January 25, 2026

Nippy today. We went to church. I then went for a couple mile walk and then went for lunch. Sharon came up for the Broncos game. It’s not going to break freezing today. Wind chill is in the teens. Supposedly Grand Mesa got 14” in this storm. Yay. God is good. I didn’t take any photos when walking so here’s a photo from the Escarpment Trail from 2019. 

 

 January 24, 2026

We finally got some snow - about 3".  Thank you Lord.  We needed it really bad.  It seems the mountains - San Juans anyway - are getting hit hard.  It's sure needed.  Joann's sister came and went shopping with Joann.  I took off to the river for a walk.  It was great.  Not many people - probably because they hadn't plowed the trail.  It was hard walking in spots - bumpy due to being packed by others.  I’ve changed the blog title back to the original. It seems the new title wouldn’t come up at all in google searches for friends and family. 

Anyway it was nice down there and reminded me of a scripture I recall any time we get snow.  All because of Jesus, my filthy heart was changed to pure white.  

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.  Isaiah 1:18

 January 23, 2026

Today it was supposed to snow. So late in the morning I headed to the river for a walk. I only made it to the pond when it started snowing hard. So I turned around and called it off. There were lots of robins down there today. It snowed all day but didn’t start sticking until late. At 9:30 pm it’s still snowing hard but since it’s 32 degrees it’s not adding up to much. But PTL it’s an answer to prayer. OMD EM1 III

 January 22, 2026

Today I went with Allen in his Polaris Ranger coyote hunting. We went up Transfer. We first stopped at the Cushman Overlook. We saw some deer but no yotes. Then we went up the Cattle Loop. Again no critters. We had lunch back in there and then headed on up Transfer. We got clear to the fields and summer ranch above Oak Hill. That shows how meager the snowpack is. There’s a storm coming supposedly. I hope so. Anyway it was a fun day and another nice day…mid 40’s.  God is good.  Iphone 15

 January 21, 2026

Today we wandered up Escalante Canyon. We saw around 20 desert bighorns but they were pretty far out in the fields at what we called the Lowe Place when I worked for a bit down there. It always brings back fond memories of those days down there. No television…just games or reading in the evenings. So quiet then…it’s gotten much busier now…like most places. We went as far as the Sawtell. It was getting a bit muddy in spots with the few spots of melting snow. It was 45 degrees down there. We usually see turkeys down there but not today. It was actually less busy than usual today, which was nice. It was hard to come back on the highway. You could feel the peace ebb away. Then as we got to Delta and looked up the valley the smog was heavy. We didn’t look forward to coming home and breathing that foul air. We sure need more people to move in here…not.  Oh well, it was still a beautiful escape into God’s wonderful creation. 

Amazing this large ponderosa growing in rock high on a cliff face.

The Lowe Place and Ben Lowe table rock.

 January 20, 2026

Another bright sunny day. I took off for a hike this afternoon while Joann was making sourdough bread. I did about five miles in the foothills by the West Transfer Rd. Lots of cows all over in there. That still baffles me. There’s not much food there and no water that I can see. They’re mainly located on BLM land. The area is also closed to motor vehicles during the winter for wildlife habitat. Yeah right. There are truck, atv, and motorcycle tracks all over in there. It’s kind of disgusting, since the wildlife pretty much move out when all that activity moves in. Oh well. I found some old tin cans including tobacco tins. They were very rusty. I didn’t locate any structure remains nearby. Maybe it was just a passing cowboy camp???

Tobacco tin

 January 19, 2026

Another sunny nice day.  High in the 40's.  Joann walked with me down at the river.  Nothing unusual.  Lots of people.  There was a north wind at times that was pretty chilly.  But, it wasn't bad at all.  We talked to some folks along the trail that said their trees were budding out.  What a crazy past year this has been.  We're still praying daily for snow to come in those mountains.  Nikon P950

White crowned sparrow

 January 18, 2026

It was a great day at church again…they all are. This afternoon Joann watched football and I went for my walk on Sandy Wash Road. Did 5-6 miles. It was another nice day. I didn’t see any critters or people. There were several trucks and trailers down at the bottom, but I didn’t see anyone and they were gone when I returned. I only shot video so these are frame captures. Panasonic VX981

 January 17, 2026

Another very nice day. I went walking at the river this morning. This afternoon Garrett, Ryan, and Landon came over for the Broncos playoff game. It was a nail biter but they beat Buffalo by 3. Panasonic G97. 

 January 16, 2026

Today was another gorgeous day. We decided we needed some stuff from Honeyville so we headed down there. It’s amazing how much traffic there’s getting to be everywhere. It’s also amazing how little snow there is on the San Juans. It’s very meager and looks more like early fall. We hope it changes soon. The wind was blowing and there were nice snow banners. OMD EM1 III and Nikon P950

Those mountains should be solid white now.

 January 15, 2026

Yesterday I played around with AI and did these two photos. It’s amazing how good these are. It’s also a bit sad. How do we know what is real in photography and what is not?  I used to edit my photos quite a bit and admittedly that is somewhat AI. I never did replace skies or do heavy editing as I’d rather be outside than sitting at the computer. I never enjoyed editing much. That’s partly why I’ve been shooting so much lately in Jpegs and not doing any editing. (I also know that when you shoot in Jpeg the camera does some editing for you too). But, I might lift shadows or crop some but I want my photos to be as real as possible. I know that’s why some do heavy editing. To them it makes the photo more like what they actually saw. I’ve not found that to be true. Some of those photos look way unreal to me. Also, I want to show off God’s creation, not my editing skills. It’s arrogant to think His creativity needs improvement. So, no AI for me. I want it to stay fun and genuine. 

 January 15, 2026

Another cloudless warm day. I went walking up on Exhilaration again. Unfortunately they moved in a bunch of cows up there. That makes no sense to me. There’s not enough feed there for them to even maintain weight. Plus, calving time is very soon and that could be a problem with mountain lions and many out of the way places for a cow to give birth without notice. That could be trouble if the birth doesn’t go smoothly. It seems to me that whoever owns those cattle doesn’t really care much about their welfare. Needless to say, today I didn’t see hardly any fresh elk tracks. It was pretty toasty walking. Did about 4.5 miles just sauntering. Nikon P950

20 foot root