Road Closed

Well...hooey...I was about to go on a week's vacation...even a thought to leave Sunday night after work, and be at Eagle Road in the morning!....but all those daydreams dissolved sitting in the dark at work with the power out, and hearing reports of Fallen Trees, and Rock Slides, and SnowSnow of course, blocking all the Roads!...hmmph.....coolish in the Cabin, and watched dvd on the computer until sleeptime...should have been out and about at daybreak...geared up at my more usual time after Breakfast, and sighted Deer right behind the Cabin...clips...missed clip of Deer walking right past Silver...followed over to Rocky Slope, but Snow too deep, and left off...paddled over to Bobcat Meadow and the Hummock Ponds...scenic pics...One Mallard, calling, flyby...and then, and then I just walked down the middle of the Road to the Village...seemed the thing to do, Snow too deep on the Paths, and the Road empty because all the tourists have been sent down the hill!...power is likely to be out for days, and all the Roads messed up...'caravan at two'....a few tourists have of course remained, but it's not pleasant in the Rooms...no lights, no hot water...walking on the Road past the Oaks, sighted Hawk way high soaring....thought at first, Redshoulder, but looks to be Redtail...and Hawk soared by Lost Arrow and the Falls...pics...at the Village, hopped on the Shuttle and made the Loop....it snowed all day yesterday, from night to night, cleared some this afternoon, then clouded over, and this late afternoon, light snow, I haven't been looking at weather reports, been following all the other reports!, but this snowy weather might go on for days too!....Black Birds, Little Birds, Ravens, Blue Jays, another Deer in the A Meadow, where a Tall Oak in Oak Row has fallen--but didn't see many fallen Trees...Snow is very wet, and has compressed or melted...Last Chance has power, so post up from thereabout, and it's dinner time....

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Before recollection collects too much dust, a report of Osprey Road (written up on 3/21 while the Cabin power is out, and I'm trying to charge up the computer at Last Chance!): After errand in Mariposa, rolled out 49 to Bear Valley, and made a left on Bear Valley Road...Hawks, Redtails, here and there, and knockdown scenic, rolling Oak Hills all green (Oaks not in leaf yet)....nearing Hornitos, began sighting Hawks on Nests, and just Nests...pics...no traffic, so could stop...along the Road is a seasonal Creek, and in one place it emptied into a Pond...and across the Road from the Pond was an exposed Rock Bluff in the Hill, and there was enough roadside room to pull over, and I saw New Ducks (pics for sometime) on the Pond, so pulled over....while I was taking pics, a car passed, slowed, backed up, went forward, backed up, parked, and out hopped a fellow who started right in talking about Hawks and Eagles...reminded me a bit of that scene in Jeremy Johnson...anyway, my first impression was the fellow was a local, he knew the Pond like the back of his hand--'Hawk on Nest in the Cottonwood, Two Canada Geese across the Pond, Ducks dont stay long..."....and he explained where the Ospreys and Eagles were at Merced Falls, and Lake McSwain, where I was headed....I tried to keep up, and reported the Hawk's Nest I'd just passed, and showed pic on the lcd screen of the newer camera....."Oh, he said, "let me show you my Eagle pic!"....and I followed over to his car, and watched him take a camera with lens from the front seat--a camera set the envy of every photog on my budget!....Eagle pic was cool, kinda the same pose of my Eagle pic from Tule Lake--(mine's better, I thought, hmmph..)...and we talked and talked, swapping critter stories...and I asked for a pencil and paper to write my email on, and my like minded new friend opened the car's trunk, and rummaged through every camera and lens known to man looking for a piece of paper!...and gave me his phone number, and a guide to every National Wildlife Refuge in the Country, which he has apparently been too!...'I grabbed a handful of pamphlets last stop...'....'thanks!'....a bit flummoxed, I went my way, and he his, his to the Valley for Snow pics....'there's a little Snow left', I counseled....and with promises to get together for critter pics sometime....before leaving, I sighted Turkey Vultures on the Cliff...pics...and hence the name, Buzzard Cliff Pond.....oh, the little light on the charger is green....more of this report for sometime!!!