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).

Pics of Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park has got to be one of the most gorgeous places in the country, if not the world. These pics were taken during Matthew and I's anniversary weekend.

Well, a lot's happened since my last post. Matthew and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary on June 24. To mark the occasion, we spent a weekend camping in Rocky Mountain National Park, which was just beautiful. My favorite part was walking in the tundra and seeing all the tiny precious tundra plants in bloom. We also saw tons of elk and beautiful scenery. I will post some pictures soon (they are saved on Matthew's computer, which I don't have with me).

My parents came to visit last Sunday and stayed for 4th of July week. We went and watched the fireworks from a hill overlooking Boulder and the Front Range. It was the most spectacular display I've seen, because we had such a wonderful view. We could see several different fireworks displays occurring simultaneously, from Denver to Longmont and every town in between. I also did a lot of hiking and outdoor activities with my parents when they were here (I got Wednesday through Friday off work). We visited Rocky Mountain National Park as well as several nearby state parks. We also checked out the public pool at Eldorado Springs, and my dad made a splash on the waterslide. I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't think to at the time.

Here I am standing with my mom in a cave at Eldorado Canyon State Park. Oooh, look at all the ghostly spectra floating around us. Ok, maybe it's just dust on my camera lens.

Here my dad and I are getting a kick out of the stream flowing through the canyon.

That rock is heavy!

A beautiful butterfly in the state park.

My mom has a ball watching a street performer in downtown Boulder.

And now, I leave you with an adorable wildlife photo: a baby golden-manteled ground squirrel that Deanna, Christian and I came across one day in the field. Say it with me now: Awwwww!

I saw the coolest thing in the woods last week. I was in a sunny aspen grove, surveying birds early in the morning, when I happened upon this scene (look in the very center of the photo):

Can't tell what it is? Here's a closer look at this animal (I didn't take this photo; it's from the Animal Diversity Web):

It's a male blue grouse, displaying to impress a female. They fan out their tails and lift feathers on their necks to display yellow skin patches underneath. In the following picture, you can vaguely make out the female to the far right (she's brown). She's facing away from the male, and she's all, "as if" (say in Alicia Silverstone voice). I wish I had better pictures of the pair, but I didn't want to get too close and interrupt their date. I will have to get a telephoto lens at some point.

Here's the same picture, zoomed in a little. The male's on the far left, the female's on the far right:

Lotsa lovely scenery

I realized I have all these pictures of mountain vistas that I just keep taking, because the scenery is so picturesque here and the novelty hasn't worn off yet. I thought I'd just post a sampling from the past couple of weeks.

And I'll leave you with this image of Matthew and I, pondering the question of how two people living in a 1000 square foot apartment can accumulate so much crap (the moving-in process is still ongoing!):

Baby! Baby! Foxes! Foxes!

So, Christian and I were driving along one day, minding our own business, when we look over and see this scruffy-looking fox sitting in someone's front yard:

Cool, we think, it's not often you see a fox just hanging out in broad daylight. The homeowners must have been feeding it. We snap a few pictures and we're on our merry way. But on the way back. . . .

BAAAYBEE FOXES!! These out-of-focus pictures don't do them justice; I squealed with delight and just about died of a cuteness attack. There were two of them, living under somebody's porch. Sigh. Why can't that be MY porch??