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Saturday, May 8, 2010

May snow

Unexpected twists and turns characterized my day yesterday. I woke up to a few inches of fresh snow in what is supposed to be late spring! The layer of snow was thin so K and I rolled out for a trail mountain bike ride. K looked so chocolate and beautiful in the snowy world.We were having a peaceful sojourn in the forest until we crossed paths with a coyote. These tracks were left by a fast trotting coyote who stayed nearby while K did a sit-stay. You can see her shadow over the tracks.The coyote displayed classic luring behavior. He briefly disappeared into the forest and then bounded back into view ahead of us. When K didn't chase, he disappeared again but for only for a minute. Then, paralleling our course, he galloped into view again. K resisted all of his attempts to lure her into a chase. A classic coyote strategy is to lure a dog into the midst of a coyote pack by having a lone coyote act playful. The dog chases the coyote into the trees only to find the pack awaiting her. Based on K's good behavior today, I think that my girl has finally learned her "coyote lesson"!

After our coyote encounter, I pedaled through the sticky as mud spring snow up to Hug Hill. K led the way. The sky beamed an endlessly deep blue color with stark white clouds and mountains below it. Although I still maintain we shouldn't have real snowstorms in May, it was gorgeous.
And we basked in the snowy and sunny beauty atop our little trail system. K gave me her serious camera posing look.
As I rumbled down the rocky and snowy trail, I spotted some Pasqueflowers who looked completely unscathed by the onslaught of snow. My amazement at how strong our flora and fauna must be to survive crazy mountain weather never wanes.
We negotiated one more trail before heading home. To my amazement, over the course of about 15 minutes, the clouds burned off the mountains, and I glimpsed them through the boughs of the pine forest.
I spent the rest of my day dealing with health issues... getting spine treatment and getting a suddenly inflamed eye examined. Unfortunately, we were planning to start a desert trip today but my doc doesn't want me to leave town until my eye improves. So, we're in a holding pattern, possibly staying around for a specialist appointment on Monday.

If you have to be stuck someplace, a place with sunsets like this one isn't so bad!
The final unexpected twist in my day was that when I hit "Publish Post" in Blogger on Friday evening, my computer replied that the internet connection had "timed out". It stayed "timed out" for 15 hours, and I lost a lot of the final changes that I'd made to the post. So, this post is actually about Friday, and today is Saturday. If I have time, I hope to put together a short montage of the wildlife visits to the now-empty bear den before I leave on vacation (tomorrow if my eye improves).

14 comments:

  1. We should be safe from any more snow here (some brief flurries a week ago), so full tilt into spring. And agreed - that sunset is spectacular.

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  2. That sunset is amazing! K is one amazing dog, stunningly beautiful and incredibly smart!

    I hope you have a great time on your trip! I'm betting the scenery you'll see there is a lot different. Hopefully you'll have great pictures to share! (Well, I know you'll have great pictures, just not whether you'll be sharing them!)

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  3. nothing better than spring time in the mountains...just gorgeous!
    i love how K is looking directly at you in the pic...i can see the bond that you have, through her soulful eyes....
    hope your eye decides to go back to normal...good grief..i understand, poor Marge woke up this morning with a terrible cold, is feeling quite sorry for himself...but we are leaving for Sanibel at 5a...hopefully he won't feel so crummy...altitude and congestion are not a good combo! hope you get your desert trip in...
    xoxo

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  4. The mountain and flower and K shots are just wonderful, KB. Sorry to hear about the eye delaying your trip. Hope you can take off by Tues. I head to Breck tomorrow after brunch - back to my snowy world a couple days and then "road trip"!

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  5. Really great photos of the flowers and K! Hope the eye problem improves quickly!
    ...Wanda

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  6. We get back and you take off! Mr. Author of Life With Dogs, got us all fixed up last night no blog losses, no pix losses, and just feeling nice to be home, because thats what it feels like here! I have to police my Mom in her PT stuff and I really have to keep an eye on her. She'll be doing better when you get back.

    Kisses,
    Stella

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  7. Such BLUE blues!

    Thanks again for sharing all those great pics!

    Khyra hopes K enjoyed some snow for her!

    We hope your health issues permit you to head to the desert!

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  8. Oh so gorgeous! Always startled by the colors of the flowers, the skies, even the snow against the ground and K - delicious! Sorry about the blogger issues - that sounds awfully weird. And also feel terribly about the health concerns - hope your eye and spine problems are resolved so that you can get to the desert - sounds like another great adventure!
    Hugs xo
    Sammie and Mom

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  9. Snow in May?! I am so there! Except I am on a chain. :-< You are lucky pups to have snow now! And you look so gorgeous rolling around in the snow, K!! Wish I could join you! But I am on a chain. :-<

    That is interesting about the coyote trick. I did not know that. The coyotes run past my house at least two or three times a night and I just howl along with them, but since I am chained I don't follow them. Good thing! I don't want a coyote pack surrounding me!

    Beautiful pictures! Especially the purple pasque flowers.

    We are sorry your mom is having eye trouble and spine problems. We send her healing vibes, and we hope she can take her desert trip.

    Suka (and K, my human)

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  10. Stunning pictures!! I'm guessing the snow on our 10,000ft peaks will be gone in the next week. I can't believe you're still getting new snow!

    So impressed with K's restraint around the coyote. Not too long ago, I had a coyote notice me and Kona. She made a move like she was going to run away, then turned around and crouched in bushes right off the trail (looked just like a cat stalking prey). When we got close to her, she jumped out onto the trail very close in front of us. It wasn't at all scary, just strange behavior, but I know Kona wouldn't have had the same control as K.

    Thanks for your comment on foxtails. It's good to hear someone's experience. I can only imagine the foxtail troubles you could have with a SAR dog! (Kona pulled herself into a patch of stickers in a desperate bathroom run. I cringed and hoped for the best.)

    Here's to a healed eye and amazing trip to the desert...

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  11. Your pictures are always amazing!

    LOVE K posing :)

    Happy Dog Mom's Day!

    Lots of Luv & Kisses
    Addie, Lucie and Hailey

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  12. Hi!
    We are so sorry about the setback on your desert trip. Hoping you will receive the green light and take a nice trip.
    So much snow on the mountains! Hard to believe we're having SPRING!

    Hugs and snaggle-tooth kisses,
    Sierra Rose

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  13. Our momma says that you can keep your snow 'cause we got a little more of our own over the weekend! But now the sun is shining and alla' us are smiling 'cause we ♥ the sun.

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  14. Way behind in posts again:( So sorry about the spine issues and the inflamed eye. But smart to listen to the doctor. You sure don't want to mess around with an eye problem.

    Awesome skies you have there, just incredibly gorgeous. Glad K stayed away from the coyote - not only is she beautiful but oh so smart.

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