Heading north

Our first day we ended up in Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on the Utah/Wyoming border.     John Wesley Powell named this gorge after going down the Green River and seeing the red canyon walls.     In the early 60's, it was dammed and is now a 91 mile long reservoir.    We did a tour of the dam itself.    After we parked, we noticed the sign.    A young man had been standing in front of it....but I guess we qualify.        

 Gazillions of trout circle, waiting for the handout of fish pellets.

 After the tour, we grabbed our backpacks and headed out for a 3 mile hike along the river.    It was hazy due to the smoke from wildfires but still very beautiful and peaceful.    There were many fisherman and rafters on the river.

Always being watched.......about the same size as the anoles in Florida.

We are now in Grand Teton NP and my battery is very low as I sit outside the store where the WIFI is great.       Talk tomorrow.

No news is good news .................

Got nothing much to share these days.    Weather is about perfect, friends are mostly perfect, we are rarely  perfect and life is good.     

   

Since I put up the feeder, we have been besieged by hummingbirds.    I only put up this poor quality picture to prove that we do have them.    But I am unable to capture anything about them.    Plus, the sun is in the wrong place most of the time.     I'm not sure if a tripod would help.      My neighbor put out a feeder also and asked if I was getting many hummers.    I said that I was and she sighed in frustration.     I then told her that I put 'red wine' in mine and maybe she should do the same ( not ! ).....she said that if I'd put white wine in she'd come over and drink from it........the visual was too much !!

  

 This week, Jenna and former Coloradan, Bev, drove over from Denver in order to enjoy some back country Jeep trails.    The flowers are fading a bit but there is an occasional columbine and the paintbrush and fleabane are quite prolific.  

And this fawn was out exploring with her twin while  mama kept a watchful eye.  

Otherwise, not much happening out here in the SW.    And that is a good thing.    

Enjoy the ride...............

A few pictures of our wanderings in the majestic mountains with the Denver Mile Hi All 4 Fun rally. 

 This was a very rare sighting..... momma and her calf.     Later, we saw another moose standing hip high in a lake but too far off for a picture.  

 Very tiny tiny flowers at 12,000 ft.     I think it's Spring Beauty.

Thanks for coming along !

Buena Vista, Co.

We are currently sitting in a dusty cactus filled field with huge ant mounds and assorted 4x4 vehicles, campers, RV'a and tents.    It must be the 49th annual Mile Hi All 4 Fun.    Everyday we go high into the glorious mountains to view the tops and stunning vistas and to capture it all.   BUT, my aging MAC has decided not to download any of my spectacular photos.   This is the only one I had on my phone to share of the event.    I doubt they were stealing it but who knows. 

I'll Try for a better update when we get home.    

Crested Butte

This week, we spent a couple days over in Crested Butte....about 2 hours from here.   Like many of the small western ski/destination towns, it is a bit funky with exaggerated local color (both in paint and people).   It's very popular with the mountain biking crowd.   ATV, Jeeps, horses and hikers and bikers all compete for the same areas.    We went on a short stroll above a meandering river with a goal to view wild flowers but altho they were fairly plentiful, the variety was limited.    It was a nice walk with a small waterfall and aspen grove for a cool respite. 

  

 All of those assorted straps attached to my backpack are for a device to hold my heavy camera.    Found it on Amazon and it was reasonable and it actually works.    No more sore neck from the camera strap.    And it's easy to slip it out of the bracket to take a pic and feels secure if I bend or jostle around.  

 That night the group voted to go to a family style all-you-can-eat-fried chicken restaurant.    So, I called ahead and asked if they had any offerings for our way of eating.    She said she had steamed potatoes. I asked about veggies, salad.    She said no, it all has cream and butter in it and no salads.    Then she said, "but we have a plate charge and you can bring your own food !"     We prefer not to let our choices interfere with our social life so this seemed like a good option.       We stopped at a Trip Advisor  recommended Mexican take-out and got huge veggie burritos to put on our $11 plate !!!     This Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, white gravy, biscuits, creamed corn and cole slaw eatery didn't get a very good rating on Trip Advisor but they all seemed to enjoy it and served family style, the supply was endless.     So much so, that cold fried chicken and biscuits were the lunch on the next day's hike.   (we had PB&J)

The next morning we headed out to West Maroon trail, about 45 min out of town.   Bonnie suggested that if we had lots of energy and a full day, we could walk to Aspen.
The road was scenic and the morning started out pretty cool.    It was 35 degrees at 7 am.   The previous night when we got back to our room, it was stuffy despite an open door to the balcony.   So P called the desk and said he didn't think the A/C was working.    The nice young lady said gently  that there was NO A/C in Crested Butte...... color us spoiled.

It was a crystal clear day and we warmed up quickly.     The trail moved gradually upward at a nice pace considering we were around 10,300 ft and climbed up to over 11,000.  

We were surrounded in color the entire hike.    Everywhere we looked were masses  of yellow and clusters of purple and rose and white. 

   

Standing quietly by the fence,
you smile your wondrous smile.
I am speechless, and my senses are filled
by the sounds of your beautiful song,
beginningless and endless.
I bow deeply to you.
           
       I like this  flower poem  .... from the book "Peace Is Every Step", by Thich Nhat Hanh

What a privilege to walk among the glories of nature...

We took a  scenic jeep trail back to town.    A perfect day.  

And never far from our thoughts are the hopes that very special friends will be able to join us next year...................