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There are many out there for which the phrase ‘blood is thicker than water’ makes much sense. One of my closest friends has had a great, normal, adjusted childhood with nothing but fond, loving memories of her family. Overseas and distant, but still tightly bound to her heart.

As an adult child of an alcoholic parent (on one side) and an abusive parent (on the other), my experience was less normal than my friend’s. Normal is something I believe I am still only beginning to understand what it truly means. She is a good woman, a trustworthy friend, and honest with me all the time. It is a joy to experience such honesty and reality with my friend.

Families are our genetic mix, the bowl of soup from which we were spawned, but not necessarily beings we share much in common with, save for said genetics. I have had mentors in my life that helped mold and shape me and become the man I am today. Men that were nothing like my father; men that were strong, capable, successful, adept. In my twenties, Peter guided me as my father should have and without Peter, I would not have been able to retire in my early fifties. His advice was the best career advice I ever received.

Dotty was recovering from radiation treatments for cancer when I met her. True, genuine, honest and real, even amidst her own struggles. Before her death, she had become a better mother to me than the woman that raised me. She offered love, kindness, compassion and understanding on more levels than I can recall. She will always be in my heart.

My first friend on the ranch here reminded me, when I described being lucky to be here, that no, it was not luck. I earned this place. I worked for it. Scrapped, sacrificed and sold my time for it. It is mine from hard work, effort and steadfast determination to hunt until I found my own slice of happiness upon this land.

The luck, my true luck, is the people I am now calling friends out here. My community. We are a community because we need to be. We look out for each other for they look out for us. We care because we all know we are here for the same reason – our love of this patch of land. We can bond over such, protect such, treat each other kindly as such, and as lucky as I am to know these people, I can happily report that I am not related to any of them.

Spring is (or was) definitely in the air. A neighbor and I went out traversing in a wheeled side by side; Moon Bug (with tracks) is only required to get me off this particular mountain, the lower roads are far more open and navigable via wheels. We have nearly a foot of snow predicted for the coming weekend. It was time to ride while we could!

The Kuehler’s graciously allowed us to use their upper field as a parking lot. From home, I can see these vehicles upon the skyline, white, black, then black and white.

The Rippetoe garage, surrounded with remaining drifts, even though Merlot is navigable from the railroad gate, nearly to their cabin.

The melting is continuing; the wind appears to remove snow nearly as efficiently as it dropped it here in the first place. Much of the ground clears daily. The drifts, however, drop much slower. At this point, the road seems to be holding the majority of the deeper snow, most likely due to track machines having packed it down over the winter. I wonder if it would melt quicker were one to sit still and not pack the road even when not needing to leave the park?

The old dog and I walked about Schierl Road today, mostly upon my own land. It is exciting to see patches of bare dirt, fresh bits of earth uncovered from the long, deep winter. The dog had much to explore (and much land to re-mark via the bladder), so it was a slow, meandering adventure today, simply being upon the bare earth (most of the time) instead of snow banks.

The corner by the Mitchell cabin is still not only mired in a five foot drift, but trash is now scattered about. Much trash from the construction site, and sadly, being down wind, much of it is landing upon my pristine land. I will need to get some trash bags and do a clean up this spring once the snow goes. Beer cans, construction materials, grocery shopping bags… nothing I expected to find out here in this beautiful wilderness. The spread is quite wide, but it has to be cleaned up.

I’ve included photos of the snow on Schierl below; far prettier than construction trash.

The snow is disappearing fast now. We had a few days where it stayed above freezing during the depth of the overnight, and thus, a soupy, mudding mess has formed. I would surmise a two plus foot drop in average snow depth in less than a week. It feels lovely to see bare earth return, but even more so to hear bird chirping with the daily sunrise. Moths now bump my windows when dusk arrives and interior lighting begins, so the shift is also shifting my mood. The newness of Spring is exciting.

I left the mountain over the weekend; a mere six miles from here, there is no snow, no mud, no remnants of this past winter. The air is lighter, warmer, and smells of new life and growth, growth that will soon appear upon my mountain top as well. Fresh salad greens, vegetables, fruit, and another tray of eggs, and life is again normal upon my summit.

The truck is now 5.5 miles from the house, not 8. Next Saturday I plan to relocate it to the three mile marker, in two wheel drive, as this snow continues to vanish. We have drifts upon Schierl and upper Merlot, still in the several feet range, even though there are bare patches in others, so Moon Bug is still needed for the last three miles for another few weeks, I surmise.

The weather is teasing now. Several days above freezing and the massive drifts dropped at least a foot and a half. Snow seems to vanish here a bit quicker than normal, perhaps for it is so dry to start with, but it is settling. The melting, the softness, the warmness in the air, all welcome signs. I am ready for Spring, not so much for feeling trapped, but longing for access to land, non slick, slippery, snowy land to traverse upon.

Awoke this morning to an eleven degree day and it barely got above freezing today, so the thawing is on hold. Not only humans are ready for Spring, much more animal life is scurrying about readily.

There is a Coyote that visits the fields of Brophy near daily, often jumping and diving, hunting rodents in the open fields. And below, a slightly fuzzy image of what I believe is a ferruginous hawk.

Below is another shot of Moon Bug and the solar panels, the drifts having settled quite noticably.