Monday, April 19, 2010

Field Season (finally)

Hello, it's me Miley who has finally gotten Mommy to work on the bloggy again.   The past month has been quite busy with the arrival of warmer temperatures and getting back into the field again.  I've been hiking around with Mommy in another bentonite mine.  We both need to get back in shape after the cold winter and being shut out of the field by snow (then slick clay roads) for about 3 months.  I have four paw drive and can maneuver the steep slopes much easier than Mommy and her walking stick. 


We did find ourselves on a steep, narrow ridge trying to find a way back down to the truck one afternoon.  The steep (60-80 degree) slopes consisted largely of highly tilted, rock outcrops and near vertical clay beds.  After searching, we found a little drainage channel filled with very loose clay and washed down rocks.  Needless to say, we slid down the channel nearly side by side.  Usually I don't slide (Mommy slides well) but I was sinking into very loose clay for several inches.  Of course, Mommy had to stick her hand and her leg into some prickly pear cactus when we "landed" at the bottom.   Happily she only had about 4 little cactus spines to pull out while I waited on her. 

Fortunately (for us) , it has been dry lately.  Although we are a little concerned about a dry spring leading to an overly active fire season on the forests in the mountains.   I've been getting a lot of exercise lately. 



Hugs, Miley

5 comments:

  1. We can only imagine how painful cactus spines can be! Thank goodness your mom was spared!
    What gorgeous pictures!

    Love ya lots,
    Maggie and Mitch

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  2. Yeeouch! Prickly pear spines sound painful. What a lousy way to end a slide. You're sure dealing with the elements, Miley!

    Hey! Did you know that Our Girl is living up close and personal with the elements, herself? She's loving it ... living in the mountains west of home. We keep telling her she needs a couple of smaller versions of Miley to hike the trails with her. But so far she's not taking us up on our offer.

    Stay safe. And take care of your moma. And keep snapping those pictures. We love them

    Your pals
    Jake and Fergi xxoo

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  3. Sheesh...have we been away this long?? I,Hootie, got cactus in my paws in Phoenix and they were so big that they came out as soon as they got there...thank goodness. You be careful there, ya hear? Hope you are getting to have lots of fun and that's why you are absent from the blogusphere right now.
    Smooches, BabyRD & Hootie

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  4. Those are fantastic photo's! Are there snackies in that backpack? Just checking! There should always be snackies around.
    Deetzy

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  5. We LOVED LOVED LOVED our trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone, and we thought about you and talked about the whole time as we drove across Wyoming. So how are ya, anyway?

    Missing you, but imagining you in paradise
    Jake and Fergi xxoo

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