Well, it's been a busy three days, and as you may be able to tell from the previous entry, things are a little different (but not a lot, I hope.).

First off, Saturday.

Saturday morning found us sleeping in and checking strutting grounds close to town. Nobody on the first lek, but 10 cocks on the second. The second one I have only been to once before. And nobody else has bothered to visit it at all since I found it. So it was nice to see the birds there again, strutting right where they were supposed to. Good to know they can take care of business without someone to watch over them.

Then, after a good running break, the heeler sisters and I hightailed it up along the Divide. No, not all grouse strut along the Continental Divide. It's just that the Divide splits and then twists and turns so much around here that in some places, you're hard pressed to get away from it. We were looking for a strutting ground that I had never visited before. Picked a spot on high ground east of the lek to observe, let the heeler sisters out to run and snoop (we're a good mile from the lek) and then started glassing with the scope.

No grouse.

Admittedly, it's late in the morning, we probably missed them. But a lot of driving for nothing. Got out of the truck to relieve myself of some of the morning coffee, and noticed I was parked in shit. Grouse shit. Lots of the curly fecal pellets and black caecal cowpies. And a feather or two. And the heelers flushed two grouse from the sage not 20 meters in front of the truck. We had found a new lek. Or at least a new spot that a few cocks were trying to make into a lek.

By parking on it. And then getting out to pee. Talk about serendipity.

Found a perfect arrowhead once the same way. Along a road well traveled by others, but in a spot where no one has any reason to stop.

Unless they had to pee.

And then we had to hustle back to town for a benefit breakfast at McDs and eldest son's participation in WalkAmerica. You already heard about the heelers yippee-ki-yaying around the truck while I tried to talk on the cell. Good Indian/wagon train analogy.

Grouse made it to the center of the lek in the afternoon.

Hours later we watched Joe Black. As the Anthony Hopkins character related the first time he saw his wife, I did the same. And then I couldn't help myself. I told her about this diary.

Ohh, ho!

Her first thought was the worry that someone would stalk us down and steal the heelers. Really!

Not that I might have said some horrible things about her, or revealed any intimate details about our lovelife. Her first thought was about the heelers.

I think she may be taking this "Alpha Female" title a little too seriously.