What a day!

During our trip, we decided to spend some time in a new place where we'd never camped before or explored the trails. Things went a bit astray while we were there.

The weather continued to be tumultuous, with flash flood watches and lots of lightning. We were camped in a spot where the fog tended to settle.

It even got cold enough for our first taste of snow. Believe it or not, this was just a touch... there would more later in the trip.

On our first morning in the new spot, we awakened to hear Shyla doing the "freight train" sounds that come before vomiting. We managed to get her out of the LabMobile before we had a big indoor mess to clean up. When we went outside as she vomited, we saw that the LabMobile had a flat tire. It wasn't shaping up to be the greatest day of the trip, and the sun hadn't risen yet.

Alas, by lunchtime, Shyla had vomited about 15 times. She seemed forlorn and exhausted. It was time to find a vet before dehydration became an issue since Shyla couldn't even hold down water. Fortunately, the Runner had already put the spare tire on the LabMobile so we were able to go.

We quickly packed up the LabMobile and headed to the nearest town. Ironically, as we'd driven through it previously, the Runner had pointed out where the local vet hospital was. I'd laughed and said "but we don't need a vet!". Ha - the joke was on me.

We lucked out, and the vet could see us right away (even though we couldn't call ahead due to no cell phone service). On the way there, R had started drooling like an open faucet so we brought him to be examined too. The vet gave Shyla some fast-acting meds to stop the vomiting, and she gave both dogs antibiotics for their guts. She also sent us away with fluids to give Shyla subcutaneously if she became dehydrated. The vet was a little worried that Shyla had an intestinal obstruction, which would have meant that she'd keep vomiting despite the meds...

Thank goodness - both dogs seemed to improve almost immediately. Whew. We felt like we'd dodged a bullet.

We were all overjoyed.

We spent one more night close to that vet just in case we needed her again. She'd kindly even given us her pager number in case we needed her in the middle of the night. Everything still seemed fine the next morning and early afternoon so we headed back into the hinterlands.

And it snowed, a lot, at just slightly higher elevations than where we were camped. But more about that later!

I think it's the earliest that I've ever encountered a substantial snow even high in the Rockies.

Shyla and the rest of us were happy again!

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset in Paradise

Stormy Days

After some nice weather at the start of our vacation, it became tumultuous. Normally, in the high mountains, there's a clear and sunny time every morning, and then threats of thunderstorms in the afternoon. That's easy to deal with - because we simply plan our fun in the mountains for the mornings. Near the middle of our vacation, the pattern changed, and the thunderstorms started very early. We saw almost no sun on those days.

When you're on exposed alpine ridges, thunderstorms are dangerous, to put it mildly, so our plans were derailed.

We camped near an enticing trailhead for two days. It leads to a high and exposed ridge that is said to have "cascading wildflowers". Everyone says that the area is gorgeous, and we've wanted to visit it for years. It even looks gorgeous in the rain.

On our first day there, we made it to a lake below the ridge before the skies opened.

A gentle rain rapidly became pelting hail, complete with thunder boomers. We sprinted back to camp and spent the majority of the day staying warm and safe in the LabMobile. At least the view was nice...

The next day was similar. I was going stir crazy from sitting in the LabMobile, and there was a brief break in the weather. Shyla and I headed out for a bike ride, never going too far from camp.

On one foray, we climbed up the road in the photo above, and the sun shined when we made it to the top!

The road went through a notch in the rock cliff.

On the other side, there was a ledge... but the drop-off was very mild (don't worry about Shyla in this photo!).

The weather was seeming so good that I decided to start heading toward that ridge of "cascading wildflowers" again. This was the pretty trail we followed.

Alas, it was not to be. Within 10 minutes of starting the trail, it was hailing on us again, and we were sprinting back to camp to avoid being out in lightning.

Of course, just to drive us insane, the sun shined ever so briefly again just after our arrival in camp, tempting me to try for the ridge yet again. But we didn't.

We did have a family of marmots to amuse us as we hung around near this trailhead. They lived in an abandoned mine. You can see that the right-most one was a lactating female. We didn't see the babies.

Before the end of that day, we decided that it was time to give up and move on. Maybe we'll see the "cascading wildflowers" next year. We moved onto another site, where even more "excitement" awaited us. The middle of this vacation was not stress-free. That's for sure!

At least we had beauty all around us during this part of our trip!

The Monsoons, Butterflies, and Stars!

As our time in the high mountains progressed, the weather became stormier, often looking foreboding first thing in the morning. Usually, during the monsoon season, there's a safe weather period every morning and then storms in the afternoon.

We still sometimes got some morning sunshine, a wonderful treat for chilly campers.

