Paddling, Mudding, and Hiking

 

After Jem got back from Cliff Diving, he wanted to go canoeing or kayaking, as did most of the other Boy Scouts who had been diving from off the Heron Lake Dam.

Crazy! He looks so grown up, but only 14 years old and already 6’2”!

The group headed out in an armada of boats. There’s Jem in the front of the white canoe.

And Jax is in the front of this orange canoe.

See that blue shape in the water, among the center of the boats? That was a German Exchange Student that came along with one of the Boy Scout families for the camping trip. His name was Marcus and he wanted to swim the entire mile-plus distance from the shore to the little island. He was wearing a safety vest, but he did swim the entire distance all on his own. Wow!

While they paddled (and swam) to the island I hung out at the beach taking some pics of some of the Scouts playing on the beach……..in the mud.

It was amazing how deep they managed to bury themselves.

They seemed to be enjoying their own Mud Spa experience…..a little too much.

Swamp Monster!

 

Jem switched places on the way back from the island and was able to kayak back instead of canoe.

And then someone asked me if I wanted to take a turn with the paddles. Oh yeah! I love boating!

I got someone to keep an eye on Jen and Dobbie. And I was surprised that Jax volunteered to go with me, because he had been out on the canoes and kayaks all day by that time.

So Jax hopped into the canoe with me and we headed out to the island with two other parents in kayaks and another kayak with a couple of younger Boy Scouts.

Jax and I were a well-oiled rowing machine and we kept having to slow down to wait up for the younger Scouts, who were already tiring out half-way across the lake. One of the kayaking parents, was smart to pack a rope, because, after we reached the island, he used it to tow those two tired Boy Scouts back to shore.

I was surprised at how strong and effortlessly I was able to power across the lake. I felt alive and elated. It felt great to get out and explore and have fun with my son. We talked and laughed the entire way. It was truly a highlight of our weekend.

Dobbie missed me terribly while I was gone. If we had had a doggie safety vest, I would have taken her with me. But she sure was happy when she saw me paddling back to shore!

What a sweet reunion!

Next time you get to go out, too, Dobbie. I love my little Chiweenie girl!

As the sun started to drop lower in the sky, we gathered together with the Boy Scouts for a Potluck meal and after dinner, the kidlets and I decided we wanted to check out the Rio Chama Trail and the old Suspension Bridge, while the Boy Scouts had made plans to attend a Ranger Talk at the Nature Center about Rattlesnakes. Our hope was to hike the beginning of the Rio Chama Trail and place a letterbox near the old Suspension Bridge, and then join up with the Boy Scouts at the Nature Center. Pretty ambitious plans considering the sun was almost on the horizon.

And I might not have chosen our plans if I had known how rugged and steep that first 1/2 mile of trail really was as it traveled down the stairs along the cap rock of the Chama River Canyon.

(This is the platform and stairs leading down from the top)

And switch-backed down to the river.

It was totally worth it, of course, and I’m so glad we took on the challenge, because the old, swaying, rocking, bouncing, wooden Suspension Bridge is slated for replacement by next summer with a brand new, boring, safe metal bridge. (Now why do they have to go ruin a great piece of history and adventure?)

Such a great old bridge, too.

After placing the letterbox on the other side of the canyon above the bridge we headed back across the river, our destination: The top of that cap rock along the canyon wall.

(See the platform and stairs leading down the wall across the canyon? That was our destination. It was much tougher hiking back up that steep, switch-back, cap rock canyon wall, than it was coming down. That’s for sure! Whew!)

But we made it just as the sun dipped below the horizon, and even caught the last half of the Rattlesnake Ranger Talk, too! Wooo! Awesome day!    

Summer Chicks ~ 7 Week Update

 

The chicks will be 7 weeks old this Thursday. I missed doing a timely update on them last week due to packing and getting ready to leave for our weekend camping/boating/letterboxing road trip up to Heron Lake State Park.

We did manage to move all 27 chicks outside into the temporary mini-coop within the main chicken coop, and the change and adjustment went seamlessly well.

The chicks seem to be content being outside with the extra space and after adding some empty feed bags for shade on the bird netting above, a larger feeder and an extra waterer, and rigging up an old dog igloo, with a nightlight and pine shavings, as a temporary house for them, they have happily settled right in.

I did have a few adjustments to make, though. At first I just duct taped the nightlight inside the dogloo, but it kept falling off, so I removed the vent cover off the top and inserted the lightbulb inside the perfectly sized hole on top, and it works perfectly. I later added a round metal bowl over the top of the lightbulb, so the chicks aren’t able to dislodge the light bulb by jumping up there.

 

The first night I put them out, they couldn’t figure out where to sleep and tried to bed down onto the dirt, until I added the nightlight and placed each of them inside the dog igloo.

Now they all head inside the dogloo as soon as it gets dark, which is what I want them to do when I release them into the larger main chicken coop. Well, I want them to walk up into the hen house at night, with the older hens, where there is also a nightlight, as well.

Our older hens aren’t terribly interested in the chicks, probably because most of them have “been there-done that”, but Matilda, the Buff Orpington is only a year old and is very curious about the chicks.

Hopefully she’s not up to no good. She and her Black Star girlfriend, who is also a year old, tend to pick on a few of the other chickens, especially Mrs. Cotton, the Japanese Silky hen.

The chicks are still very friendly and tame and it’s challenging not to step on them when I have to go into their mini-coop to refill water and food and check on them.

I was worried about sending the chicks outside because of all the things that could happen to them outside, but our coop is as safe as a coop can be with buried fence, lined with railroad ties and boulders. And the top is covered in fine bird mesh to keep out owls and hawks. They also have shade, water, food and lots of room to move around comfortably, so I feel confident that they will be just fine, but a part of me will always worry. It’s been fun raising these chicks, but with that comes a great responsibility for their care and safety, too.

I also think it’s going to be even more difficult than I imagined to choose which chicks to sell and which chicks to keep. I wish we could keep them all, but I don’t want them to live in crowded conditions and I don’t want to build a larger coop. Plus we had decided early on to sell some of the chicks, as laying pullets, to recoup our costs of buying and feeding them. So for now, we’ll not think about that, and just enjoy them as they are.

They’ve all feathered out and I love to admire their beautiful feather colors and patterns.

Faith, the broken-toed chick has a stunning feather pattern, I think.

As do the other Ameracaunas, too.

And the Silver-laced Cochins are beginning to show their lovely lacing patterns.

As are the Golden-laced Wyandottes.

One of Jen’s favorite chickens, Penguin, a Blue Wyandotte has really filled out and is a lovely shade of blue/grey.