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!

A hike to remember - elk, moose, and a fiery sunset

The Labraduo and I set off for our evening hike. Within about 100 yards of our house, I first smelled and then saw the entire elk herd in an aspen grove next to the trail. I kept the dogs on leash (that's where I often let them run), and we went around the herd. Here's a photo of about a third of the herd that I took earlier today.

This evening, we were hustling up to a plateau where we could see the sunset. As we emerged from the forest onto the open plateau, we discovered that a moose pair was standing in our sunset photography spot.

We were a long distance from them, and I didn't have my wildlife lens with me so that was a very cropped photo. However, it showed me immediately that this is a different mother moose than the one who charged me last week. Last week's mother moose had an old injury to her right ear that gave it a "clipped" look.

So, now we have two mother-calf moose pairs spending time in the forest near us. I think that the introduction of moose to Colorado has been a success! During today's encounter, I tried making some noise from a long distance away to see if this pair might move away from us. Nope - they just stared. And, then R decided to bark at them. So, we retreated. They are the first wildlife who live in our forest who don't run from humans or dogs.

Since the moose were occupying our sunset photography spot, we went over a ridge into the forest, where the difference between the two dog's reactions to seeing the moose was obvious. I have never seen Shyla so wide eyed!

In contrast, R seemed puffed up with confidence, and he continuously stared intently in the direction of the moose. He seemed to think that he needed to protect us women-folk from the huge animals we'd just seen.

Needless to say, the dogs didn't get any off-leash time this evening.

We did get to see a glorious sunset. While Shyla and I sat on a boulder watching it, R stood sentry behind us, continuing to stare in the direction of the moose.

It is the wild west here. I love it.

A Sunset among the Desert Towers

During our desert trip, Shyla and I mountain biked to the top of a cliff that I told you about a few days ago.We looked down on a region of red towers sculpted by wind and water.

A few days later, we drove down to hike among the towers in the far right of this photo at sunset.

We chose sunset because, at this time of year, the sun shines directly at the towers as it sets on the other side of the Colorado River, and the towers glow in its light. Moreover, very few people visit this site at this time of year.

I first learned about the incredible winter sunset light at this site when I photographed K here a few years ago. There's something about the combination of the red rock, chocolate labrador fur, and golden eyes at sunset that I cannot resist.

So, Shyla and I let the boys forge ahead for a real hike while we found a quiet spot to take photos.

We were there just as the sun dipped below the western horizon. The rays no longer touched us but the tops of the tallest towers still glowed. It looked like a magical kingdom to me.

And the half moon looked down upon the towers. It's one of the most special places for a sunset hike that I know of.

Across the valley from us, more desert buttes and towers stood tall below the glorious sunset sky.

I feel warm, relaxed, and peaceful just remembering that sunset.

Thanks for all of your nice comments yesterday. Shyla's eye looks better although I do have the migraine that I felt coming on as I wrote yesterday's post. Hopefully, I'll be free of it by tomorrow.

A Rocky Mountain Sunset

Clouds covered the sun during my morning bike ride with Shyla. A good game of fetch made us both smile despite the clouds and winter wind.

Briefly, in the afternoon, the sun came out, and one of the few remaining autumn leaves caught my eye - a wild geranium leaf. It looked so bright and flashy compared to the rest of the world, which is in winter-mode, that I had to admire it.

Today was my first day since last weekend that I didn't have a migraine. I felt so free and light, without the pounding in my head. It made me smile all day long. I never realize how much a certain pain is dragging me down until it vanishes. I am taking one day at a time, and so I simply enjoyed not having a migraine today.

I headed out for our sunset walk with an extra spring in my step. The Duo and I saw a gorgeous sunset. It looked like fire embers were floating above the Divide to the south of us.

The mountain that Shyla and I hiked a couple of times this summer had an orange cloud above it. I love how the snow reflected the sunset colors.

A little to the north, it looked as if a column of fire was rising from a peak.

I love Rocky Mountain sunsets. Watching one is the perfect way to end the day.

Happy Friday!

Sunset Sunday

We've had some gorgeous sunsets lately. Yesterday evening, we hiked up to Hug Hill to view the clouds catching on fire. This is the classic view of the Divide from Hug Hill. There's just one tree between us and the mountains.

This is looking a little more to the north.

And finally, just as the brightness started to fade, I looked even more to the north, where the fiery sky was most intense. Whenever I see sunsets like these, I am reminded of the John Denver lyric "I've seen it raining fire from the sky...".

One night earlier this week, the colors were less fiery but still gorgeous. The jagged edge of Continental Divide is on the horizon.

One of the only things I like about the rapidly diminishing daylight is that sunrise and sunset happen at more convenient times so we see them more often! I hope that you're having a peaceful Sunday.

Desert Fun

Since it's Friday, I'll keep this post simple. I want to show you a few more photos from our desert trip.

This was K's rock on our second night camping there. The moon was still almost full - so not many stars were visible over the 2 hours and 15 minutes that my camera took star trail photos. But, I love how the moon made K's rock glow and also made the sky a deep blue rather than black. The streaks of clouds add to the surreal feeling.