Then, I'd assess the clouds and decide what kind of mountain bike ride to do. This sunrise light didn't look too foreboding so I set out on a longer ride.

By afternoon, the clouds behind our camp were looking very foreboding. Usually, there are many layers of mountains visible behind our LabMobile at camp.

Most afternoons, we'd retreat to the LabMobile to ride out the storms. We call R the "van boy" because he loves the LabMobile so much. He didn't mind the storms at all!

After the storms, Shyla and I would venture outside to take in the world. We discovered that butterflies tend to hunker down on flowers during storms. So, right after storms, I could photograph them pretty easily.

Wow, there were some beauties!

On lucky days, the clouds would clear out for sunset, and I could take photos of my two favorite furry pack members in the setting sun.

And, if we were super lucky, the clouds would stay away, and we could watch the stars. This was a little before the height of the Perseid meteor showers but there are still a few meteorites in this photo. There are also a few airplanes. This is a time lapse photo taken over several hours and then blended together.

The meteorites are the short, non-circular lines, like in the lower left-center.

Can you believe how many stars there are in the sky? The universe is spectacular!

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.

A Thin Air Adventure

Early in our trip, we wanted to go to a campsite that involves seriously rough 4 wheel driving. My spine can't handle rough driving. Our solution is for me to ride my bike via singletrack trails to meet the pack at the campsite. Thus, I do a "point-to-point" ride that goes far from any road.

Unfortunately, the morning of my point-to-point ride dawned cloudy with a very high threat of thunderstorms. These point-to-point rides normally scare me, due to how isolated I am during the ride. But, when you add storms to the mix, my fear goes into overdrive.

When I took the photo below, we still hadn't decided if I should "go for it" or not. I tried to focus on the pretty flowers rather than the early-morning stormy mountains.

We did the first half hour of the trail as a pack to assess the weather. The sky was gray but the beauty kept shining through.

After the half hour, I was still not sure what to do. Finally, I simply decided to go for it. I had good rain and warmth gear with me plus an emergency beacon. Despite my niggling worries about these point-to-point rides, I do love them, and I didn't want to miss out on a favorite.

Shortly after I made my decision to go for it, I found Northern Flicker's feather on the trail in front of me. For some reason, I felt convinced that it was K's way of sending me strength and courage for the day. I tucked it in my pocket, where it gave me strength all day long.

As I rode, I realized that, as long as I looked forward, the weather looked decent. I could even see some blue sky.

When I looked behind me, I tended to panic because the clouds threatened to engulf me.

So, I decided that I would not, under any circumstances, look behind me again. It worked! And, as I pedaled, I realized that it was a good metaphor for how to live life. Eagerly seek what's ahead of you but don't brood over what's behind you. That's easier said than done, I know.

After a couple of hours of pedaling, I was climbing up toward the highest point in the long ride, a pass over 13,000' high. The flowers were getting more beautiful as I climbed.

It's a long climb but, before I knew it, I was ever-so-slowly approaching the top of the pass, and blue sky still peeked through the not-too-threatening clouds.

I paused briefly at the top, gazing at the craggy peaks all around me before I started the rocketing descent from the pass. Actually, I didn't "rocket" for long because the flowers on the other side of the pass were awe-inspiring. I stopped to look at the hillside above me. Wow. Nature puts on quite a show!

So then, I had to stop and smell the wildflowers.

They were the best I've seen this year.

Alas, even though I was keeping my promise not to look back toward my starting point, I still worried about the storms behind me. And, I knew that I still had thousands of feet of climbing before I made it to our campsite.

So, I tore myself away from the flowers and continued the hard work of pedaling. The next section of trail was in the subalpine forest, with numerous creek crossings and technical trail. I plugged away, and I eventually emerged to this brand new view! I knew that I was almost "home" when I saw this.

I had paced myself reasonably well so the gargantuan steep climb up to our campsite didn't floor me like it has in the past. Indeed, I felt like I could've ridden further. That was a nice feeling for this old girl.

I pulled into camp to hear the excited welcome barks of our pups. I was so glad to see the entire pack, all safe and sound. Moreover, our campsite, bar none, has the best view of any I've ever stayed in.

So, I'd beaten the storms, which never exploded with their full fury that day. After arriving, I was able to laze around in the intermittent sun with the pack. I'd say that was an amazingly good day!

To top it off, the sunset left me speechless. This was one view of it... and I'll save the others for another post!

I learned that day that sometimes it's really worth pushing through your worries and going for it. I had one of my most memorable days of the summer because I found the courage to face what scared me.

PS Tomorrow is the last day to vote in the Trail Camera photo contest that I've entered. If you're interested, there is more info about my entry and how to vote in the last paragraph of a recent post. I am so grateful for your support!!!!