What a difference....two days in April.

 At this moment in time, Bert is
fast asleep or maybe

he has just passed out from exhaustion.
I am coming down from a caffeine high.
I only have caffeine when I

am driving long distances,
like coming back from today's search. 
I think I had four Pepsi's today
driving to and from the scene. 
Now I am jittery and nervous and

a bit jealous of Mr. Bert
lying peacefully in his bed.

 Saturday was our usual "Walk"
with our friends.  This is

a great time for both Bert and
me as we get to visit/play at our
precious river and local "Forest".

There are usually 5 to 20 people with

their k-9 friends who show up and it is

looked forward to all week.

Murphy's little sister becomes hitched to

Berts Side on these walks.  And sweet Bert

has an arrangement with Paulette

(Sophies human).

If Bert lets Sophie hang on him, run by him,

nibble at his ear, grab his hear, jump on him,

around him, behind him in front of him,

if he takes all her adoration in stride......Paulette will

treat him throughout the walk. 

That works for Bert

 When Bert isn't in the river, he is bounding

up dirt mountains and green hillsides.

It is a time of pure abandonment for him,
his buddy Goose (who was off
somewhere else as I took pictures)

and all his other friends.

 Occasionally we can get a few of them

to sit and pose.  (From left to right)

Annie, Bert, Sophie, KC, and Jake

After the walk, we spent the rest of the

day working at the kennels with Whitney and

Rocky.  It was a long day but it was also

a beautiful spring day and so work just

doesn't seem like work on a day like this.

Sunday Morning we had been asked

to head to Idaho

for a search.  (which by the way,

I couldn't have done

if it werent for my sweet neice Whitney

and Goose's human, Michelle who

covered for me at the kennel)

 

We were going to meet up with

another dog unit on sight. 

We have worked with them

before and they are very very good

so I was looking forward to working

with them again.

Unfortunately I woke up to a

nasty infection and

some painful muscle strain in my

shoulder from pretending

I could do the work of a man the day before.

 

A decision had to be made.

Do I want to stay home and be miserable,

sick and in pain, or head to Idaho and be

miserable and in pain.

 

Well of course we headed out.  I mean,

check out the scenery

that we had on the drive.

You might as well be looking

at something beautiful

while your in pain, rather

than lying in bed.....right?

Besides, that is what medications

are for.  Thank goodness for Advil.....

 I love our Utah Mountains.
When we hit Idaho

and our search area we were pulled
away from the mountains in to gorgeous meadows and pastures

bursting with early spring green growth.

 While Bert and I were waiting for the
Sheriff and my friends JD and
Sandra, a group of motorcycle riders
pulled up to the country grill.
 

I couldn't resist asking them to pose
with him.  They were awfully
good sports.  However a few

of them would not allow me
to photograph them

for one reason or another......
they said not to

check out any post office walls.

Wonder what they meant.

And here is where the search was.

What a peaceful land, gentle hills, dark

sky's filled with moisture.....a place

that you would find me and Bert on any

other day, walking the tracks like a hobo,

waiving at the conductors of the trains as they

thundered by.  The next view is from 4

months ago on an early morning in January.

But today it was the scene

of a cadaver search where we were looking

for anything we could find so that a family

could bury as much of their loved

one as possible.

 The accident occurred back in January on

a dark foggy morning.  A wonderful
man who I am told was a happy go lucky, friendly guy.  A guy who would be
behind you in a check out line and

suddenly offer to buy your groceries for you.

The guy who always played
Santa at Christmas time.

That kind of guy.   But on this morning
because of the weather, he did not

see the on coming train, he did not know

it was the last time he would
drive this road home to his family.

 The accident derailed 16 cars and
debris from both the truck and the
train-cars was spread all over

the side of the tracks. 
Three months later and even

though they have laid another thick
layer of gravel

down the hillside from the tracks,
debris is still everywhere. 
Our job was to work through

this debris and see if the dogs could
find any human remains under
the new rock layer or

down in the swamp below.

Here if you look carefully you can see

Kurts dog on a "Down" alert in

everal inches of water and dried

cat tail plants.    This area will have

to be dug and sifted

through screens and will most likely

have fragments of bone and flesh.

 JD the man I told you about in an earlier

post worked tirelessly through
the day, checking

out each and every alert
with the other deputies.

This was hard for me to watch as
it is JD's sisters husband who is
our victim.  It doesn't matter

how long you have been doing
this, it doesn't matter

how much we have seen......sometimes
it is just too close to home...

 Sandra (JD's wife) was working with me through much of the day.

Oh how I have missed these two
over the last few years.

You meet special people in SAR
work that stand out from

the rest.  That is JD and Sandra.

 Joe and Gunny check out the area along

the tracks as the wind blows up hill, carrying

human scent buried beneath the ground
as well as anything along the surface.

 Bert waits "not so patiently" for his turn

to work again.  

 If you look carefully you can see a small

red flag on a long post.  When a dog alerts to

something below the surface, the spot is
flagged then the diggers come in
and carefully sift through the area.
The finds today were as small

as tufts of human hair, small pieces
of skin and a 6 inch bone. 

 Moist areas can trap the scent and
make things cover a wider area
so we often mark an alert

then leave the area with the dog
and let the diggers

come and see what they can find. 
After words the dogs are brought
back into the area to see

if there is more interest. 

Cadaver work is much more arduous than

wilderness work.  You are covering

a much smaller area, but it is very intense.

The grids are small and you often

go over the area again and again

which can be frustrating to your dog.

I imagine them thinking "how many

times do I have to tell her"

 It was almost time to call it quits and I knew

Bert needed something a little less intense so

I put him on a "Slow Search" command and

we headed in the opposite direction
along the tracks.

I knew he wouldn't find anything on
this side of the road

but it would give him a chance to stretch
out and check out a couple of 
hundred yards of the tracks at a lope
instead of a more concentrated speed.

 I have always loved the endless sight

along railroad tracks.  Even in this situation

the call of adventure draws at your heart

when you view a sight like this.

 But it was time to get back in the old van

and head home to another kind of dream.

Of course taking pictures of the scenery

while you are driving isn't what
I would recommend but come on,
doesn't that old barn, those snow

covered mountains and the introduction

of spring on the grassy hill make ya smile?