February 7, 2026

Joann went with her sis to GJ. I went hiking up on Exhilaration. I hiked off to the south this time. The elk tracks up there are everywhere. But I didn’t see any. I almost stepped on three different cottontails. They were hidden behind sage brush and wouldn’t run until I was right by them. I also spooked a lizard. I found some cool rocks over there. I’ve walked above them before and didn’t realize what was below me. There was some shooting around that area again, but nothing close to me. Pretty warm, high in the upper 50s. iPhone 15 Pro pics. 

 February 5, 2026

This afternoon for my tromp I wanted to go up on Sunshine Ridge off Hwy 90. I got up there and could see it was going to be a lot of mud. So I headed down and cut through Shavano to the Rim Rd and went walking on Crag Rd. I only then had time for about three miles out to the Rock Climber View Point. I met some young folks that were hiking with their two dogs and later an older couple riding mountain bikes. It was a very warm day in the low 50s. I’m sure going to miss these walks come late spring when it heats up. I wish we could afford to go north in the summer. I guess I’ll have to try getting out there at sunrise. But that is often already too warm for me to walk the way I like. Plus, you have to be completely covered because of mosquitoes. For now I’ll totally enjoy my daily jaunts. iPhone Pics

 February 4, 2026

Today we headed down toward Delta on the backroads. We then went up the 25 Mesa Road. We met three loaded logging trucks. With this meager winter they can log up high all winter. We pulled out the chairs and sat in the sun for our lunch snack. Then we drove on higher, and turned around just before the White ranch. We came back down and went walking at EWR on the north side. There are now cows in there….in a wildlife refuge???  It was a good day. We didn’t see any birds to photograph…just cows. So, here’s a nice snowy shot of Buckhorn from 2013.