A Glimpse of Springtime!

I knew that the weather forecast was calling for a very warm and sunny day. And, I know that it is almost impossible to ride a snow bike in deep snow that is slushy and melting. So, Shyla and I were up early, in the dark, getting ready for a sunrise ride so we could enjoy frozen trails and radiant sunrise light.

That meant that I could take advantage of beautiful golden light of sunrise. I absolutely love it.

When we get later into springtime, it's tough to find anywhere in our forest that catches those first rays of sunshine because sunrise shifts so far to the north. I am savoring the ending (for this year) of the "sunrise red" Shyla photos!

Another wonderful part of riding so early is the solitude. We didn't see another person or dog the entire time we were on the trails. We didn't even see a moose! The two pairs of mothers and calves that had lingered in our area for weeks have been elsewhere for the past week.

In this photo, Shyla is sitting almost exactly where we saw a mother moose and her calf on one occasion. To be honest, I love wildlife but I'm glad that these moose have moved a bit away from human activity. They scare me.

I love this spot because it catches the sun from the eastern horizon and also gives a view of the Continental Divide with the ski area below it.

This morning, Shyla stuck to the packed trails for almost the entire time. Because it was so early in the morning, the packed trails were amazingly easy to travel on. They had frozen overnight, and neither paws nor snowbike tires sunk into them at all.

That meant that Shyla could fly when she wanted to. I took this photo during a recall. Look at the intensity in her eyes.

Today was the first day that I felt like spring will really arrive in the foreseeable future. The world is covered in snow, as it should be, but the sun was warm enough to make me take off most of my winter clothing layers. I found myself scanning the world for mountain bluebirds, who usually start appearing in the meadows regularly sometime this month.

While Shyla and I were out riding, R was running with his best buddy. When I walked in the house, I spotted him in a sun puddle with his head up but his eyes closed. His head kept starting to nod to toward the ground and he'd jerk himself awake again. I captured his image in mid-nod.

That last photo is for our friend Jo, who collaborated with a friend to make the gorgeous quilt in the background. I love how it looks behind our handsome R.

Today, we still have a short sunset hike to enjoy in a little while, and then I plan to try to photograph the moon, just as it peeks over the ridge to our east this evening. We are making the most of this welcome break in the winter weather.