The mighty lion

Yesterday evening, the Duo and I hiked out into a light rain and magical clouds drifting around us. We explored, searching for a site where I could see the berry slope with binoculars, hoping to spy on the bears. Alas, no such vantage point existed. On one boulder pile that I climbed to peer at the slope, the pups stood next to me.
Then, we hiked through the meadow's waist high grass, completely soaking my canvas pants. The Mariposa Lilies that still bloomed looked delicate while covered in raindrops.
Last evening, we gave R some special new kibble, and he ate with a vestige of enthusiasm. By no means was he as voracious as usual but at least he ate. Thanks so much for the insights from those of you with dogs who don't always eat their food. I wish that I could say that I'd seen this behavior from a Lab before but I haven't (and we've had six). In any case, the vet will give him a close checkup tomorrow so that we can (hopefully) rule out anything serious. He's looking skinny, with his spine and hip bones jutting out, so we need to get him eating normally again.

This morning, K and I mountain biked together, and her energy could have fueled the entire world. She sizzled with high voltage power. I tried to keep her in a heel in the rain soaked and still dusky world.
But, a scent in the air obsessed her. In the photo below, I'd demanded that she hold eye contact with me to try to calm her down and get her to focus on me. See how different her face is compared to when she initiates eye contact? In this photo, she looks intense rather than soft.
Later, with K a bit calmer, we found a stone arch when we scrambled among boulders.
And, in a meadow, I enjoyed delicate flowers still dripping raindrops from last night's drenching.
Later, after leaving K at home, I went for an intense bike ride, designed to burn off all my anger and angst over events of the past couple of days. By the end, I relaxed and feasted on raspberries. That's a great transformation!

Cumulonimbus clouds ballooned up from the mountains, signaling more thunderstorms for this afternoon.
By the end of my ride, the clouds began to envelope the mountains. I love the sky show over the mountains!
At the end of my ride, I visited two wildlife cameras and I hit paydirt! Look who is standing exactly where the doe and fawn as well as the sow have been photographed in the past week.
When I saw the lion's visage on the viewfinder of my motion-triggered remote camera, I felt my stomach do a flip. The mighty mountain lion had stood exactly where I was standing less than 24 hours earlier. A chill darted up my spine.

The lion triggered multiple cameras so I put together a video of his travel along this wildlife corridor. I also carefully compared his gait to the stiff walk used by the other big mountain lion who I've recorded in this area. I think that this is a new lion who is younger, leaner, and longer legged. I wonder if it's a male or female? Enjoy the video.