A Glimpse of the Lunar Eclipse

The last week has been glorious. The sky has been a deep blue with almost no clouds in it. The aspens have become more and more brilliant, looking gorgeous against the sky.

Shyla and I have enjoyed beautiful bike rides together, soaking up the fleeting autumn colors.

Then, yesterday about an hour before sunset, a bank of clouds moved in. Oh no, I thought... I'd been looking forward to my first attempt at photographing a total lunar eclipse. I'd been out around our area with a compass and the projected path of the moon, figuring out the best vantage point.

The whole pack walked to my chosen vantage point together just before moonrise. Neither of us humans dared to voice the opinion that we weren't going to see the moonrise. Finally, the Runner saw a glimmer behind the clouds, approximately 30 minutes after moonrise and even longer after the eclipse had begun. Still, I didn't have a clear view of the moon.

However, we both spotted a gap in the layers of clouds where we thought the moon just might appear, ever so briefly. And it did.

The gap was substantial enough that I could spend the time to figure out the best camera settings to get a wide view of the ridge to the east and a good exposure of the moon. Moreover, during the time that the moon was visible, the color of the clouds morphed from the post-sunset orange (in the previous photo) to the later-after-sunset pink that I love so much.

Then, after about 15 minutes of enjoying the moon view, the clouds covered it again. The rest of the pack headed for home. I, the ever hopeful photographer, lay in the grass, watching for another glimmer of the moon.

It was so peaceful lying there, gazing at the sky. I suddenly realized that a city-person would think I was crazy feeling so safe lying in my little spot in the meadow. But, I did. I trusted that the coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, elk, deer, bears, and moose would catch my scent and go around me. And they did.

I didn't glimpse the moon again. However, I was happy with what I'd managed to capture in the brief moments that the moon graced us with its face.

Summer's Bounty

I love riding my mountain bike in mid-summer's glory on high alpine trails.

It never gets old, even after years of exploring.

While I'm out there, I sometimes see marmots. This one seemed so tame that I wondered if people had fed him. I talked with him for a while - and I named him Marvin. Do you see his two buck teeth? He's a huge rodent with the teeth to prove it.

Every year, I feel like the bottomless wildflowers are a gift, and I love playing with the Duo in them.

We play and play and play.

And then, some days, sunset is glorious. Do you see the almost full moon above the mountain?

This particular sunset, viewed from 11,300' in the mountains, got more intense by the moment. The mountain in the photo is almost 14,000' tall.

That almost full moon made the sky bright blue as the stars streaked across it over the course of almost an hour.

The bounty of summer is endless!

Springtime: The Duo and The Bears

Recently, I had both halves of the Duo for a morning mountain bike ride.

We had lots of fun playing atop Hug Hill.

And, later that day, a chocolate and a black bear cub played nearby. Their colors reminded me of Shyla and R.

It turned out to be a big day of bear activity. My trail cameras monitored a large male bear, probably Tiny, who walked about 5 miles in the afternoon, marking trees along the way. I made a video of his travels that you can watch here or at Youtube.

There's some true video in this one so it's fun to watch (at least, for me!).

Happy Springtime!

First Bear of the Year!

Today, our rain became snow. When we went out the door, it was pelting snow, and the snow was accumulating so fast that our tracks disappeared almost instantly.

It almost stopped snowing near the middle of our ride, and I saw (gasp) a sliver of blue sky. That was very brief. The weather forecast now says that we'll get another 5-12" of snow tonight.

The news says that there are mudslides and collapsed roads from the rain and snow that's been falling for a week. The creek flow is the highest it's ever been since our big flood in 2013. And, everywhere I look, the ground is covered in a couple of inches of water. Fortunately for us, we live high above any creeks or wetlands so we are warm and dry sitting next to a crackling fire.

Needless to say, rain or wet snow makes me freeze when I'm riding my fat bike at a temperature of about 35°. After I'd left Shyla at home, my goal was to get a couple of trail cameras in position for the parade of black bears that should take place sometime soon near their favorite marking trees. I was successful but I was cold for almost the whole ride.

My bear preparations were sparked by finding the first trail camera footage of a bear marking a tree the other day. I put together a video from the still photos and the video recorded by my cameras. You can watch the bear here or at Youtube.

The bear in the video was a female. At first, I thought that she must have young cubs hidden high in a nearby baby-sitting tree. A babysitting tree is a tall pine tree with high branches where young cubs rest when mom is busy. I was basing that guess on the fact that she obviously doesn't have yearling cubs with her, and she looks mature, although smallish, to me. Then, the Runner pointed out that there are no visible enlarged teats on her belly... so perhaps she has no cubs right now.

