A springtime sunset hike

We recently had a sunset hike that made us appreciate where we live so very much!
First, the Duo romped stood and took in the sights together in the sunset light.

Then, they launched off their boulder to come see me.

Just about then, we saw a raptor swoop over the meadow and land atop a Ponderosa Pine. We leashed the dogs and started walking inconspicuously toward the bird hoping to identify him/her.

When we were just getting close enough to get a good look, the bird soared away from us. We never saw the top of his tail but my best guess was that he was a red-tailed hawk.

The raptor soared over top of a fence on the edge of the meadow, and we spotted a mountain bluebird perched there, his blue plumage standing out in the golden light.

Believe it or not, as we gazed at the bluebird, the elk herd started stirring about 50 yards behind the bluebird. It felt as if we lived in the most vibrant and beautiful world as the wild animals moved all around us.

During all our wildlife watching, the light had dimmed but there was still a bit more time for the Duo to romp. K blurred a little as I panned my camera with her.

A few minutes later, the meadow had lost its sunlight, and the speed of R was too much for my camera. The tops of the brown grass looked like streaks on his black fur as I panned with his sprint.

The hike ended with a spectacular sunset as storm clouds sat over the Divide and were lit on fire by the sun.

As dusk began to fall, we hurried home.

What a miraculously beautiful place to call our home! I feel so lucky K is still with our pack enjoying the blossoming of spring.

A snowbike ride

Winter is an odd season for a snowbiker because the accessible world shrinks and then grows with each storm. Since we were hit with a trifecta of storms more than a week ago, the snowbiking world is finally expanding again. In the past few days, K and I have ridden many trails that were snowed in last week.

We were out for sunrise this morning, and K focused on the mewing of elk calves off in the distance.

When a cow elk and her calf get separated, the calf makes a high pitched mewing noise. When I hear mews emanating from the meadow near our house, I know to steer clear of it so that the elk can graze in peace. However, the sounds, and doubtless the scents, still mesmerize K.

I stopped and watched K focusing on the lower meadow. Her eyes glowed in the rising sun. Ah, her eyes never cease to amaze me. You can see the reflection of the scene in front of her in her eye.

I kept our riding distance short, trying to let her paw recover from yesterday's "leap". After I rode with K, I headed out alone. Snowbiking involves exploring to find packed trails, and the exploration can be incredibly successful if I find packed trails, resulting in a wonderful ride. But, it sometimes turns out to be a disaster where I flounder in deep powder and end up trudging along pushing my bike.

Today was successful. I found a 4WD road that a snowmobile had packed to perfection. I could ride fast, soaking up the winter sunshine and enjoying the feeling of my legs propelling me forward at an average astounding speed of (hold onto your horses) 5 mph! It's true - snowbiking is not fast. However, the fun of riding over packed snow will never fade for me.

And, it leaves both me and K happily tired.

Hopefulness

I believe that deer rut is underway. They are moving feverishly around the forest at all hours of the day and night.

Last night, I captured my first photos of a mixed sex group of deer, with a big buck in the middle. This remote trail camera is an infrared camera so it shoots color photos in the daytime and black/white at night.

The buck lingered behind the group of does, keeping an eye on his does.

Someone asked if deer scrape the ground. Indeed, bucks scrape the ground with their hooves during the rut and then urinate in the scraped area. According to my favorite tracking book, deer urine smells "piney, light, and somewhat pleasant" (Mammal Track and Sign, by Mark Elbroch). Maybe I'll sniff the next deer scrape that I find :)

I probably won't sniff bobcat scrapings. They're the most common type in our forest. A freshly scraped spot stood out in the middle of the trail this morning. In this case, the bobcat left scat in his scraping but often they leave only urine. You can also see that the bobcat has left scat at this post before from the white desiccated piece near the top of the photo.

I noticed the bobcat scrape while K and I did our morning stroll. She left a reply for the feisty cat. That was quite different from last night when she was terrified of a tiny house cat! K acted like the queen of the forest this morning.

K is really antsy to go on longer hikes in our forest. When I tell her that it's time to go home, she tries to woo me with her eyes. It is very hard to resist.

I often dilly dally to give her more time in the forest without hiking any further. This morning, I posed her with a beautiful shadow silhouette behind her.

As she stood with one paw and one cast propped on a tiny rock, I focused on the amazing engineering of her good paw. Dog paws are tough enough to endure running barefoot across rocky and rough terrain but also soft enough to give climbing traction. I hope that K's injured paw returns to this beautiful state! When the vet changed K's cast, I saw that her injured paw is shriveled and bony, having lost most of its muscle in the cast. I am so eager to start helping her rebuild her strength! My hopefulness abounds right now.

Indeed, both dogs are having left front paw problems. R has a big crack in one of his nails. To avoid infection, he must wear a boot when he goes outside. He seems to truly believe that he can't use that paw for the first minute of each outing!

But, as soon as the forest catches his attention, he forgets about the boot. Unfortunately, he doesn't forget about the shriveled brown mushrooms that STILL litter the forest floor so he dons a muzzle. This is the longest mushroom season that I can remember.

When I plan to take a photo, I take off the muzzle so we can see R's handsome face. In the photo below, he's scanning the terrain for rodents or rabbits. Sadly, from R's viewpoint, all of our common rodents have gone underground except the tree squirrels. Our lagomorphs, the mountain cottontail rabbits, also stay active all winter and continually torture R from outside our house windows.

This morning, after R and I had a short mountain bike ride together, I headed out on my own. Alas, I still don't have my usual energy back after my virus. Moreover, I was hurting because a rambunctious dog surprised me by leaping up and punching me in the shoulders with his front paws two days ago. I was standing just in front of a knee-high rock, and the dog launched me into a half back flip that landed me on my upper back and neck behind the rock. It was a vigorous test that proved that my neck is solidly fused 9 months post-surgery! However, my neck muscles are still screaming.

This morning I sluggishly rode past this view, which had a blaze of yellow leaves on the aspen grove just a week ago. The gorgeous snowy mountains have replaced the yellow leaves as the highlight.

And, this steep and rocky giant is holding its snow - a sure sign that winter is really almost here.

At the end of my ride, I passed a distinctive seed pod, the pod from a Showy Milkweed flower. It glittered and shined in the cold sunshine.

I love realizing that the plants are already preparing for next spring. I hope that those seeds are sown and grow into beautiful flowers! The hopefulness of the plants lifts my spirits every year as we head into the dark of winter.