Last Day of Volunteering at BWR and Preparing to Leave

Friday December 17, was our last day of volunteering at The Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge. On our last day, Joyce did some work in the visitor center and I took a trip with Stan, the assistant refuge manager and Hanna, the hydrologist intern to Mineral Wash. It's about an hour drive one way and 60 miles to get to Mineral Wash which is within the refuge.
Stan needed to show Hanna the wells that she would be visiting monthly to record the ground level water depths. This required them to slosh through the river and riverbed wearing waterproof overalls and boots.

I decided to climb on the butte above the river and try to monitor their activity from above. 

I scrambled up the very steep slope of the butte slipping frequently on the loose soil. After considerable exertion and climbing with hands and feet, I made it to the top. 

I could hear Stan and Hanna talking down below in the Willow Trees as they trudged along in the shallow river but, I couldn't see them.

While walking through a saddle at the top of the Butte I discovered a large area where a mountain lion had been marking its territory with piles of scat. 

I decided it was probably time to find my way down! Getting down was almost as challenging as climbing. (Later, I showed the scat pics to Stan who confirmed it was from a mountain lion).
After about 3 hrs. we rejoined at the truck and moved on to another area within the refuge. We spent the better part of the day in the field as I tagged along. It was great to be out walking in the refuge.
Saturday, I spent the day preparing for our move. It's amazing how much there is to do when you've been in the same spot for nearly 4 months. I fueled up my truck and then later aired up the rear dually tires from 45 to 65 p.s.i. I then aired up the trailer tires to 110 p.s.i. for my G rated Goodyears. I also attached my TST tire pressure monitors, tightened the lug nuts and shot 4 pumps of grease into each of the wheel bearing grease fittings. I put the bikes and the lawn furniture in their respective places on the rig and put some other miscellaneous things away in preparation. Before long the day was spent.
This morning, Sunday we took the interns, Hanna and Melly to breakfast and then to the flea market in Lake Havasu City. We had a great time exploring the flea market and making some minor gift purchases.
Tomorrow morning if the weather is good, we will be moving on to Mesa, Az for the holidays. Right now the wind is howling outside and rain is forecasted!