Sunlight Moments - March 2009

Fun in the Valley
Whatever the cause, all the critters in Sunlight Valley "get a wild hair" every once in a while. A number of our four-legged friends put on a great show for us last spring. A few of the horses were happily polishing off their morning ration of hay when a herd of elk came down from Elk Creek, crossed the road, and jumped over the buck fence into the pasture with the horses. The elk were a bit interested in the hay! One bold soul ventured closer to the hay. The horses suddenly bolted right at the elk, most of whom jumped back out of the pasture and across the road into the Elk Creek pasture, but several circled away from the horses staying in the pasture. The horses suddenly stopped perhaps realizing they were surrounded or perhaps just wondering why they had left their hay. In this pause, a group of deer sauntered down along the fence to see what all the fuss was about.

A Moment from the Years of Yore
Viewed from the depths of winter, it may seem strange to learn that during the summer Elk Creekers cannot resist a glacier or snow bank. The phenomenon has roots reaching back into the 1950's when the ranch was started. The Ridgways tried on several occasions to do some skiing in Sunlight Valley.

Strange Doin's in Damnation
Sunlight Moments often includes stories from Damnation Basin. It is a rare and wild place that does wondrous things for all the riders and trekkers who make the journey. We romantics like to think that the horses share the appreciation of the Basin. Exhausted as they are after the trip in, they actually almost run up the last steep pitch to our campsite, so we may not be wrong in that belief. We are not sure what exactly Rudy was trying to say at this particular moment, but we guess it had something to do with the culinary delights of the high mountain grasses.

At the End of a Long Work Caper
Our major project for the last two years has been the building of a new cabin for the Trek Program. Ranchers have logged and peeled the trees, have built the foundation and piers for the floor beams, have notched and fitted the logs for the walls, and have put down a floor of planks cut from some of the very logs they originally cut down. We are not completely sure of the story behind this picture. It may have been exhaustion. or excitement and satisfaction, from moving and fitting the heavy logs, of a job well done. The Summer of 2009 will see the completion of the walls and the addition of a roof. We wonder how the ranchers will celebrate those moments!