I've Never seen the sky this blue!
The Quakies and Pines were beautiful!
The Dirt Road on Big Flat
Last week Ray and I took a whirlwind hunting trip to Puffer Lake in Beaver, UT. This is a place of so many wonderful memories for both of us. It is also a place where you can breathe in the smells of the mountain and clear your head. I love the sights, sounds, and smells of this amazing mountain haven. This was an early day - the alarm went off at 2:30 AM YIKES!!!! After getting dressed and packing the truck and Jeep we got on the road at about 3:30 AM (there is not much traffic at that time of the morning). We decided to take Oliver with us - that poor little dog didn't know what was happening - this dog spends about 20 hours of every day sleeping needless to say this change in habit was not his idea of a fun expedition!
We arrived at Puffer Lake about 7:00 AM and unhooked the Jeep - it was freezing cold, clear, and still just a little bit dark. Ray's hands were freezing after he took off the towbar - we were very grateful that the Jeep has a heater! We drove up the canyon and decided to start the day driving the dirt road over Timid Springs. It was unusually quiet - there weren't any birds singing or insects buzzing it was kind of surreal. The sun was bright and the sky was cloudless - in fact we didn't see a single cloud the entire day. We didn't see any deer either - very different for this mountain area.
We drove across Big Flat and then headed down the Old Mine Road - once again it was very quiet. By this time the sun was high in the sky and the colors of autumn were in their most beautiful shades of orange and yellow. It was breathtaking! Still no deer.
We decided to drive down the other side of the mountain into the cedars and sagebrush instead of the pines and aspens. We did finally start seeing some deer but they were all does and yearlings no bucks. This area of the mountain has tons of scrub oak so the colors here were pinks and reds - gorgeous!
As we started back up the canyon we ran into some pinion pines that still had their closed pine cones so we stopped and filled up a couple of bags with the cones hoping to get some yummy pine nuts out of the deal. Luckily Ray had some old gloves that he was able to use so he didn't get all gummy. The best part was that the Jeep now smelled like a fresh pine forest. We also ate a yummy lunch that Ray had prepared and let Oliver run a little bit - he was very glad to get out of the Jeep.
We headed back up to Big Flat and there we spotted 3 really big male turkeys they didn't even seem to be afraid of us - of course not it wasn't turkey season! LOL! We stopped where we usually camp and took a little nap - it was so quiet and peaceful until the crows started yelling at us! Crazy birds. Ray then took a little time for some target practice and then we headed out again looking for an elusive buck.
About 7:00 PM we decided to head home. We drove down the canyon and just as we pulled into the town of Beaver a whole group of deer crossed the road and low and behold there were 2 bucks in the group. What smart deer - they must know that they can't be shot at when they are in city limits!
The drive home was uneventful and Oliver finally settled down and slept the whole way home - I don't know if he will ever forgive us for interrupting his beauty sleep.
What a great day with my sweetheart - I love that he does things on the spur of the moment and I love that we share our joy of spending time in the great outdoors! I am so blessed and lucky!
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