2012 Bighorn Sheep Count - ABDSP

This was my second year participating in the annual Anza Borrego Desert State Park Bighorn Sheep count and I feel very fortunate to have been selected to count at the Rattlesnake Spring site. My count partners were very knowledgeable about the sheep and great company for the 3 days we spent out in the triple digit temps. This years numbers were down across the board for all sites but we still were able to count 43 distinct sheep over the 3 day period.

If you would like to participate in the annual bighorn sheep count, contact the ABDSP Visitor Center and they can help direct you to the appropriate people, they are always looking for new volunteers.

More photos and videos can be viewed here http://smu.gs/NirpVu

Panorama of our count site, the water hole where the sheep will get water from is in the far left in the green shrubs and our count site is the small tarp on a small finger of a ridge on the far right


Here a couple of Ewes bash horns near the water hole


A mother and her lamb look down at the water hole just after sunrise


One herd gathers near the water hole


Down at the water hole the sheep will crowd in to get a drink of the bee filled water


A lone ram rests near the water hole after getting a drink himself


After everyone gets water the herd heads out over a well used game trail


You can check out the count site with this 360 degree virtual tour
https://sites.google.com/a/sefcik.com/virtual-tours/2012-bhs-count-site

I camped out in Indian Valley on my way to the count and bagged a single mylar balloon


Total mylar balloons this trip - 1

More photos and videos can be viewed here http://smu.gs/NirpVu

Out of balance Washing Machine repair / upgrade

More Performa Washing Machine repair fun. After my last washing machine finally gave out due to a rusted inner tub I decided to just buy the cheapest, cheapest washing machine I could find which of course was another quality Performa. The old saying "You get what you pay for" is certainly true with the Performa models. This DIY is more of an "upgrade" project than it is a repair. This washing machine would start to spin out of balance with anything more than a couple of T-shirts and a pair of socks which made it impossible to wash clothes for a family of five.

Looking underneath the machine I could see there were (3) flimsy springs that controlled the spinning of the tub. After a trip to the Home Depot and picking up some springs in the fence / gate isle I went to work replacing them. The springs I found were quite a bit more heavy duty and needed to have the ends twisted to match the original ones.

Here is one of the original springs looking at it from underneath



Here is the original spring on the left and the new replacement on the right


This is the new spring with the end twisted to match the original. I did this with a pair of Vise Grips and a vise.


I used a headlight spring removal/installation tool to change the springs




After replacing the 3 springs with new stronger ones the washing machine works great, it barely ever goes out of balance now!

Inner Pasture / Myer Valley

A quick 24 hour trip to the desert in unusually high triple digit temperatures...pictures are worth a thousands words...good thing I have a camera....

Fishhook Cactus in Inner Pasture


Snakes are out


Up close


The Turbines are coming...fight the Ocotillo Wind Project!


Myer Valley artifacts


Snakes are still out, this is a great reason why you should not put your hands in the rocks where you cannot first see what's there


Another close up


Some blank rocks and DStretch






The meteor showers were not as vivid as the press made it out to be, I only saw a few meteors and photographed this picture of the Milky Way


Ants are a curious thing, these guys were hard at work at sunrise. Amazing to see thounsands of them toiling away making their home. Too bad projects like the Ocotillo Wind Project will kill them off




Total Mylar Balloons this trip - 4