We got on the road fairly early, and drove through (like yesterday) beautiful low-lying clouds on the way down. We also saw a snowshoe hare just 15' or so from the rugged road that leads to our cabin. We had a great view of it for several minutes before it decided to mosey on along. The nano-chippies were out in abundance, too, which reminds me: a couple of days ago we saw a startled nano-chippie jump 3 or 4 feet in the air, from a standing start. We didn't see what startled it, but we were certainly startled by that awesome leap! Also along the road to our cabin, there is a dead pickup truck. Its windows are all busted out, and several times we've noted that it would make a great shelter for animals. This morning we saw a marmot jump out from somewhere under the pickup's bed. It took off into the forest ground cover. We think that marmot has staked a claim on the pickup :)
I aired down to 24 pounds this morning. We didn't hit any really rugged road today, so I didn't have a good test of that pressure.
As we started up Stony Basin again this morning, we noted again the crazy building way up high on our left. But this morning, near the Old Hundred tour buildings, we noted something else: a sign pointing straight at it, saying “bunkhouse”. So now we know what the building was. Then a little research on the map, and I saw that their used to be an aerial tramway from the Old Hundred facility (where the sign is) up to the mine situated right next to the bunk house. Ah ha! The miners must have gotten back and forth from that bunkhouse on the tramway. The engineers must have first built the tramway, then used it to bring up all the building materials needed for the mine and the bunkhouse, and the miners themselves. The same tramway would then take the mined ore down the mountain for processing. Clever, these old time miners...
After a pretty drive of a few miles, we arrived just under Stony Pass at the beautiful high meadows that I wanted to walk through. Debbie very patiently sat in the FJ while I wandered around the flower fields for a couple hours, immersed in wildflower visuals and scents. All but a few of the photos below were taken on that walk. Besides the flowers, I also ran across many butterflies and moths feasting on the nectar contained in those flowers all around me.
As we started back down, we noted the same flock of sheep we saw yesterday milling about. Again we spotted the shepherd, his horse (this time tethered near Stony Basin Road), and his four dogs. Just a couple minutes after we started back down, we stopped to watch the sheep – and heard the shepherd whistle some commands. What unfolded over the next hour or so was a real treat for us: we got to watch a working shepherd and his dogs in action. So far as we can tell, the shepherd's whistle caused the sheep to start moving toward him. It certainly wasn't the border collies bringing them, as the border collies were sitting in a little meadow, not moving at all. The two Pyrenees were moving slowly or lying down amongst the sheep, but they didn't look like they were herding them in the slightest. The sheep moved along several single-file paths to get to the congregation point. It looked a bit like rush hour in the city, and those sheep were making a lot of baaing noise – kind of like horns honking in city traffic :) As they moved across talus slopes, we could hear the stones clanking and clunking under their feet. Finally all the sheep made it into one place, and the shepherd's job was done, for the moment. During this entire effort, the shepherd sat in a patch of elephant's head flowers that I had walked through just a couple of hours earlier. What an “office” that fellow has!
On the drive back down, Debbie and I decided we'd just come home to the cabin for the afternoon. It's a beautiful place to relax and rest in, and that's exactly what we did...
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