Meadow oasis

"Sunny with a few clouds" described life pretty well when I wrote my last post. We'd just found out that R had pancreatitis and K's recurring urinary tract infection was very nasty. We had planned to head out of town but weren't sure if taking two sick dogs far away from their fabulous vet was smart. So, we hung out at home and waited to see if the dogs' health seemed to go north or south. Fortunately, it seemed to go due north for both (more tests this week will hopefully confirm our impression). So, with a long list of every vet hospital on our route, we headed out in our LabMobile, the high clearance 4WD camper van that lets us "car camp" while sleeping on a comfortable mattress that keeps my finicky spine happy.

We traveled through tumultuous weather into the high mountains of central Colorado. Although I felt confident that the Duo was mending, I hoped that the ominous skies didn't have hidden meaning.
As we approached our destination, blue sky opened over our heads and a rainbow dove into the valley below us. It was close to our dog S's birthday so I thought of it as his rainbow bridge to us.
We camped in a Subalpine meadow surrounded by 13-14,000' peaks in the distance. It's one of my favorite campsites on Earth - peaceful, filled with wildlife and flowers, and close to beautiful trails. K expresses joy by wriggling on her back. As soon as we set foot in the meadow, she dove into the grass.
The tumultuous weather followed us to our oasis, and stormy skies loomed as we took the first short hike of our trip. K perched on a rocky pinnacle to survey our meadow.
R scanned the meadow's edge for wild animals. We always keep our dogs on leash in this lush meadow because it seems so obvious that we are visiting the home of the deer, elk, marmots, bear, and lions.
During our trip, we took lots of mountain bike rides and hikes, although very carefully. Both of our dogs are wild mushroom addicts, and the never-ending rainfall this summer has produced a spectacular mushroom crop. We can't trust the Duo to roam even the slightest bit during rides or hikes without sampling the local fare. In fact, when K was 2 yrs old, she suffered severe mushroom poisoning, sending us careening down a mountain from our remote campsite in the Elk Mountains. Fortunately, we found an emergency vet who saved her life. So, we know that the risks are real, and thus, the Duo spent more time on leash or in "heel position" than usual. Sometimes, we even muzzle them to prevent mushroom grazing but that has the bad side effect of making people very afraid of them. There's nothing more mortifying to gregarious Labradors than to have people shy away from them!

These mushrooms grew out of the side of a live tree next to a tumbling stream!
The sun set on our first evening in our favorite meadow with a faint rainbow arcing up out of a fiery mountain.
I plan to write more about our trip in coming days but that's all for now. We gradually made our way to the San Juan Mountains, including the peaks, passes, and lush valleys above Silverton and Ouray. It's the wildest part of Colorado, and we loved it!

When we arrived home, I checked the wildlife cameras that are within 100 yards of my house. Whew - there was a flurry of action on the tiny trail that leaves our house to go into the forest. Coyotes marched past at 6AM, 11 AM, and 4 PM on various days. In the dark of night, a deer fled from something so fast that the camera caught only his hind end. On his next passage past the camera, he posed with his velvet antlers in the camera lens.
Then, just last night, a bobcat sauntered past the camera with dinner in his jaws. I believe that the rabbit who I frequently see on this camera nourished a bobcat last night. It's sad for the rabbit but it is the Year of the Bobcat.
This morning, K and I triggered the camera as we finished our bike ride. I have so few "action" photos of my girl and me that I'll treasure this one!
Notice how closely she's "heeling" next to my bike. I trained her to heel on the right of my bike when she was a puppy. It's very useful on busy trails or when mushrooms seem to be sprouting everywhere!

Sunny with a few clouds

The Happy Duo

This post will be short but show you some of our adventures from past day. I think that I'm going to have difficulty finding time to blog over the next week so don't worry if this site goes silent for a little while.

Both halves of the Duo have responded to their antibiotics remarkably. Oh, how I wish that I had the resilience of R. This morning, he ate his breakfast at breakneck speed after a week of barely eating. That transformation happened after only two doses of two different antibiotics. K's recovery hasn't been quite as miraculous (she might need an even stronger antibiotic) but I think that we're going in the right direction.

