a very warm summer day we were eager to explore the area we now called home.

The house was full of boxes.

So was the garage.

In another life I would have obsessively emptied boxes - tirelessly tearing them open one after the other, eager to find a place for everything and eager to declutter and organize in that obsessive-compulsive-organizational way that I have always had.

But this is a different life.

We had done nothing but move and organize for the past year.

I was working 48 hours a week trying to get a new business off the ground, we had just moved into a new home two miles from the lake and we were surrounded by mountains.

Summer was short.  

Winter was long.

We could unpack anytime.

For the past couple of months we have very slowly begun to get organized.

And that is OK.

And so.........with boxes everywhere, we went for a drive just a few miles further up the South Fork, enjoying the scenery, the beautiful day, and the knowledge that we lived here.

HERE!...................

Turning onto this side road early in our drive, we slowly made our way down the dusty, dirt road.

Not long after we turned off, we unexpectedly found this small herd of antelope.

It is difficult to get close to antelope - they are very wary, very skittish, very fast.

We were surprised when they did not immediately take off in a fast run.

They paid no attention to us at all...............

We watched them grazing, excitedly whispering to each other, while Kory stood silently in the back.

Staring through the front and side windows and not making a sound.................

Over the next few minutes we watched as the two here, the three over there, and the few that had been hidden in the tall grass of an adjoining field, all gradually gathered together to form a small herd.

There was water and plenty to eat, and it was obvious that these antelope were used to grazing unobstructed in this area.

Plenty of wide open fields in the middle of summer, furiously growing hay and other crops.

Cedar Mountain in the background................

It was a real novelty for us to be able to watch antelope simply walking and grazing so close to us.

Usually they were always on the run................

We must have watched this herd for almost 30 minutes

We have seen antelope so many times over the years.

Usually from a distance.

Usually while they were running from us even though we were still so far away from them, and presented no threat to them.

They are cautious and watchful animals.  

Easily startled.  

Easily to scare into a full run.

But on this day they were different and that was what was so mesmerizing about the encounter.

They were relaxed, comfortable, well fed, moving slowly and easily in a way that neither LC nor I was used to.

As they slowly walked away from us, LC and I looked at each other and smiled at this unexpected animal encounter.

And then we slowly turned the Tahoe around and headed back the way we had come.

It was time to "go further and see more".

We were going to love living on the South Fork.................

Water was how the desert would bring everyone together. The antelope's daily prayer, weighing the mortal need of water with the mortal danger of obtaining it..............Mike Bond, The Last Savanna

Sudden Shore Line

The water is down.

It's way down.

And suddenly and unexpectedly there are huge swaths of rocky and sandy shoreline to walk.

Kory is ecstatic.

So am I.

As the days get shorter, the world is almost imperceptibly but surely beginning to get quieter.

Winding itself down and preparing itself to sleep.

Summer is not quite done yet, and fall is not quite here yet, but both of those seasons are now falling all over each other.

A puppy pile of ever changing conditions.

Hot.  Cold.  Warm.  Cold.  Changing daily..............

On this day I walked alone with Kory.

Wandering on the unexpected expanse of newly revealed shoreline.

Walking awkwardly on the rocks and sinking periodically in the sand.

Loving the view of the silent mountains that overlooked the silent lake, and loving the sight of my joyous dog as she gleefully alternated between running, marking, investigating and then wading into the water to take a quick drink.

As much as I like our home and the endless views of the mountains, the one big - the BIG - is that we are close to the lake...............

The terrain that had been so familiar throughout the summer months suddenly looked completely different to me.

There were now endless acres of land exposed that I had never seen before.

The last time I had been here much of this area had been underwater, and on this day I was mesmerized by all this "newness".

As Kory and I wandered I was keenly aware that Kory and I could suddenly walk in so many places that we had not been able to walk before.................

Dry and parched ground.

It has been a long, hot summer.................

I don't know tracks, but this little critter walked this way when the ground was still saturated, and now his footprints were etched into the parched earth.................

