Yesterday morning, I stepped out on the porch and saw an antelope running full speed down the valley past the cabin. I figured that I spooked it. Wrong. A few seconds later a coyote came along running full speed chasing the antelope. That was different.

A couple miles north of the cabin there was a herd of about a dozen elk cows with about a dozen new calves near the creek. I did not have a camera with me.

Yesterday evening, there were four turkeys that went up the valley in front of the cabin.

Yesterday morning, I worked more on the narrow spot on the road up the Tio Grande. It was hard work using a pick and shovel for 2.5 hours. Here are some pictures that show my work, the narrowness, and the drop to the creek.

I also cut off some limbs on pine trees that were rubbing against the top of the vehicle.
In the afternoon, I drove over to road 133 on the east side of Broke Off Mountain to the Lucero Lakes area. I was going to hike over to where the Petaca Land Grant marker for mile 7 was placed in 1878. However, thunderstorms came in forcing me to abandon my hike. Out there I  ran in to a fire fighter for the Forest Service named Joshua who was checking out the soil. We hiked back to our vehicles together and the rain and thunder began a few minutes later.

Today, the forecast was for early thunderstorms, so I did not travel far from the cabin. I went up the Tio Grande and wandered the hillside where the 2-mile marker for the Petaca Grant was placed in 1878. It is like looking for a needle in a needle stack. The surveyors placed a stone 18x10x10 inches on the side of the hill. Well, there are hundreds of stones in that area. I need a better idea of the location to have any hope of finding it (if it still exists). I am hoping to find a marker on the east side of Broke Off Mountain where the ground is less steep and less forested. From such a marker, I will know where the east-west line is located making it easier to locate other markers. Of course, this is assuming that the markers are still out there.

Just a note about the survey markers: In October, 1878, the surveyors went back to find the northwest corner marker they set in May of that year. They did not find it. So, they could not find a marker they set a few months earlier, and I am looking for the markers 138 years later without surveying the line.  Maybe it is hopeless.    

Wildlife report: an antelope has been hanging around the cabin in the evenings and morning, and I saw a lone deer up the Tio Grande.

I thought I should get some more pictures of the cabin with the new roof. The one below is from the hill across the meadow using a telephoto lens. I wanted one from high enough to show the porch roof.
I did some more caulking around the chimney, but I need to do more before winter to prevent water from being caught then freezing.

I finally got around to sighting in my rifle. I moved the target to inside the fence so the cattle could not get to it. The distance from the porch is 55 feet. Below is a photo of the group after adjusting the scope. Pretty good. I used a log on the cabin as a rifle support to get good shots.

I spent most of today on a trip to Espanola. When I got back I put up No Trespassing signs at the three gates to make me legal in that regard. See below.

  I spent some time seeing if there is a way to bypass the narrow place with the steep drop on the road up the creek. I found where I can cross to the east side of the creek, but what looks like the place to cross back is washed out. So, for now the only way to drive up the creek has a very narrow spot with a steep drop on one side and a steep rise on the other side. Here is a photo of the spot. The photo does not adequately show the spot where the road has eroded with a very steep drop to the creek. The Wrangler fits, but it is a scary move.

Today's wildlife report: three antelope, one coyote, one turkey, and a lot of fish.

Yesterday, my cattle ranchers Matt and Jonathan, and I put a new roof on the cabin. It is a metal roof. I ordered the material last week from an Amish company in Colorado, and we picked up the materials two days ago  and brought it to the cabin. It took all day for the three of us to put on the roof. We were interrupted a couple times in the afternoon by thunderstorms. The metal became very slippery in the afternoon and we discovered  that there was a thin film of yellow pollen(?) that had dropped onto the surface. Since we no longer had traction on the metal, we tied a lariat to Matt as he walked the metal surface putting in screws. Here are some pictures. First, a couple pictures of the cabin with the old roof.

Here are a few shots putting on the new roof, including the necessary rope.

Here are a couple shots from this morning with the new roof on the cabin.

I still need to do some caulking on the chimney and the top of the front porch. Hopefully, this roof is good for twenty years or so.

A while back a guy flagged me down when I was on my way out to help get him unstuck. It was about 15 miles up the road nearly to Lagunitas. Here are a couple shots. He was really stuck. It was the first time I used the winch on the Wrangler.

