16 posts tagged “hiking”
An evening hike, and a second encounter with a flock of wild turkeys.
They really are remarkably ugly birds.
Some miscellaneous pictures from here and there as summer has turned to autumn. There is still some quite lovely colour, although I think it will not last long now.
A bit of drama too, sometimes:
A deer or two, so you know it's me:
Some milkweed glowing in the afternoon sun:
And last, but not least, a dinosaur to foreshadow Halloween:
I spent the weekend in the Lost Creek Wilderness area. The mixed forests, open meadows, small streams, and incredible rock formations that make up the Lost Creek Wilderness area are contained in nearly 120,000 acres in the Tarryall and Kenosha mountain ranges of central Colorado.
The area gets its name from Lost Creek, a meandering waterway that disappears under enormous rock piles only to reappear suddenly from under another rock pile further downstream. Hiking in from the Goose Creek trailhead, one passes through a short section of the area affected by the 2002 Hayman Fire.
The Hayman Fire, a result of arson, burned more than 138,000 acres (560 km2), although most of Goose Creek valley was untouched by the blaze.
Six years on, this area is offers a startlingly beautiful look at the early recovery from the blaze, before the trail passes into the thicker conifer forest.
Early Saturday evening, a thunderstorm of impressive proportions struck, leaving the morning wreathed in a beautifully mysterious fog that slowly burned away as the morning sun rose higher in the sky.
Everything touched by the sunlight steamed gently.
The day turned warm, and the hiking was delicious, passing through cool, moist canopy, out into sunny meadows carved by the creek, and punctuated by incredible rock formations.
Since it's been practically forever since I posted pictures of deer...
a wonderful, if too short hike. The deer were quietly grazing, mom keeping a prudent distance, but the young ones more curious than afraid.
The weather was a perfect, sunny 70F (21C), and a pleasant breeze carried the songs of a variety of birds my way. I saw the usual suspects in addition to a few welcome surprises, including several broad-tailed hummingbirds and a brilliant orange-y yellow oriole I was too slow to get pictures of. Further glory came in the form of wildflowers, rocky mountain iris, yellow pea, mountain blue violet, fleabane, monkeyflower and more...lovely day.
This gorgeous, if slightly tattered two-tailed swallowtail was hanging out trailside today. I followed its progress as it sipped its way through a patch of Western Blue Iris. I was delighted when it rested calmly at the tip of a tree branch long enough for me to get some pictures.
Papilio multicaudatus is large - a wingspan of 3.5" to 5" (9 - 12.7 cm), and as such, attractive to hungry birds. You can see from the damage to the tips of its wings (note the probable bird-beak made hole in its left wing) that this one is a survivor
Life has been incredibly, overwhelmingly busy. Generally speaking, this is a good thing, although it cuts rather severely into my hiking time. Spring has slowly released it's grip on the landscape, and there were still a good number of snow patches hanging on through the last week.
The past few days though have been gloriously warm and sunny, and I keep sneaking out for short hikes.
Down by the pond, the Canada Geese are bad-temperedly staking their territory, although they can be tempted to closeness by the offer of a bit food.
And as ever, the trails tempt me to run away from home.
I can't wait for summer.
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