It was late in the day, and the light was perfect.

As I continued to wander along the shore line I quietly fought to get used to the new reality of Buffalo Bill Reservoir.

The trees were already beginning to turn yellow. 

The days were getting shorter and the sun was already beginning to descend by the time I rushed home, grabbed my puppy, sometimes grabbed my guy, and rushed down to the lake to decompress from one more long day.

The endless warmth and sunshine extending until past 9pm was a thing of the past.

And high water levels were gone, only to be replaced by endless walking places overlooking blue waves.

Yes...........I could get used to this.

Just as I could get used to walking on a snow-filled beach overlooking a frozen lake a few months from now.

I am excited for summer to be done..................

Kory heading for shore after a short swim.................

We closed on our house in Idaho on September 21 of last year.

One year ago tomorrow.

If I think back over the past year and everything we have done, it makes my head tired.

It has been a long year in many ways.

Long.  Tiring.  Expensive.  Worrisome.  Exhilarating.  Frustrating.  Exciting.  So many other descriptives.

But a year later LC and I both believe that it has all been worth it.

The Tahoe with Carter Mountain in the background...............

A little tranquil lake is more significant to my life than any big city in the world.....................Munia Khan

Hot Trip On To BLM Land

One of the things LC and I both love about where we live is that we are only a few minutes from the mountains, a few minutes from the lake, and a few minutes from BLM land.

Water is five minutes away.

An alpine environment is about 15 minutes away.

The "desert" is about 7 minutes away.

We have been in our home for a couple of months now, but the novelty of where we live has not even begun to wear off yet.

Truthfully I hope that it never wears off.

Sometimes we look look around us, and then look at each other and smile.

"We live here".

It's a good place for us.  A good fit.

And knowing that FEELS very good...........

It is now closing in on the end of September in Cody.

The days have been warm.

The nights have been increasingly cold.

But only two weeks ago, when these pictures were taken, it was VERY hot.

Today has been cold.

Yesterday was cold.

By Saturday it will be in the mid-70s again.

And so it goes in the Rockies.  In the west.  In Cody.

The weather is all map..............

On this particular Sunday we walked out of the house and made the spur-of-the-moment decision to wander on BLM land with our dog.

It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day.

Only.............by the time we pulled onto BLM land, slowly made our way to the hills a mile or so across open public land, and reached the rock formation we had chosen as our destination, we climbed out of the Suburban and groaned.

It was HOT!

This wouldn't be the lengthy roaming and wandering that we had anticipated after all.

Looking around us, I searched for our dog but Kory was already gone.

Disappeared into the hills in front of us.

Already in the midst of a wonderful puppy-adventure.

Life is so simple and straight forward for a dog..............

This was mid-September.

It wasn't SUPPOSED to be this hot in mid-September, was it?

A couple of weeks earlier it had snowed in the mountains.

In August.

But as LC and I slowly climbed up into the rocks and the hills, the dryness and unyielding heat quickly enveloped us, and then overwhelmed us.

The world was silent and beautiful, but this would indeed be a short trip.................

Our supposedly long hike only lasted for 30 minutes.

Long enough to climb up into the rocks, to follow the ridge line a short ways, to drop down the back side and then pick up a double track trail that would circle us back to the vehicle.

Thankfully also long enough for puppy to run and chase a rabbit and stick her nose into multiple gaps in the rocks in search of interesting anythings...............

When we got home we climbed out of the Suburban and looked at each other in surprise.

It wasn't hot at the house.

Less than 10 minutes away.

The rocks and the sage and the sandstone hills of BLM land had simply been holding heat that the area surrounding it had not.

We haven't been back there since this last visit.

Now that fall is gradually moving into the area, it might be time to take another trip...................

The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many.... September is dressing herself in showy dahlias and splendid marigolds and starry zinnias. October, the extravagant sister, has ordered an immense amount of the most gorgeous forest tapestry for her grand reception. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), "Autumn," The Atlantic Almanac, 1868