April 21, 2026

Today I did a quick hike on the Buck Trail.  It was pretty soggy up there, but nice and cool.  I even got sprinkled on a bit which was a treat.  The bears are awake.  One had walked up the trail in the mud.  I couldn't get a rear paw photo as I couldn't find a rear print.  But, I also didn't see any claw marks on the prints, so wondered if it couldn't be a mountain lion track???  If so, it was a pretty big cat.  I'm pretty sure it was a bear as it wasn't rounded enough for a cat.  Anyway, it was a fun brief outing.

 April 20, 2026

We did another P77 run tonight.  Saw some deer and elk and of course the incredible mountains.  The snowpack right now for the Gunnison River basin is 18% of normal.  Very sad indeed.

We couldn't get elk photos as they were hanging out right under a power line - not very photogenic.  The others were pretty skittish.  We saw one group of what appeared to be three bulls.  They were big and light colored.  They ran across the road in front of us and over the hill.  About a mile up the road we saw them again still on the run with tongues hanging out.  They had covered a mile in rugged terrain as fast as we did in the Jeep.  It was a beautiful blessed evening.  I love how the aspens glow this time of year.  Thank you Lord!

 April 18, 2026

This evening we headed up to P77.  I figured it would be too muddy from the snow and it was.  So we went on down to the Big Cimarron.  We went up just past Silverjack.  We saw quite a few deer, some elk and a few turkeys.  The tom turkey was showing off for the ladies.  That road was only damp in a few spots.  I switched cameras and am going back to a Nikon Z50 II.  Inexpensive and good quality.  What a blessing to be so close to such beautiful scenery.  We take it for granted too much.  God is good!