Last night, we did an on-leash exploratory hike. We visited an area that K and explored extensively just after my neck surgery last winter. I haven't been back since the snow melted. On this visit, thunder storms rumbled over the Divide and the forest was dark even though sunset was still far away.
We found the most smooth and heavily packed animal trail that I've ever seen. The Duo went on high alert while we walked on it, telling me that wildlife scent emanated from it. When I found a bear den last January, it was next to a hard-packed animal trail almost like this one. R was looking along the trail in the photo below.
I hoped to find a bear den as the habitat generally seemed perfect for one. However, we didn't find a single rocky cavern that looked appropriate for a den. The best part of these fruitless searches is that I learn more about our forest on every single outing. About two weeks ago, before the berries ripened, I had no idea where the bears were foraging. Well, now I have no doubt that they were deep in the pine forest flipping rocks, ripping up stumps, and digging up anthills to get to one of their favorite foods, ant pupae (baby ants). They left signs all over the forest, including scat filled with dead ants.

When we finally headed to home, we emerged into a secret nirvana - a lush aspen grove filled with wildflowers and never visited by people. In the fading light, I had to use a flash to photograph the Duo but here they are among the purple haze of Horsemint.
This morning, both halves of the Duo came mountain biking with me. During the ride, I knew that R was on the mend. I felt like the eye of a hurricane with a black lab whirling in circles around me.
Both dogs and I had a fabulous time, feeling full of energy and happiness.

Our day in photos

K and I had a wonderful mountain bike ride this morning. Despite signs that K's urinary tract infection might be returning, she was full of zip and happiness.

Taxiing for takeoff...
Flaps up, she lifts off!
While we enjoyed the view from the meadow after K's romp, I looked closely at the Indian Paintbrush. In concert with the yellow flowers, it paints a gorgeous picture.
We went to the vet in the afternoon. The bottom line is that all canines in our house are sick. With only about 1/4 of the tests back, we already know that R has at least two bad kinds of bacteria invading his GI tract, fully explaining why he won't eat. And, K's urinary tract infection has recurred. It's a particularly nasty kind of bacteria so she'll be on antibiotics for at least another four weeks. Despite the maladies, I'm relieved. So far, everything that the vet has found is fixable. My fingers are crossed that the rest of the tests are normal, normal, normal.

Despite R's pose in the photo below, he actually loves going to the vet. He also seeks cave-like cubbyholes for hiding where ever he hangs out...
Sometimes I feel like we are the most illness and injury prone pack on Earth. I almost hang my head when we walk into the vet's office, *yet again*. When my vet sees that almost embarrassed expression on my face, she gives me a spiel about how we give our dogs such full and interesting lives that they have more opportunities to pick up bugs or get hurt than most dogs. She's good - somehow I feel like I've received a medal of honor for having frequently ill dogs!

The afternoon/evening storms have arrived again. It's time to don the rain gear and hike with the dogs...

The mighty lion

Yesterday evening, the Duo and I hiked out into a light rain and magical clouds drifting around us. We explored, searching for a site where I could see the berry slope with binoculars, hoping to spy on the bears. Alas, no such vantage point existed. On one boulder pile that I climbed to peer at the slope, the pups stood next to me.
Then, we hiked through the meadow's waist high grass, completely soaking my canvas pants. The Mariposa Lilies that still bloomed looked delicate while covered in raindrops.
Last evening, we gave R some special new kibble, and he ate with a vestige of enthusiasm. By no means was he as voracious as usual but at least he ate. Thanks so much for the insights from those of you with dogs who don't always eat their food. I wish that I could say that I'd seen this behavior from a Lab before but I haven't (and we've had six). In any case, the vet will give him a close checkup tomorrow so that we can (hopefully) rule out anything serious. He's looking skinny, with his spine and hip bones jutting out, so we need to get him eating normally again.

This morning, K and I mountain biked together, and her energy could have fueled the entire world. She sizzled with high voltage power. I tried to keep her in a heel in the rain soaked and still dusky world.
But, a scent in the air obsessed her. In the photo below, I'd demanded that she hold eye contact with me to try to calm her down and get her to focus on me. See how different her face is compared to when she initiates eye contact? In this photo, she looks intense rather than soft.
Later, with K a bit calmer, we found a stone arch when we scrambled among boulders.
And, in a meadow, I enjoyed delicate flowers still dripping raindrops from last night's drenching.
Later, after leaving K at home, I went for an intense bike ride, designed to burn off all my anger and angst over events of the past couple of days. By the end, I relaxed and feasted on raspberries. That's a great transformation!

