Red Sky Over Alkali Flats

It was November 30, 2006 and the weather was unseasonably warm, well not all that uncommon for Terrell County in Southwest Texas, but it was around 70+ degrees Fahrenheit. My sidekick Skip “Chupa” Clark and I met my longtime friend Glenn Benson at the turn off the highway to Alkali Flats on the Jack Clarke Ranch, 13 miles South of Dryden, Texas. The turn to go to the ranch is on a road that locals call Smugglers Road. This 10,000 acre location was the site Rusty Reed, owner of Box R Outfitters, had set up for the Mule/Whitetail Deer Hunt.  Rusty hires us to bring our chuck wagon and cook for two separate groups of hunters on back to back week-ends. The first week-end is booked by a beer distributor who brings in 10-12 clients from all over the United States.  The second hunt is booked by individuals and typically come from all parts of Texas. These guys, and sometimes girls, are from all walks of life, and they love coming to this very remote part of the world located just a few short miles from the Rio Grande which separates the United States and Mexico.  

This it a view of the Box R on a little hill Southwest of the camp.

After traveling on the dirt road for a few minutes it was easily noticeable that it had not rained in this area in quite some time.  Overwhelming evidence was that the caliche dust was ankle deep along the road and the jack rabbits, what few there were, were doing a rain dance.  You could look in the rear view mirror and all you could see was a big white cloud of dust behind our truck and trailer.  Glenn had to follow almost a mile behind us to keep from eating dust. Most of the hunters had not arrived when we got to the site, so we were able to maneuver the chuck wagon with our 300 horses without a problem.  Once we decided on where the wagon was going to be placed we unhitched the horses and kept them in the remuda close to the wagon.  You never know when you might need the horses in the middle of the night. A considerable amount of time was spent unloading all the gear and getting everything in place to be ready to serve the hunters breakfast at 5:30 a.m..  We visited with Rusty and his brother Bill a while before setting up, and they informed us that the hunters were about the same bunch of fellows as last year with the exception of four new ones representing the big grocery chain, Raylee’s, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Once the goods were unloaded we opened up the fly (tent) and drove stakes in the ground for the ropes and raised the center and end poles, using the block and tackle to tighten the center line rope that attaches to the front of the wagon.  The location of the fly is sitting on about two inches of calachi powder and just under surface are large limestone rocks which make for a very difficult time driving stakes driven in the ground.  We broke several in the process, and they are made of ¾” sucker rods.  Wayne Sutton, the local rancher, runs sheep on this land and has said that sometimes when building a fence they have to use dynamite to blast a hole for the fence posts.   I will have to keep that in mind so I can put dynamite on the grocery list for next year. 

Sleeping quarters on left and middle with big fly on right.

       

 Then came the heavy work of positioning the stove.  It is bottomless metal box which weigh about 600-700 lbs and has a stove pipe that goes through the top of the fly. The stove itself is like a regular old cook stove which has round cutouts on the top.  It provides us with a large cooking surface and supplies our “new” home with an ample source of heat.  Next, the side curtains were hung (which are actually the walls of our home) and make the cooking and day to day activities comfortable regardless of what the weather is doing outside.  Glenn is going on about we have enough stuff to stay six months, and he is sure there is no way we could have left anything behind.

The Stove!

 Rusty Reed, the outfitter, promised us wood so we wouldn’t have to bring any from home because of the space it takes to carry enough wood for eight days.  We went to the big pile they have stacked over by the hunter’s conversation pit(which is really the place they hang out and drink beer and whiskey) and loaded up enough to last us for the first three to four days.  There was a little one legged bird that hung around the camp for two days.  We considered him our “watch bird” and left him plenty to eat and drink.   I’m sure he has an interesting story as to why he only has one leg.  He told us all about the leg problem and what was going on in his life, all of which we didn’t understand because no one spoke One legged, Yellow Breasted,  Black Bird language.   It didn’t seem to bother him too much that we didn’t speak his language because he kept telling us the same story over and over again 

One Legged Yellow Breasted Blak "Watch" Bird

Everything in place, it was now time to stir up something for supper.  This fine meal consisted of ham and cheese quesadillas because we were only cooking for ourselves. Cooking for the others didn’t start until the morning.   We were plenty hungry by this time and anything would have tasted good.  We got into our bedrolls about 9 pm so we could get some rest before getting up a bit after 4 am to began breakfast preparations and have a meal ready for the hunters by 5:30.  It was a little hard for me to go to sleep, but I finally dozed off.  It was only a little while later, at 12:29 to be exact, when the wind started.  Usually wind will sort of creep up on you and get more intense as the “front” moves in.  Well, not this one. The first wind was around 50 mph and gusted to 60 mph.

 

 To be continued......