Well Planning

We've been trying for a while to get in touch with a gentleman in town who operates the local artesian well drilling company. When we finally synched up our schedules, we walked the lot and talked about the process of drilling a well.

The first thing we talked about was dowsing. Jason brought it up in sort of a hesitant way, something like, "So... you've heard of water witching, right?" Water witching, or dowsing, of course, is where someone with no other discernable skill walks around with a stick, or a rod, or a yo-yo, and pretends to find things (water, gold, oil) in the ground. I told Jason that I was more interested in geology and hydrology than in flim-flam and we talked about his experience drilling in the area. We agreed on a spot more than 50' from possible property borders and more than 100' from the proposed septic system and we discussed price. If I am lucky I can get low quality, slow-flowing water for $4000. If I am unlucky, I could be looking at a $2700 hole in the ground which would probably not be very useful. Perhaps I could pack it full of those springy snakes and seal it up, to play a practical joke on distant future archeologists? Fill it full of fireworks? Possibilities are endless.


Fence

Anyone who objects to the eating of meat on the basis that cows are people too, with feelings, needs to spend some time around cows. Being chopped up into tasty bits is far too good a fate for these stupid things.

Because Wyoming is open range, if I dont put up a fence, there will be cows everywhere. This time of year, cows wander around in herds and step on or rub up against anything valuable or breakable that they can find. One thing stops cows: barbed wire.

So we headed off to Cheyenne in the semi and loaded up on $2500 worth of fencing materials: t-posts, barbed wire, and all the accoutrements. Once hauled back to my place, we tried to dig some holes for H braces, which must be placed every quarter mile or so, or where changes in elevation make them necessary. Unfortunately, it hasn't rained in forever and so the ground is basically concrete. I rented a skid steer with a earth auger on the front and waited half a day for A-1 to round up a driver who promptly got lost. We drilled holes but the auger didn't clear very well so we ended up having to clear out the rubble with post hole diggers (my favorite).

We have a lot left to go, but soon the area will be 100% cow free.





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