Cumulonimbus clouds ballooned up from the mountains, signaling more thunderstorms for this afternoon.
By the end of my ride, the clouds began to envelope the mountains. I love the sky show over the mountains!
At the end of my ride, I visited two wildlife cameras and I hit paydirt! Look who is standing exactly where the doe and fawn as well as the sow have been photographed in the past week.
When I saw the lion's visage on the viewfinder of my motion-triggered remote camera, I felt my stomach do a flip. The mighty mountain lion had stood exactly where I was standing less than 24 hours earlier. A chill darted up my spine.

The lion triggered multiple cameras so I put together a video of his travel along this wildlife corridor. I also carefully compared his gait to the stiff walk used by the other big mountain lion who I've recorded in this area. I think that this is a new lion who is younger, leaner, and longer legged. I wonder if it's a male or female? Enjoy the video.

Finding the light

I have to be honest - I'm having trouble foreseeing a positive spin to put on this blog post. So be it. Maybe I'll find the light as I write this.

One interesting thing that I discovered on a wildlife camera memory card yesterday was the previously featured doe and her fawn in full flight up an extremely steep hill in the evening. Except for the flat bench trail, this hillside is so steep that I use my hands to help me clamber up it.

First, the mother deer appeared but had already exited the frame a couple of seconds later.
It took a full 17 seconds for the next animal to blur through the camera's view. I'm 99% sure that it's the spotted fawn who we saw a few days ago in a wildlife photo.
Here's the photo of the pair in the same spot a few days ago.
Don't worry. I didn't get photos of any predators chasing them but the mountain lion who swaggered through a few days ago isn't far from my mind.

A host of things have me stressed out, including some legal stuff, R's unexplained loss of appetite, and indiscriminate shooting in the forest.

As for the shooting, during yesterday's mountain bike ride, I found teenagers, barely old enough to drive, preparing to shoot along a forest road. Believe it or not, they stood at one point on the road, their target was 50 yards further down the road, and they were just about to start shooting. It's a road that I use as part of a loop. Due to random good luck, I chose to go counterclockwise, which meant that I came up behind the shooters rather than behind the target where I could have been shot. I politely pointed out the folly of their shooting plan. Their response, with their vehicle next to them showing the stupidity of their reply, "we didn't think that anyone uses this road". Fortunately, they seemed to listen to me and I didn't hear any shots while I was in earshot. However, as I rode past them, I felt distinctly scared - every iota of power is in the hands of a shooter, not an unarmed mountain biker.

As one friend pointed out, the only person who is safe in that situation is the one shooting the gun. There's something wrong with a law that endangers unarmed citizens who want to quietly enjoy nature. I don't think that the 2nd amendment was designed to protect the right to shoot beer bottles, littering the ground with glass smithereens, and endangering hikers, runners, and mountain bikers who are quietly taking advantage of their unalienable rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

I also mentioned R's loss of appetite. We can't explain it although he'll haltingly eat "special" foods but not his normal kibble. We have a vet appointment for Wednesday and are hoping that our fabulous vet can figure it out. Nothing else seems wrong with him - no GI upset, no lethargy, no other signs of illness. It's very odd for a Lab.

Here's R moving in his usual zooming forerunner mode in our meadow.
To his east, the stormy skies told us to hurry.
This morning, K and I had a quiet ride together with no tumultuous events. I tried very hard not to let my dark mood affect how I acted toward her - she's such a sensitive girl. This pose, with her dark silhouette against the mountain backdrop seemed to sum things up. A beautiful dog full of love but my view is slightly dark at the moment.
I did, however, notice the gorgeous interplay of the clouds, green slopes, and craggy mountains in the shafts of sunlight.
I also noticed the gorgeous reddish chocolate color of K's fur against the mountain skies. I'm biased but I love it.
On our path, K and I found a massive rock flipped by a bear within the past 24 hours, for what appeared to be very little food beneath it. K is standing on it for scale. You can see the area where the rock was before being flipped in the lower left of the photo.
To test its weight, I jumped on it with my 110 lb weight, and it didn't even wiggle. So, I was curious about how much it actually weighed. I used my arm to guestimate its dimensions and used the density of granite to roughly calculate its weight. I got 117 kg or 260 lbs (yes, you now know that I'm truly a geek). Imagine how strong a bear must be to randomly flip a rock that huge, without knowing ahead of time that a feast awaited him/her under the rock. Wow. Thank goodness that most bears are timid rather than aggressive!

