An autumn Saturday

Picking up right where I left off last time, the bobcats are tracking me! This guy visited a wildlife camera in an anonymous clearing in the forest. One sign that he's a bobcat and not a mountain lion is the tufts on his ear tips.

Then, just to make sure that he wouldn't be misidentified, he showed us his striped tail!

Early each morning, after these carnivores usually go to sleep for the day, K and I shuffle out for our little hike. Lately, our destination has been the same every morning - the only magnificent aspen grove within 200 yards of our house! The rising sun sets it afire each morning, just for us.

We trudge up the hill, with K's cast making deep clunking noises as it hits the ground, to visit the yellow paradise. K's graceful athletic movements are absent for the moment but I hope that they'll return.

It might not be our normal whooshing mountain bike ride but I simply love these few minutes in the peaceful forest with my K.

Yesterday, K had her weekly cast change, and things didn't look as good as I hoped. The toe with the surgically repaired tendon jutted up above all the others. The vet felt that it probably was still OK because, when the vet tickled K's paw pads, K was capable of pulling the toe down. Despite that, I still felt a wave of unease... a sick feeling that maybe her repaired tendon ruptured in the past week. However, all that I can do is wait patiently...

Regardless of how her surgery turns out or whether she can romp again, I still have K by my side. I know that is a gift.

Do you see the flower or star in her eye in the close-up above? I've never seen it in any of my other dogs. It seems mystical. However, the scientist in me had to look in a dog anatomy book to figure out what structure looks like a star in a dog's eye is but it's not mentioned! I'll have to ask my vet when I see her next week.

Some days, I have the honor of taking my black whirlwind, R, for a romp on my mountain bike after K and I walk. He and I are becoming more like a team during our rides, with R anticipating my movements and dancing along side me. I even asked him to "heel" next to my bike, and he did it! I won't kid myself - I know that he isn't yet ready to heel next to my bike in very exciting environments but we're moving slowly in that direction.

I find myself noticing the differences between my normal riding buddy, K, and my new partner, R. The most obvious thing is that R doesn't know the specific places where I've had scary crashes in the past. K has catalogued all of them, and she backs off to let me clear each obstacle before rejoining me. In contrast, R just blasts along as if those spots aren't notable! 

The second difference is R's rodent obsession. Hug Hill with K is a very relaxing place where I take a deep breath and give her a hug. With R, it's an exercise in controlling his chipmunk hunting! In the photo below, he started his search as soon as we arrived.

If I have "good" treats with me to reward him, I can convince him to "leave" the rodents and hang out with me. However, he's not yet as focused on me as K is. While he holds a stay for me, he usually samples the scents flying off the Divide rather than gazing at me.

On occasion, I can convince him to look me in the eye. His eyes are bottomless, warm and very brown! I love my black whirlwind!

A series of photos from one of my remote wildlife cameras shows why I work so hard to keep my off-leash dogs under control in the forest.

Early in the morning, a mule deer doe foraged on an animal trail. She wandered out of view to the right of the camera's view. A moist draw lies in that direction. My guess was that she was grazing down there after this photo was taken.

Then, a dog arrived on the scene, clearly following her scent. I know this dog and he was at least a quarter mile from his human. You can see him in the far right of the photo. My guess is that he didn't hurt the deer but he certainly provided extra stress.

This morning, after my short ride with R, I did a Tour de Aspen.

I climbed brilliant ridges, trying to immerse myself in the gorgeous aspens rather than obsessing over K's toe.

It wasn't hard with views like this one!

Have a great weekend everyone!