Autumn waning to winter

'Tis the season when winter starts knocking our door. We've had our first hard frost and our first snow. Today, the air felt like winter, with a chill, a breeze, and a mist hanging over the mountains behind Shyla.

As many of you know, I adore watching our bears via my trail cameras. I've been hanging onto a few photos of Mabel and her cub, hoping that I would "see" them one more time before they go into their den. I'm losing hope on that front so I decided to share them.

As the flooding rains took over our world, the two walked along a familiar bear trail. This is Mabel's cub. I'm not sure if it's a male or female. If it's a female, we'll probably see her grow up over the coming years in this territory. If it's a male, he'll disperse to another area and we may not see him again on my cams.

Mabel and her cub are still together so Mabel ambled along next. You can barely see the cub's rump in the far left of the photo. Sorry about the photo quality - there was a deluge underway at that time.

The camera is pointed at a tree often marked by bears. Moreover, the base of the tree is a spot that mountain lions tend to rub their faces and shoulders to leave their scent.

Then, Mabel departed, walking toward her cub. I do hope that we get to see them once more this year. There's still a chance!

Mabel will den with her cub this winter, and they'll stay together until the start of mating season next year (May or June). Then, Mabel will troll this bear trail, marking trees and looking for a mate. I predict that next year's mating season will be very active because Cinnamom, another local female, will be "on the market" too. The two females may even have some territorial conflict.

The end of "bear observation season" always makes me sad because I love watching them so much. There's still hope that a bear will choose the rock den that I know of this winter. I'll be checking the den for bears after our world is freezing and covered in deep snow. If there is a bear in it, I'll put a trail camera outside the entrance. Those of you who followed this blog a few years ago know that the footage from outside a bear den can be incredibly entertaining, especially in the spring.

For the moment, I am trying to focus on the beauty of autumn that still surrounds us.

I love seeing Shyla romp in the golden aspens. It makes me grin, ear-to-ear!

K romped many times in this same aspen grove, and I love that continuity between the two. I feel K's spirit when Shyla and I are in the golden world of this grove. Sometimes I wonder how I was/am so lucky to have two such amazing chocolate labs in a row. I am grateful.