Bear visit and high altitude adventures

While we were out of town, a young bear visited our clearing to check out our bear-proof bird feeder.

He stood up on his hind legs to peer up at the feeders about 6' over his head.

He changed his vantage point but still had no luck reaching.

He considered his options.

He dropped back to four paws before giving up and moving on.

Usually, the bears who check our feeders appear to be young males, likely on their long travels away from where they were born. They have the disadvantage of not knowing the territories that they're walking through so they investigate all food sources, including those near houses.

Meanwhile, we were exploring up in the high mountains near South Park of Colorado. We encountered the usual stormy weather and lots of snow. This snow bank was at around 12,000' elevation.

Huge snow banks blocked some of my favorite trails but alpine flowers were sprouting at their edges.

 "Sky Pilots", high altitude wildflowers were buffeted by high winds as a thunder storm chased me off the alpine tundra.

I sprinted back to our campsite, just barely beating the arrival of pelting hail and scary lightning.

As the storm started to clear out, a faint rainbow appeared.

As sunset approached, the storms cleared out leaving behind a lush meadow and picturesque clouds.

And then the sun set on our first day in my favorite campsite.