I'll also share a photo taken at sunset near K's Rock. This one truly shows what an alien landscape the red rock desert is. The light at sunset in the desert is incredible!

 And Shyla waved bye-bye to the sun as it set on the distant horizon. What a happy dog she is!

Happy Friday!

Happy Summer Days

Yesterday I told you about my bike ride to an incredible campsite in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It was a long journey but it was worth it! The view captivated me for our entire stay at the campsite.

Not only was there a great view but there was also a lake very nearby. Our Labs thought that was divine!

It's interesting - for the entire time that K was alive, she took the lead in retrieving objects from lakes. R would wait on the shore to try to grab hold of the object when she brought it in, even after he was fast enough to win the swimming race sometimes.

Now, R always takes the lead in retrieving, and Shyla plays the role of "poacher" on the shore. Even when we throw two objects, Shyla doesn't go after the second one. Rather she waits near shore for R. Perhaps this is a common older-younger dog interaction.

On most retrieves, Shyla swims out to meet Rono about 10 yards from shore so she gets wet!

We had lots of fun playing in that lake while the weather stayed good. As you'll hear in the coming days, we were in for a huge change in weather which made swimming not fun. Snow will do that.

Back in camp after a day of mountain biking, running, and swimming, I adored the sunsets that bathed Shyla in warm light that made her chocolate fur glow. Some evenings, the sunset was clear.

Most evenings, it was not.

But, the unrelenting clouds led to some incredibly fiery sunsets.

We had such fun in this campsite. It's one of the "happy places" that I keep in my mind to get me through tough things like root canals. Everything about the spot where we camped is etched into my memory, and I think of it many times during the year. I love it!

P.S. Today is the last day to vote in the Trailcampro.com contest that I've entered a photo in. Please read the last paragraph of my previous post if you want to vote (one vote per email address). Thank you so much! I promise that this is the last reminder.

Sunsets and Bear Cubs

I've been enjoying summer time with my pups and watching our bears. Here, the Duo watched the sun set with me.

A pair of Night Hawks nest yearly somewhere close to where we watch the sunset. They glide and swoop over our heads, letting out squeaking noises as they snag insects out of the air. The Duo don't seem to notice but I do. K and I watched the nighthawks last summer on many evenings - another good memory. Now I'm making new good memories with the Duo.

This was the view after the sun finally dipped below the mountains. Ah, I love summertime.

In the bear world, mating season has come to an abrupt halt. The reason probably is that their favorite foods are maturing and ripening. It's time for bears to eat and eat and eat. Over the next couple of months, they'll eat 10's of thousands of calories very day. It's rather stunning when I realize that an animal as big as a bear can eat all the calories that s/he needs for an entire year within the course of a couple of months.

Buffalo Berries

As the mating season has ended, the mothers with cubs are emerging from hiding. More than one family has visited this spring but I'll show you just one visit today, saving the other one for another video. Here are the two cubs who we've seen before.

The family first visited the base of a bear marking tree and then moved onto a nearby pool of water fed by a spring. The cubs are very cute! You can watch their activities here or at Youtube.

Since this mother bear is around my area a lot, I'd like to give her a name to make it easier to talk about her. I believe that she's the mother of "Socks", the young bear with black legs and a cinnamon body who we see photos of regularly. Do you have any ideas for a name?

Happy Solstice!

Happy Solstice to everyone. This photo is from sunset last night, which was so very late!

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it means that daylight lasts longer today than any other day of the year. For our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, the tide is turning - your days will now get longer! So, I think it's a good day for all of us.

It's a good day for Shyla, who is feeling better, after her diarrhea stress-reaction to a visit to town earlier this week. She went to my PT clinic with me yesterday, and even though that involved going into town, her tummy is better. Moreover, she seemed very happy at the clinic.

Today, I checked some trail cameras, and I bring good tidings. We have another mother bear in the forest, and this one has two rambunctious cubs.The two cubs were very curious about a bear marking tree that huge males, at least twice as tall as the standing cubs, have marked several times this summer. You can see that the top of the pine sapling is broken off. The adult male bears who mark this tree are taller than the sapling!

The family spent a long time in front of this cam and the one that is pointed at a water hole. I'll have a video of the cuteness soon!

Several of you have asked if I worry about the dogs chasing bears. You might notice in photos that both dogs wear bells. Since we started that tradition almost a decade ago, we've had no close calls with dogs and bears. Even though I am fairly confident that I could call the dogs away from a bear, I'd prefer not to put the bears (and me) through that stress or have the dogs lead a chasing bear back to me. To avoid dog-bear encounters, I also choose the places where I take the dogs very carefully. I've never taken a dog to the place shown in the photos above - I view it as a pristine place for the wildlife.

As I've mentioned in the past, I'm always trying to balance letting my dogs be able to romp with the needs of the wildlife.

Happy Solstice!

P.S. I just learned that today was "Fight like a Frenchie" day for our pal, Benny, a French Bulldog who was just diagnosed with cancer in his liver. We send him and his family the Power of the Paw. To Benny and his family - cherish every day and live it to the fullest - take your inspiration from K, like I did. We're thinking of you.