Busy Day

Thor says....

Thor always has something to say when you walk past his area. He is one of the most vocal donkeys I've ever known!

Yesterday Mr. Morris and I went back into the valley to see exactly how much water moved around in the creek bottom.
We were pleasantly surprised at how many weeds got washed out and flattened.

These shots compared to a week or so ago, when we tried to go through the area...

Before:

After:

We walked down the valley to the snowmobile trail.

It looks like the folks who maintain this trail will have their work cut out for them.

The culvert they put across the little mild mannered creek is no longer working, the creek has moved its flow.
However it may go back to going through the tube once the water goes down.
That is unless we have another gully washer.

The trail is here somewhere, but no one has even driven a 4 wheeler down this trail this year.

Two years ago, the owners of this property have stopped mowing areas for picnicking and campfires. It seems that they aren't even willing to fence it and rent it out as pasture.

Being city folks and the fact that they inherited the land, I suppose they really don't care. I don't find hiking through 10 foot tall wild parsnips that much fun.

I do still have some trails that I have maintained and can follow, but walking through this valley will be reserved for this fall and after the first heavy snowfall.

Morris was a trooper, he struggled through the tall stuff after we left the creek.
We took the 'camp' road up and out of the valley instead of backtracking.

Both of us were hot. I wanted to walk to the end of the valley and take a look around. But Morris was panting and I felt I needed some more time to bush whack my way down the valley.

Morris was wearing his tags so I could hear him. Sometimes he is so quiet I lose track of him in the weeds.

Once we got on the ridge, it was much cooler and we hiked along the edge of the crop fields as the ridge road was overgrown.

Had I been riding Siera, I think my head would have been above the weeds.

The view from the top was absolutely stunning and made the rest of the hike worth it.

Surprisingly enough, I took this with my new Smartie-Phone.
I put it in HDR mode and took a pretty blind shot as the sun was so bright I couldn't see the screen.

Once we hit the 'driveway' Morris took off towards home, but kept stopping and looking at me as if to say...Hurry UP!

Even the driveway is showing a real lack of care. The brother of the owners who lives there used to keep it graded.

Now it is over grown and washed. 
I wonder what the future will bring.

When we arrived home, Morris immediately jumped up on the couch after we moved it. He went sound asleep.

Hubby and I began to pull the bricks off from the wall of the living room.

Part II of the remodeling begins!