As I did my solo ride after dropping off K, I noticed that the last of the wild columbines had dropped their petals in yesterday's rain. I'm sure that the columbines are still blooming up at higher elevations - but for now, I have my very own columbines to enjoy. I planted them from seed a few years ago and they finally bloomed this year. They still have many buds nodding from their slender stems. What a treat!
I think that I found the light while thinking over my day. I had the good fortune of having the time and the physical capability to do some things that I love today. And, I have columbines blooming outside my door!

Happy mountain biking and great bear photo

The first news is that K seems absolutely fine. No limp, no pain - she ran around like a puppy during our evening hike yesterday. I had promised myself not to do any recalls during the evening hike because recalls make her run harder than anything. However, then the Duo hit upon bear scent so I was forced to recall her. She seemed to flow through the wildflowers effortlessly when she ran to me.

Then, we went to see what had put the Duo into such a tizzy. R had been trying to sniff it but simultaneously acting terrified of it. He stretched his neck out like a giraffe, took a quick sniff, and then scurried backwards. He repeated this skittish sequence several times. Here was what had him so worried.
Yes, it's a hole. A bear had heaved an old log out of the way and had dug out some grubs from under an aspen tree. Bear scent still terrifies R. This year, K has suddenly accepted that bear scent permeates our forest in the summer. She gets excited but doesn't usually act scared.

In fact, not too far away, my favorite sow walked past a motion-activated wildlife camera. This is the Queen Ursine of our forest. I believe she is the sow from the den that I found last winter. She also triggered another wildlife camera when she dug up an ant hill at the base of the camera - and the entire video is a close-up of rain-soaked bear fur! I'll spare you that one...
This morning, K and I prepared for our mountain bike ride with K basking in the sun that shined like a spotlight onto her bed. After a summer month of nearly identical sunlight patterns in the weeks around the solstice, the lighting in the house and forest is starting to change as the sun arcs lower in the sky.
I drank coffee on the deck watching a frenzy of hummingbird feeding. For most of the morning, every feeding portal was occupied with a tiny bird. Then, a new hungry hummingbird would arrive, sending all of them into wild chasing and fighting over feeding spots. I suspect that the hungry hummers are getting ready for their journey south, although I'd rather not think about that yet.
When K and I set out on a mountain bike ride this morning, I watched her movements very closely for any sign of pain after yesterday's scare. She was frisky and fine so I stopped worrying. I think that those of you who suggested a bee sting or that she stepped on something hurtful were probably right.
K enthusiastically galloped to me.
We headed for a rocky outcropping for a view of the mountains. K was as mesmerized by the view as I was.
After my ride with K, I headed out for a wildlife camera loop. I exchanged memory cards on all of my cams, except the one at the den which I don't plan to visit again until the depths of winter. I'm afraid that if I visit now, my incursion into bear territory will deter bears from using the den.

My wildlife cams, as you might expect, are in places replete with myriad animal signs and only very few human visitors. As I rode, I stopped and GPS-marked all the bear saplings that it appeared the bears had marked this past mating season. This mapping was in preparation for next year's courtship season when I plan to stake out several bear saplings with wildlife cams. Here's one bear tree with the top of the sapling and numerous branches broken off.
I looked closely at the nubs of the broken branches to see if they held fresh bear fur. The black fur is definitely fresh - the sun hasn't yet bleached it. The lower layers of fur are probably from past years - they're lighter colored (either due to sun bleaching or a cinnamon-colored bear) and matted down.
This sapling is a great prospect for next May and June. Directly across from it, I spotted an aspen with old black claw marks from a bear who climbed high in the tree and another aspen with fresh scratch marks. No doubt - this area is frequented by bears.
I finished my easy ride only shortly before early storms hit our neck of the woods. We're in monsoon season now, and thunderstorms hit almost every day. I think that's why the bear berries are doing so well!
Thanks to all of you for your supportive words after my scare with K yesterday. They helped a lot.