The California friends

This past week Miss Trixie had the pleasure of entertaining a load of her friends from the land of fruits and nuts — California.

These are friends from when Trixie used to travel the world and they all hung out together and took on the moniker of “dirtbag” friends.

Dirtbag, for all you who don’t know, is an honorary term coined by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard to describe early day rock climbers in Yosemite National Park. They are people who loved rock climbing so much, they’d use dirt as their sleeping bag. Or they smell like dirt. It’s all basically the same.

And while that still doesn't sound too nifty to Ol’ Dutch it seems it's more about a lifestyle of free-living, traveling for great adventures, couch surfing when necessary but having the time of their lives. So, it can't be all bad. I mean they did appear to be well-showered when they were here, at least. And Miss Trixie takes enough showers for four grown people so it's not about the dirt, I guess.

They are a great bunch and love to hike, climb, bike, ski and travel together. You can find them in Rockefeller accommodations in pup tents or on a rock ledge and they are comfortable, no matter what. I envy them that ability as the last time Ol’ Dutch thought about camping out was when the Boy Scouts invited me along to some Jamboree in the woods.

Filthy facilities, outhouses full of flies, crappy food and no showers pretty much dealt me out of being a member of that organization but that lack of wanting to live off the land so to speak did keep me safe from lawsuits about sexual harassment, too.

So anyway, last Friday, saw Miss Trixie working her magic and taking them all to Creede to see the sights and take a ride up Bachelor Loop. But as luck would have it Ol’ Dutch somehow found an elk to harvest and so the day became a whirlwind of activity trying to get the meat out of the forest. Miss Trixie offered to let them shop in Creede but all of them opted for the “adventure” of dragging out a dead animal from the forest.

None of them had ever been around that before and arriving on the scene some hours later, they were treated to the sight of boned-out meat hanging from Spruce trees everywhere. They said it looked like a bomb had gone off scattering elk all over hell's half-acre.

Ol’ Dutch was pretty much spent by the time they finally found me in the forest. It was hot, dry and cutting up a huge animal by yourself is no job for the weak. Thanks to the dirtbags and a last-minute save by our friend MoonDoggy, we got every piece of meat off the mountain and in a big cooler to age. This week, we’ll be packaging up the scrumptious steaks and burgers for our winter larder.

All that is left to do is find a big, fat, ole bear to go into the freezer, too, and we will be set for our yearly meat supply once again. One did walk by this past week and his actions pretty much answered the age-old question “does a bear poop in the woods” as he did his duty within sight of Ol’ Dutch.

My number one son Bubs along with his wife Tinkerbell and two of the cutest grandkids ever are coming out to hunt this week so it will be a great time and guaranteed to generate a column, or two.

On a lighter note, famous musician and singer-songwriter, Dallas Holm will be giving a concert at The Chapel of the South Fork on Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. You will not want to miss out on this special event and the cost of admission is free. You can't beat that with a big stick.

I am not sure Ol’ Dutch will make it as I may still be out in the woods seeing if bears do poop there. But come on out and enjoy the time. I am certain Miss Trixie will be there and would love to meet one and all who show.

Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is [email protected]. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com.