Do Not Throw Peanuts at the Humans

Okay, here’s a list of animals I’ve seen in this canyon:

• Prairie Dog
• Coyote
• Lizard
• Deer
• Nighthawk
• Big Fuzzy Ant
• Stink Bug
• Barn Owl
• Mountain Lion
• Ginormous Caterpillar
• Fox
• Englishman
• Potato Bug
• Some Random Snake
• Golden Eagle
• Border Collie
• Mormon
• Hummingbird
• Warty Toad
• Cows… lots and lots of cows

The Brits and I get very excited whenever we get a chance to see something new. Aaron spotted a snake one day, then spent a good bit of time pulling logs apart to try to find another one (he put in a lot more effort moving those logs than he did digging the ditch we were working on—just saying). Josh and Danny told me they spotted a black widow crawling out of a hole under the house’s front porch and I stood by it with my camera until the sun set, but no luck. The coyote was a treat, but not too uncommon. Aaron and I were the only ones to see the mountain lion and that made everyone else jealous. It ran across the canyon road right in front of us as we drove back from town late one night. Black bear sightings have been frequent in this area lately, so we’re all keeping our eyes out. For what it's worth, we did find some bear droppings

Cows never seemed very special to me until the neighbors down the canyon moved their herd of cattle. It was a relatively small herd, only about 300, but the Brits and I found ourselves glued to the action all morning. We could hear the braying an hour before they arrived… and about two days after. I learned that cows can only be moved about 10 minutes at a time before they become disoriented and freak out when they can’t find their calves. There’s only one narrow road in and out of this canyon, and driving down it that weekend became something of an obstacle course.


Because of their cow-herding skills, blue heelers are very common around here. We have one on the vineyard named Hank. I call him Hank the Wonder Dog because no matter how steep of a wall I climb, I always find him waiting for me at the top. I haven’t caught him doing it yet, but I have a secret suspicion he can fly. Anyway, Hank was all alone until a neighbor dropped off two brand-spanking-new blue heeler puppies for some of Danny’s family friends. We get to dog sit until they’re picked up in a couple weeks. I couldn’t stand calling them Runt 1 and Runt 2, so I temporarily named the grey one Frank and the black one Beans. Seemed fitting.


They really took a liking to my hat. And my gloves. And my sandals. And anything else their little incisors could rip apart. If they weren’t so damn adorable I’m sure I’d have strangled them by now. Instead, I just melt at their big round eyes and laugh and look for more of my belongings to feed them. Stupid super cute mongrels.


As barren as the dessert looks here, it’s a lot like a zoo, except we’re the ones in the cage. No lie—the entire vineyard is surrounded by a 10-foot fence. It’s intended to keep deer out because they wiped out the first grape field built here in two days. Really, it keeps us in as specimens for the other animals to look at and laugh from the canyon’s walls. I’m sure the mountain lions have a riot every time they see the auger get stuck in the ground then spin around and hit me.

Oh yeah, and although I didn’t see it, I seemed to have run over a skunk the last time I drove down the canyon. Everyone else here has verified that for me.

What the Hell Kind of Farm is This?

I arrived at the vineyard Monday evening just before sunset. I had to drive down a long, windy gravel road that led deep into the Montezuma Canyon. The area is totally off the grid, and the canyon is amazing. It really is an oasis in the middle of the dessert. Lots of cows on the road, too.

I met Danny, the farm owner and manager, and Hank, his blue heeler, as I pulled up to his adobe house. He introduced me to the other WWOOFers, two from the UK and two from France. All guys about 20 and all friendly. I was a bit surprised to see the inside of the house where they were staying because it was so luxurious. They were all playing guitar hero on a big screen TV and had a table set up for beer pong. I'm not a fan of video games (Ms Pac-Man being the exception) or beer pong and my first reaction was oh my god, I just walked into a fraternity! Not the bare-bones organic farm life I expected or wanted. I started wondering how fast I could find another farm.

No worries... it got better.

Danny gave me a tour of the vineyards on the mule--the ATV that can traverse the rough canyon terrain. He owns over 100 acres of property, but only about 30 of it is suitable for growing. He has over 20 acres of grapes and is planting another 6 acres this summer. He also has some fruit trees, but all of the apricots and cherries were obliterated by a late frost this season. Peaches may survive, and the grapes are all going strong.

Danny's family bought the property 6 years ago and he took it over 3 years ago. He decided he wanted to grow organic grapes with nothing more than some introductory viticulture classes. And he decided to do it in the middle of Mormon country, which considers alcohol to be similar to the plague. So far, it's going well. He makes his own wine in a nearby cave, but only for personal use because it will be a few years before he can get a license to sell it publicly. He sells most of his wine grapes to nearby wineries. Table grapes and other fruits sell at farmers markets in Monticello and Moab.

Next to one of the vineyards, sitting along the canyon wall, is a cozy white trailer. Danny told me all the rooms in the house were full, so I'd have to sleep there. I think he thought I'd be disappointed, but that was the best news he could have told me.

I love my trailer! It's clean, has more space than I need and it gives me some privacy and solitude, which I've learned to appreciate. It also means I can go to bed before the other WWOOFers are done making a late night racket in the house. Of course, I'm welcome in the house whenever I want. It takes about three minutes to walk there.

We went back to the house for a bean soup dinner and I got acquainted with the other volunteers. At about midnight, Danny asked if we wanted to go for a ride. All six of us piled into the mule, two standing on the back, and Danny drove us deep into the canyon. When he reached a small clearing we got out and followed him over some rocks. It was pretty dark and hard to see the ground, but the sound of running water grew closer and closer. Eventually, we shone a light over the edge of one the rocks and saw that it stood over a waterfall that dropped about 20 feet straight below us. We kept climbing across rocks until Danny told us to turn off the flashlights and look up.

It turns out this is one of the best stargazing regions in the country. I had never seen so many stars! Not only that, but shooting stars flared across the sky every few minutes. I had only seen two shooting stars in my whole life, but that night I lost count. We all found places to lay down and stare straight up at the sky, which we did for almost an hour. A really good bottle of rum was passed around the whole time.

I ended up sleeping on the sofa in the house that night because it became too late to get the trailer set up. I fell asleep feeling pretty good.