Fall in Rocky Mountain National Park

These pics are from a while ago, but I'm posting them now because I just got access to my computer again (I got an LCD monitor for 75 bucks on craigslist and it's awesome!) Fall in Rocky Mountain National Park has to be the most beautiful season. The colors are spectacular; the aspen and willows are golden and the tundra is russet red. The elk are in the meadows getting down to business, and the eerie dinosaur-like calls of the bulls echo off the mountains. This fellow here strutted right in front of us as he went to check on his harem. He was a gorgeous specimen of elkdom.

The colors of fall are beautiful on a grand scale. . .. . . and on a small scale.

And the colors as we ascended to the tundra on Fall River Road took my breath away.

Sigh. I wish fall lasted more than a couple of weeks. I guess it does last longer here; it starts in the high country and works its way down. The trees on the plains are only now changing colors, while those in the mountains have lost all their leaves. But fall is definitely most spectacular when coupled with unspoiled mountain vistas.

Watch out, Steven Colbert

Matthew and I watched this bear walk around and munch on berries for about 20 minutes yesterday as we hiked near Boulder. Maxwell thought it looked like him and wanted to chase it.

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Fun with remote cameras

For work we put out four remote cameras to attempt to monitor marten populations, since martens are considered a sensitive species for our forest. We used a lure developed for trappers that smells like toothpaste (apparently martens like toothpaste??) The lure doesn't seem to have been working, but we have gotten some nifty shots of deer:
And this elk with messed-up antlers (which we researched and found out it's most likely due to a brain worm infestation):

But coolest of all, it seems that someone was interested in our bait after all:



Our next move, and I'm not joking, as disgusting as it sounds, is to pick up road-killed squirrels before we go out in the field next and use those as bait. Yeah, I know it sounds really gross, but squirrels are the primary food source for martens, and if the big fat ones down in Boulder don't lure them in, I don't know what will. Plus, it's recycling!

Fall colors

These past few weeks have been absolutely gorgeous up in the mountains. I haven't been doing as much field work lately as I had been earlier in the summer, but when I've gone out, I haven't been able to stop taking pictures of the gloriousness of fall aspen. Check it out:

I also have pics from the trip that Matthew and I took up to Rocky Mountain National Park a couple weekends ago, but they are on my computer at home and I don't currently have a monitor for it (the one that I had exploded a few days ago). So I will post those when I get access to the files on my computer once again.

In the news, Matthew and I both got jobs in the same week! He's going to be working as a real estate broker's assistant down in Denver and I'm going to be working for the City of Loveland as a GIS technician. Woo hoo! Now we don't have to starve to death when my Forest Service job ends!

Summer's winding down

Well, the leaves on the aspens are turning yellow, there's been snow up on the mountain tops, and birds are heading south. I can't believe I've been here five months already. The time has flown by. Sadly, I only have six more weeks at my job, and I'm trying to figure out what to do next. I've been applying for jobs with environmental consulting businesses around the Denver area, but so far, no luck. I'll keep you posted, though.

Erin was here visiting the week before last, and these pictures are from when she was here. We had a lot of fun. We went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, we went up to the Pawnee, and she came out in the field with me for a couple days and helped me collect data, for which I'm very grateful.

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Pawnee National Grassland

Last week Deanna sent Christian and I to the Pawnee National Grassland for a couple of days to help out with their burrowing owl and prairie dog surveys. For those who don't know, prairie dogs are a very important part of the grassland ecosystem because they build extensive "towns" of burrows that provide shelter to various other animals, like burrowing owls. They are also an important food source for hawks, coyotes, and foxes.

Here is a typical prairie dog burrow.

This guy's keeping a watchful eye out for danger.

These are pronghorn, unique American antelope. They're very skittish.

Normally you just see their butts as they're running away from you.

Basically the Pawnee is a lot of rolling, grassy hills. It's quite a contrast from the mountains. You can see storms coming from miles away.

There's a little water, but not much.

Check out this awesome praying mantis. He threatened me with his little alien-like arms.

And now, I leave you with a typical Pawnee traffic jam.

Woodland Lake Trail

Yesterday I surprised Matthew with a birthday hike up the Woodland Lake trail, starting from the Hessie trailhead near Eldora. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I've been on. You follow a creek through dense spruce-fir forest and climb over 2000 feet to reach two lakes near the treeline. It's about 11 miles round trip.

Matthew and Maxwell say hi from the top floor of a run-down old mining cabin along the trail.

Matthew and Maxwell pose on the trail.

Looking across Woodland Lake, the shallower of the two lakes. It's only 7 feet deep at the deepest point.Here, boy! Maxwell goes for a swim.

Looking back on Woodland Lake from the trail to Skyscraper Reservoir.



Maxwell on the shore of Skyscraper Reservoir. He wore his backpack on the hike and carried most of our supplies. What a good helper puppy!

Maxwell fetching a skick in Skyscraper Reservoir. Notice the patches of snow up on the mountain. We were up at about 11,200 feet here.

We skirted around to the far side of Skyscraper Reservoir, where a glacial trickle feeds into the lake. The wildflowers here were spectacular, and so were the butterflies.

So, after our hike, we were tired and sore, but it was totally worth it. We're looking forward to the next one.

Hi out there to anyone who still reads this. It's getting on to late summer now (wow, I can't believe it's August already) and the wildflower seeds I started a couple months ago are now blooming in front of my house. So our place actually looks nice instead of just having a big pile of dirt and rocks out front.

We have lots of different species flowering simultaneously. Sorry, this might be flower overkill, but I love taking pictures of flowers! According to the seed packet, these are all native Colorado species. And the best part is, they're drought tolerant--which is good because we hardly get any rain. Though last night it did rain pretty steadily for a long time. Maybe that's why all the flowers look particulary beautiful today.

Our vegetable garden has grown a lot, too. You can see it in this picture at the very back of the yard, by the fence. It's overflowing with cucumber, pumpkin, watermelon, broccoli, carrot, and green bean plants. So far only the cucumbers and green beans have borne fruit, but I'm still hopeful.

In other news, Christian, Deanna, and I spent a day in the field with the local Boulder County butterfly expert learning the various mountain species. Deanna wants to make a point to learn about them so we can plan on protecting and enhancing their habitat. I love my job!

Queen Alexandra's SulphurSmall Wood NymphEdward's Fritillary

Melissa BlueAphrodite Fritillary

Ha ha, fooled you! This isn't a Colorado species, but a tropical species that I saw when Matthew and I visited the Butterfly Pavilion in Broomfield.

And now, because there seems to be a theme of blog posts ending with pictures of cute animals, I give you. . .

THE CUTEST OWL EVER! Ok, maybe you had to be there to fully appreciate this cuteness. This is a baby saw-whet owl. He was only about as big as my hand. Adorable! (Deanna took this picture).