It has been mostly all work the last few days. Over the weekend, Matt was here to work on fences. In one place, the road up the creek is too narrow for the Grand Cherokee, so I spent several hours working on widening it. The road is about 20 feet above the creek there and has a very steep drop to the creek on one side and a very steep hill up on the other side. It was a lot of work to make it just barely wide enough for the Grand Cherokee. We need to drive up the road to repair the fence. I don't want to do that again because it is easy to drop a wheel off the edge. The Wrangler is narrower and shorter, so it is not as dangerous. Here are some shots showing the road problem before I worked on it.

Today, the exterminator was here (Garret). He spent the day sealing gaps and spraying. He doesn't know what is eating the boards around the windows. He took some pictures to research it. I don't remember if I have posted a photo, but here is one. What is eating my cabin?

The only wildlife around the cabin the last few days has been a lone antelope. 

The cattle can be a big help. I have a .22 rifle that I haven't used since I was a teenager. I bought a cheap scope for it and need to sight-in the scope. Yesterday evening, I  set up a board with a paper target about 180 feet from the porch and began taking shots and then looking to see where they hit. The cattle came over to help. They came right over to the target, knocked down the board, and ate the paper target. Since it was getting dark and the cattle were still there, I quit for the night. This morning I set up a larger board with three logs and a new paper target. Before I got off a shot, the cattle came over, knocked down the board and ate the paper target. Below is a picture of some of the cattle at the target. I guess I need to fence in a larger area.

I met another neighbor yesterday. Steve has the second cabin downstream. He has been here for a long time and has lots of information. Like: my cabin was built around 1967; he has an irrigation ditch that runs water from my property to his (it needs work); he says we each have 50% water rights; he says there have been robberies in the past (mostly ten years ago or so) where even large items (a stove, a desk, an ATV) were stolen from his and my cabins. He said he has no problem with the Forest Service passing through his property and improving the road. His cabin is large and was built in the 1990's. It has no electricity and the well is a hand pump on the porch. His property was a 320 acre homestead, but back in he 1990's they sold 160 acres to the Forest Service. He owns the property with his sister.  

I climbed Broke Off Mountain yesterday: up the northwest side and then down the west side near the middle of the ridge. I found no trace of the 1878 survey marker for the Petaca Land Grant, just a 1935 USGS brass cap at the highest point. Here is a photo of my property from up there (1,100 feet up):

This is the area just south of my property. It is known as Valle Grande.

There were a couple antelope up there. The top of Broke Off Mountain is mostly not treed with a slight slope.

Here is one more photo. It is from yesterday afternoon. (Good sky, huh?)

I used the Grand Cherokee to bring up my camping trailer loaded with clothes and supplies. The trailer has a seven inch lift on it, so the road is no problem.

I have been at the cabin for several days. The rancher brought in the cattle the day before I came up. There are 28 including a cow and young calf. The elk came down to the cabin the first evening I was there (they were leary of the cattle at first), but I have not seen any elk for three days. The fence is up to keep in the cattle, so that may be causing the elk to go elsewhere.

I put a shelf up in the kitchen which gives me a place to put food instead of the floor and counter top. I brought up a microwave oven which is nice. I fixed the screen door. Critters had put a large hole at the bottom. I put a dresser in the bedroom which gives me a place to put clothes instead of a suitcase on the floor. I  hung framed maps and the original homestead patents on the walls, I have set up a television, Blu-ray player, and small stereo. With the internet connection I can even stream shows to the TV (at least for the next month or so when the internet contract is over).
I still have a bunch of projects  to do....

I met the cabin neighbors the other day. Pat and Gary have a cabin down the creek from me. They have about ten acres. Their cabin and mine are an interesting contrast. Their cabin is newer and better finished, but has no plumbing (just an outhouse), no water, and no electricity. They do have propane heaters. My cabin is very old and in rather bad condition. However, I have electricity, water (toilet and shower), internet, and cell-phone service. My heat is from a pellet stove.

Here is a shot of the cattle up the Tio Grande valley.

This is the well-protected young calf.

Adding the shelf in the Kitchen was a big help to remove clutter.

A shot of the elk in front of the cabin.

This shows the elk keeping a little distance from the cattle.

A morning shot of Broke Off mountain from the cabin. Note that the aspen trees are leafing out. And the dandelions are flowering.

This is the fish barrier on the Tio Grande about 100 yards south of my property. It's purpose to keep out the non-native brown trout and rainbow trout. The upper creek is nearly pure Rio Grande cutthroat trout and the Forest Service is trying to keep it that way.