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| Hiking | 3.66 Miles |
147 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.66 Miles | | | |
| 147 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | July 19 to Grande's old place 2.78 miles 7:34-8:32PM (5559 steps) 3249-3315 elevation, 81 degrees with 22% humidity. Trying to get in some more walking before my hike on Monday, following through with my adage, something is better than nothing. This morning we went over to my old place, now owned by my first cousin 1x removed, to have coffee with his fiance. They are slowly renovating the home I spent the first six years of my life in. Anyway, on the way you pass by the old Grande place on the corner. We've always liked the old house and since it's a little more than a mile away, I thot it would be a good destination.
I crossed the cattle guard and, of course, got distracted by some birds. I have to say that during my stay here, I was amazed at all the birds and even more so by the variety  ! I went up the hill past the two water trucks and a new building put up after an old one (airplane hangar actually) blew over late last spring 2022.
I continued eastward with an escort of many swallows and other birds. Once at the top of the hill, over the wheatfields, I could see cousin Dallas's place to the south and the Goosebill; this is known as Goosebill country. Further along the road I could see additional homemade repairs cousin Brian had made to the road with the tractor this morning. It's a county road but the county can't seem to get out and repair it  ; especially with harvest around the corner.
There were lots of sunflowers next to a long part of the road with lots of grasshoppers. I had seen other flora as well like the Peppergrass and the short globemallow. I still can't get over the flora similarities with hiking in the desert and here. However, the normal annual total rainfall amounts are not that much different. I crossed the cattle guard and went a little over a quarter mile to the Grande place.
I decided to take a tour and walked around the quaint house with a great screened-in porch and a nice view of the Goosebill. The Skierkes who now own it have done a nice job of keeping up the area including cutting the Prairie grass and keeping the area neat. There are several grain bins, a shop and quonsets, along with a couple old farm buildings. At the back I saw this great big dirt mover, a shame it isn't used anymore. If a person wanted to get into farming, this would be a great property.
Now I would be walking into the sun and no breeze. However, the temp was pleasant as the sun started sinking lower. I took a few more photos of some flora and fauna. The smoke from the Canadian fires had blown back in so you couldn't see the Sweetgrass Hills (up by Canada) again. I stopped briefly near the junkyard and cattle staging area before crossing the cattle guard. Another great ranch walk.
JULY 20th walk up around the reservoir as I was leaving the next day. .82 miles 7:37-8:13PM (1791 steps) 3240-3295 elevation, 84 degrees with 21% humidityThere was a pretty sparrow that posed for me as I made my way up to the reservoir. I took a few photos of the Water Smartweed; it's a fuscia color so how can I not during "Barbie" summer. There was also a Ruddy Duck with that blue bill swimming with some mallards. As I came back to the dam part I saw a Sandpiper and Killdeer. On the other side of the dam is a large pond that was nearly dry last year but is full this year. There was a cool reflection in it.
Moving down the earthen dam I spotted a couple duck families so I tried to film them and then some birds caught my eye in the bushes. There were MANY Yellow-headed Blackbirds  , four in one bush. But all of the bushes on this side had lots of these birds hanging out. I was astonished. Surprised I've not noticed them before other than maybe there hasn't been that much water around when I've been here. I continued my walk and stopped at the spillway where I could hear the water running into the lower pond but couldn't get close enough to really see it due to bugs and not knowing where the rattlesnakes might be.
As I got closer to the end of the dam there were all sorts of birds everywhere, another possible Alfred Hitchcock moment  ; but this time I hung around rather than retreating, ha! I tried to film them as they were flying above me but it was hard to do so you'll just have to trust me, there were many and I'm sure they wondered what the heck I was doing. They all lined up on the barbed wire fence for their youtube moment and I obliged. I wish I could have approached a little closer so that you could see all the variety. I tried to do a pano but after six shots I kind of lost where I was at along the fence line and they were covering a long line of wires.
On my way back, I took some photos of the reflections in the pond and as I rounded a corner, I caught several photos of a young Yellow-headed Blackbird trying to hang onto the branches where he had landed as well as the grasshopper it had partially eaten. It was windy so the bird lost its balance once. I'm not sure what it was waiting for. I checked out the Sprayer to see if I could walk under it, as it seems so when you come upon it, but it only comes up to my neck so it would require a limbo move to go under it.
Here are the videos I put together that include driving around the ranch/farms and two cattle checks I did with cousin Brian as well as the other ranch walks I did. What amazed me this year, besides the Smart Waterweed was all the variety of birds and so many.
Part 1 [ youtube video ] includes my first ranch walk, some of the cattle checks
Part 2 [ youtube video ] finishing off the cattle check and a ranch walk
Part 3 [ youtube video ] ranch walk to the old Grande place
Part 4 [ youtube video ] ranch walk finishing off the Grande place and including the last day around the reservoir with all the birds |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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