We may find out in future trail camera footage! I look forward to the emergence of the bears all year long because it's so fun figuring out which sows have new cubs, which sows will be on the mating trail, and which big males have made it back for another year in our neck of the woods. Perhaps we'll see Milton, Milton Jr., and Tiny sometime soon!

Yipee for the Bears!

Predators and Prey All Around Us

The wildlife have been following their winter patterns, with the elk passing through here before big snows to go to lower ground.

Of course, they usually don't just "pass through" without lingering in the meadows to graze a bit.

Their predators, mountain lions, follow. You've seen this photo before. My trail camera took it when the elk herd was nearby. It's very rare for a mountain lion to be moving around in the midst of our trail system near the middle of the day.

You haven't seen the next photos yet, taken by a trail camera in the same general area. I quickly moved a camera to this spot after I saw many mountain lion tracks all over a look-out area where the grazing elk herd can be seen.

Within 24 hours, I had mountain lion photos taken by the newly placed camera. I believe that the photos show a mother mountain lion and a kitten. Here is the mother...

She stopped in front of the camera, with her beautiful long tail pointed toward it.

Then she turned toward the camera, perhaps noticing its soft red glow.

She sniffed the ground in front of it, almost exactly where I'd seen dozens of overlapping mountain lion tracks the previous day. She looked strong, and she had no paraphernalia like collars or ear tags weighing her down! Her belly wasn't bulging, suggesting to me that she was hunting.

After a short sniff, she walked toward the elk herd.

Then, about 40 minutes later, she passed the camera at high speed. The camera triggers within 0.1 seconds of an animal entering its field of view so this lion was moving fast, only letting the camera capture a view of her tail and back leg.

Then, about 5 seconds later, a smaller mountain lion sprinted past the camera going in the same direction as the first one.

My best guess is that this is a mother-kitten pair. However, because I didn't get a great photo of the second lion, it is also possible that it's a pair of adult lions who were fighting for position near the elk herd.

Since all the snow has fallen, the elk herd has passed nearby again, probably heading to lower ground where there's less snow. However, I can't ride my snow bike to the cameras that might have mountain lion photos on them because the snow is still too loose and soft.

In the meantime, we humans and dogs continue to go about our everyday activities. If I didn't have a knowledge of animal tracks and hadn't posted trail cameras in key spots, I'd have no idea that there was so much wildlife activity near us as we play, whether it be in the calm sunshine...

...or the wild and windy weather of recent days!

I'm so glad that our fiercest predators are flourishing despite the ever-increasing presence of humans and their pets. Except for rare cases, our mountain lions stay invisible, not wanting to interact with us. That's the best way for them to survive around unpredictable predators like us humans.

Starry Sunday

A flashback - at K's Rock in Utah in November, it was a mostly clear night with just a wisp of a cloud above us. I'd set up my camera to shoot the stars when I saw a shooting star zip above the tallest part of K's Rock. I hoped that my camera had captured it.

After I arrived home and started wading through my photos, I discovered that the camera did capture it.

After the shooting star, I left the camera going for hours, and this was the final photo. So many stars...

The thought of warm sun and clear night skies seemed almost surreal in our blustery winter world today. The fierce wind was whipping the fresh snow horizontally.

Quite a contrast...

Sunrise and Mountain Lions

Shyla and I plunged out into the frosty cold air this morning, with me on my snowbike and Shyla running. While we were close to home she stood tall and confident in the glow of the sunrise.

We didn't get much sun, just a brief burst, before it was obscured by the almost completely overcast sky. Shyla watched as the sun disappeared into the clouds.

After the sun faded behind the clouds, I pedaled up higher, to the general area where I've seen so many mountain lion tracks recently. Shyla seemed very worried. We didn't check any trail cameras but I suspect that the mountain lions were still around.

You may remember, in mid-October, that my trail cameras captured a mother-kitten mountain lion pair at multiple locations. Well, I was lucky enough to have the same thing happen again near the end of October. At that time, the mother-kitten pair were still together.

I made a video of their travels. They stopped at a couple of sites to play and to mark the territory. I find it amazing to see these tough predators let down their guard to interact with each other. You can watch the video here or at Youtube.

Note that on 12/1/14, a mountain lion who looked a lot like the mother in the pair was traveling alone. Because the kitten looked almost full grown at the end of October, I wouldn't be surprised if s/he has become independent.

Happy Saturday!

Forest Happenings

Shyla and I were out for sunrise today, although it was slightly veiled through thin clouds hovering on the eastern horizon. Shyla tends to be a dog who has her thoughts written all over her face - like in this photo.

And that wasn't the only time she looked very alert and on guard.

