Bighorn Sheep

I finally managed to catch some of these on camera. I've seen them on several different occasions but I've never happened to have my camera with me. These bighorn sheep appear to be rather young. The older ones with the huge curly horns are quite impressive.

"Falling" for Colorado

I was gone last week for work in San Diego. When I left Colorado the deciduous trees had just barely a hint of color here and there but for the most part, they were still vibrantly green. Five days later I came home to find that, much to my delight, color had exploded throughout the mountains of Colorado. My favorite time of year is Fall and actually living in an area where I get to see the leaves change makes Fall even sweeter.  Mr X was adorable and indulged me in my quest for the best and brightest aspen groves by taking my on a long drive through the mountains, stopping whenever I wanted in order to snap photos of the beautiful lanscape. Here are the results:




If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see the spots of gold on the mountain sides. Those are the aspen groves scattered about. This is in Rocky Mountain National Park.

 


This is Grand Lake. I want to live here.

 

Mr X's Dilly-Dalliances

Last weekend at the Farmer's Market I saw that pickling cucumbers were a really good deal so I convinced Mr X that pickle-making was in order. He was agreeable to the idea. (Mr X is the pickle-maker in our family.) Here are the results:

Many thanks to my dad who provided us with an ample supply of canning jars.

Bergen Peak

Mr X and I hiked Bergen Peak last weekend. It doesn't look particularly long or hard but it's quite a long hike, actually. It's 10 miles (5 each way) and parts are quite strenuous. We had tried it before, inadvertently. We went for a Sunday 'stroll' after church and we decided it didn't look to hard or too far so we tried it. After an hour and a half and the top nowhere near us, we decided we'd better turn around - we hadn't meant for our Sunday stroll to become a 3 hour hike. Anyway, this time we planned more time for it and completed it. The views were great and the chipmunks were aggressive. I know we shouldn't have fed them but they were practically crawling all over us and the only way to keep them away was to toss them bits of my dried mango snack. Here are our photos:

(Mr X feeding our snacks to the squirrels. They were literally eating out of his hand.)

Rutting season is nearly upon us...

It's almost rutting season here for the elk. When we first moved here in February we saw the elk all of the time but we never heard them. I didn't even know what sort of sound they made. Now days they are quite chatty with each other.

The other day I had the windows open in my office and I was on a conference call for work. I could hear the elk outside but I didn't think it was loud enough for my co-workers. But then one of them was like, "What is that noise?" I felt rather silly saying, "Uh....it's just the elk outside."

Where we live there is a rather large group of elk but they are females and young males and babies. (I don't know the proper terms, I know.) But lately the big boys have been making visits. It's been exciting to see them. The massive antlers are incredibly impressive. Unfortunately we haven't managed to catch one of those on camera yet.

Spring at Herman Lake (Almost)

Here are the photos I promised of our (failed) Herman Lake hike this spring. It was the middle of June so in my mind that's summer but according to the mountains it most definitely is not. Technically summer starts June 21st so I guess the mountains are right.

Here's Mr X knee deep in the snow. It was cold.

I was expecting loads of wildflowers to be blooming because the reviews online stated that's what we'd find on this hike. Not so much yet, but there were a few.

Luckily I had thought to bring a hoodie just in case it was a bit chilly. It still wasn't quite enough.

The coolest part of the hike during the springtime were the torrential rushes of water from the snow melt. Water was running everywhere.

Summer at Herman Lake

Mr X and I hiked up to Herman Lake late this spring. We only made it halfway up (about 8 miles round trip) because there was way too much snow still on the ground and we were dressed in shorts, t-shirts and regular shoes. So we were forced to turn around. We vowed to go back and make it all the way to the top and to the lake. So last weekend we did just that. Most of the snow was gone but we did still find some patches here and there. My favorite part of the hike was the abundance of wildflowers:

Oh, I forgot to mention that my other favorite part of the hike were the mountain views.

Below is the actual lake for which the hike is named - it was pretty much unimpressive.

I have a bunch of photos from our botched attempt at this hike this spring. I'll post those next so you can compare.

Mountain Goats

This summer Mr X and I were lucky enough to be able to see some mountain goats here in Colorado during our wanderings. I've never seen them in real life before - it was thrilling. I'm hoping you'll be able to click on these pictures to see them a little better so try it and let me know please. I know the last picture is rather blurry...unfortunately we didn't have the right lens on our camera when we happened upon these beasts.

Trees of Goliath

On the way up to the top of Mount Evans there is an area called the "Mount Goliath Nature Preserve". It is located just below the treeline. The preserve protects a very small forest of Bristlecone Pine Trees. Mr X and I stopped one day to go see and hike among these ancient trees. They really are fascinating creations. There are only a few small forest of these trees scattered throughout the world and this species of tree is apparently on some conservatory "red list" because it is believe that the current rate of regeneration is insufficient to sustain the population. They are twisted, gnarly stunted looking pine trees and their trunks contain streaks of unusual colors. Some bristlecone pines are nearly 5,000 years old. The oldest one in this particular 'forest' is rumored to be a bit shy of 2,000 years old. So basically it was hanging out here on earth the same time Jesus was. Unbelievable! Another interesting thing about these trees is that as a bristlecone pine ages, the majority of the tree dies and only a thin strip of living living tissue connects the roots to a few branches. The 'dead' portion of the tree serves as a protective barrier to the living part - guarding against freezing cold temperatures and incredibly harsh winds. Below are a few photos of these impressive trees: