There was no second mouse. 2 nights ago at Willow Springs sleep spot I was awakened by little noises that I have associated with mice chewing. Shit, how are the buggers getting in? I slid out of bed then rooted around in my junk drawer and pulled out the Woodstream made traps, baited 2 of them with almond butter, set them in likely spots, then crawled back into bed. I fell asleep still hearing the chewing / scampering noises hoping to hear the snap of a trap. Nothing. Under daylight the trap triggers were eaten clean. Hmmm… almond butter didn’t adhere to the trigger hard enough to not trip the trigger. I caught a glimpse of a mouse scurrying up under the dash. Baiting changed as I stuck on a piece of cheese of the triggers. No takers. Yesterday before my ride I smeared almond butter over the cheese then rode off. No capture. I drove out to sleep spot with Steve. Later in the evening I visited him in his van listening to the Zags game on radio. Back at the van I saw that between the 2 baits a mouse was captured by the trap. I found the piece of cheese indicating that either another mouse didn’t like it or there was no second mouse. Last night I heard nothing. No second mouse. I pitched the mouse and the trap out the door. This AM the trap was not where it landed. I searched and found it under the van. The mouse was just skin as the mouse had been eaten flesh only by a critter.
Sort of excitement.
So about other living experiences.
I hung out at N Klondike for several days in anticipation of friend Steve’s arrival. I visited with the camp next door to my spot. Characters. Steve arrived Sat evening. Sunday Steve and I were joined by Brian from next door. We rode like Dino, Little Salty, Mega steps, Alaska, Homer, returming on Dino.
After post ride wind down Steve and I in our own vans drove into to town for resupply. Plan to manage Steve’s time here after resupply we drove out to Willow Springs for the night and to ride Klonzo the next day. Chilly nights and a strong headwind greeted us for the pedal out Willow Springs road. Brian finally joined us. We pedaled Klonzo stuff.
Steve’s and my plans continued to evolve. Seahawks played undefeated 49ers on Mon football. Enough said. I drove us back to town leaving Steve’s van and my chair as holding places for our spots. Dinner at brewery which was not conducive to watching the game. We relocated to The Rio a more local spot to finish the game. Seahawks won after nail biting overtime. We returned to our saved spots.
Yesterday we drove up to Horsethief area for planned 2 days of riding. We rendezvoused at the parking lot right off Horsethief rd. Ride plan was simple out and back on piece of Chisholm. Steve had not ridden this piece. The land here and trail routing is different from chunky Klondike. Even for me after having ridden this stuff before this was a reconnection to this tread. Big smiles. We arrived at the Navajo system anticipating returning same way. Steve studied the map then proposed a different return route. Ah, some of the joys of sharing a familiar trail with someone not knowledgeable. I had never ridden a piece of 7Up that he proposed. What could go wrong with our route? Big Lonely crossed the highway becoming Coney Island. Ran into George, co owner of OTE in Fruita. Then the climb out on 7 Up which for most part is a beat up jeep trail which was acceptable, not the sand I was lead to believe we would ride over.
Just another gorgeous day and ride. Mostly all to ourselves. Steve did experience a rider who did not practice trail etiquette to yield to uphill rider and was run off the trail. We intersected with the single track system at Mustang and began more climbing to join the start of Chisholm back to our vans. 15.6 miles climbing 1214′ pedaling for 2 hrs 13 mins.
Steve is 66, we are just aging men still enjoying physical activity and being outside. Our speed is reflective of enjoyment and not visiting the pain cave. My heart rate will stray into anaerobic rates but this ride was almost pain free. Just being outside in this desert soaking up this version of nature. Wide open blue skies that are clear, most times cloudless as seen in the pics. When wind is calm my ears hurt from not hearing anything. Living out here continues that exposure albeit escaping cold by being in our vans. You can buy an expensive house in town then drive out to play in the outside but you return to your house. Us with fewer resources remain behind, you can not buy these locations…. unless dump gives it away.
We are heading off for today’s ride at 11:00 under sunny skies, temp at 10:25 AM is 55 degrees.