Indeed, when we rode through the forest just after sunrise, I saw the tracks of a huge variety of wildlife in the snow. An entire herd of about 100 elk had come through.

I love having the elk around, which is a pretty frequent occurrence in the winter.

But, it's not common to have moose within a half mile of our house. I wasn't expecting a moose here so the trail camera was set up at bobcat/mountain lion level.

You might remember that I captured some moose photos last fall in our neck of the woods. The one last fall was a young bull moose while yesterday's was a young cow. Maybe they'll meet and make a family! In any case, I think we need to get mentally prepared for a moose meeting someday in the forest near our house.

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while probably know what other animal was walking our forest paths yesterday. I'm going to save her photos for tomorrow but s/he generally shows up where the elk are.

So, Shyla's wide-eyed look was for a good reason! Fortunately, she also relaxed and had fun during our sunrise outing today!

It's a flying Wubba!!! What could be more fun for a Labrador Retriever? Shyla forgot the wildlife scents for a while and played a joyous game of fetch!

P.S. Don't forget to comment on Tuesday's post if you'd like to have the chance to win a calendar! I'll be doing a random drawing tomorrow afternoon.

Few Words Wednesday - Nature's Light

First sun rays of the morning:

Time lapse video of the stars in Utah one evening - (can be seen here or at Youtube):

The final photo after an hour of exposures. The moon was up, lighting the rocks in the foreground.

PS Remember to comment on yesterday's post if you would like to be part of the drawing for a calendar!

Mountain Biking with the Labraduo

I had two days of the Labraduo joining me for my sunrise bike ride. I had never seen how R's fur turns color when the sun barely peeks over the eastern horizon. He has a reddish glow!

The same is true for Shyla's chocolate coat. It looks almost fake because it glows so brightly. This bright glow lasts for only about 10 minutes after sunrise.

After the sun was a little higher in the sky, we played some games. As I looked through my photos of them, I noticed a very funny thing. When I called the Duo to run to me, they almost always simultaneously licked their noses with their tongues. I've read that "tongue flicks" are a sign of stress but I truly don't believe the Duo was under "stress". Perhaps it was a sign of excitement in this case.

Atop Hug Hill, they did the same thing. Their synchronization was remarkable!

The Duo played together, and they totally relaxed together in the warm sunshine. Shyla actually snoozed, which she'd never do without her trusty big brother by her side.

It's definitely a bit more stressful for me to keep two dogs under control than when I have only one with me. When mountain biking, the dogs have to be truly under "voice control" because I also have to pay attention to riding my bike and not crashing. But, it was good fun, and the Duo was generally very well behaved.

This morning, Shyla and I were on our own again. We look forward to the next time that the black tornado can join us!

A Slickrock World

Desert slickrock can hurt a dog's paw pads very fast. So, we have boots for our dogs to wear when they run on slickrock.

The hard part is Shyla simply doesn't like boots. She moves in a funny way when she wears them. The next photo is of Shyla running in her boots. Obviously, her gait is not at all normal when she wears them!

On this trip, her dislike of the boots seemed to grow more intense by the day. This was still on the first day of boots, and she already looked forlorn in the middle of one of our rides.

My vet has suggested another type of boot that Shyla might like better. On slickrock, a dog's boots need to be very tough. On our first trip there, we used simple nylon boots, and they were shredded by the slickrock within a day.

So, during this section of our trip, I kept Shyla's runs pretty short, and then I headed out to ride on my own, while she relaxed in camp with the boys.

I love visiting buttes that have large slickrock aprons around them. My bike size puts the butte's size in perspective!

I particularly love how quiet these places are in November. I had the entire slickrock playground to myself. Do you see the snowy peaks way off in the distance? I love the contrast with the red rock.

In between slickrock areas, I rode on sandy 4wd roads like this one. As I tried to pedal through the deep sand, I wished for my snowbike because its wide tires would be ideal in sand.

After my ride and some relaxation time, we'd go for a walk as a pack around sunset. At this campsite, there is rock art all around us so we'd visit it each afternoon.

Entire sections of wall are covered in it. It's incredible having relics of human history surrounding us. But, it's sad to see that modern humans feel the need to deface some of these walls. A few more sets of initials appear each year in the midst of the petroglyphs.

As we finished our walks, the moon would look beautiful among the red rocks.

The intricate shapes of the rocky buttes were mystical at dusk, particularly with the moon over them.

After our evening walk, we'd quickly jump in the van to warm up. Then, I'd get out my tripod and start shooting the stars. It was an incredible trip with clear skies every night except for one. I'll save more star photos for a future post but, be forewarned, I have lots of them after such great weather and long nights in the desert!