June 7, 2026

It's been very warm lately.  In the 90's and dry.  It's too hot to hike for me.  Due to Joann's sciatica flareup, we've been staying home a lot.  My hiking feet are itching!  It's no use complaining about the weather - my complaints aren't going to change it or make it more enjoyable.  God knows what He's doing.  Church was good this morning.  Karl preached on Jacob and how we need to let go of our fears and insecurities and go after God wholeheartedly.  We escaped the heat later and headed up P77.  It was nearly 20 degrees cooler up there.  Ahhhh yes!  We saw quite a few elk - no new calves yet.  We also saw several deer.  We saw one cow that we're almost sure had a calf.  She was by some oak brush and walked a few steps into the brush when we stopped, but wouldn't go any further.  That's unusual.  Due to the heat, I'm sure the critters aren't getting out as early.  We didn't stay until dark.  It was a nice and peaceful, enjoyable ride.  Panasonic G97

Relaxed elk

Mountain bluebird female

With the heat, the meager mountain snowpack is leaving fast.  It looks like late July.

Flicker

 May 30, 2026

Pretty warm day today.  Messed around home.  Joann's sister came up for awhile and they went shopping.  This evening we went up P77 again.  Saw Kellen & Rikki.  We saw quite a few deer and elk and a couple beavers. It was very busy up there in the Big Cimarron.  Lots of out of staters and Colorado folks too.  They are moving in cattle so we won't be seeing many elk much longer.  So far the best elk meadow doesn't have any, but it's a matter of time.  It was nice and cool up there, but we constantly had to roll up our windows due to so many passing us and the dust.  Folks sure are in a hurry...sad.  Nikon Z50 II

 May 30, 2026

These are just a few bird photos from the last week or so.  Joann took the one of the vulture.  I have my photo of him on an earlier post.  All taken with the Nikon P950.  

 May 29, 2026

Today was pretty warm...low to mid 80's.  This afternoon I headed up Dave Wood to the forest boundary to do some birding.  It's not usually good in the middle of the day, but I was wanting to get some woods time anyway.  There were birds around, but I couldn't get any open shots of any of them.  So, I settled for flowers and other stuff.  That was ok as it was so peaceful and it wasn't that hot up there.  The wind blew a bit and the clouds rolled around giving me shady breaks from the hot sun.  Of course, Dave Wood road was like a freeway and you could occasionally hear the noise from up there.  There are very few places you can go in Colorado anymore where it will be completely quiet.  If it's not people, it's jet noise or traffic noise.  It's just something we have to live with around here now.  I'm getting better at tuning out the peripheral noise, but it always rears its ugly head on the videos I shoot.  That's why my YouTube videos almost always have to use background music.  Anyway, it was refreshing and rejuvenating.  Praise the Lord that I can go to such places and relax and enjoy God's surroundings and Him too!  Nikon P950

Larkspur (locoweed)

Quaking aspen leaves in the breeze

I sit on a log here and enjoy the breeze and watch for birds.

Pokey things along the trail - be careful!

Fairy's Trumpet

 May 28, 2026

This morning we had eye checkup appts. All is good. Thank the Lord. This afternoon I headed up on the Uncompahgre for a hike. Joann was busy picking up her sister at the airport. I walked some closed logging roads off the Divide Road. I was going to go up Hwy 90 but it was very mucky with mag chloride. So I switched and went up Dave Wood. They were grading up there too…apparently they’re going to mag it AGAIN soon. I sure don’t like that corrosive concoction. Plus it has been proven that it gets into the water and even affects fisheries. It amazes me that they allow that on national forest lands???  Anyway I walked about 3.5 miles. I saw a couple elk and some turkeys. I heard my first Hermit Thrush of the year. Their song is my favorite bird song. It was pretty warm but some clouds and breeze made it ok. This evening the wind was blowing enough to keep the skeeters at bay, so we walked a couple miles. It was a great day. Nikon Z50II

 May 24, 2026

Another good day at church.  I love worshipping the Lord!  It was a warm day - low 80's.  This evening we headed up on Waterdog and Kinikin.  Nothing up there - not even a deer.  We then headed on up to P77 again.  We only saw one little buck up there.  We saw a vulture, which was pretty unusual.  We ran into Ryan on his way up.  He told us later that he saw quite a few elk and a couple new calves.  One calf appeared to have been hit by a car.  That's not a surprise as the Big Cimarron road has become a zoo with people driving fast on it.  It's especially busy this Memorial Day weekend.  We didn't even go on that road as we knew it would be no fun.  Why do people fly through God's creation?  Why go to the mountains if you're just going to race to your selfie spot and then race back.  Slow down and enjoy it.  Nikon Z50 II

 May 22, 2026

Just messed around home today and headed up P77 this evening.  We saw a lot of elk and deer.  Some of the cows are looking like they are going to have calves any day now.  One cow was quite the trouble-maker.  She was nipping at the others a lot.  It was quite cool up there, only around 50.  That obviously helped to get the critters moving early.  Thank you Lord for another great day in your creation.  NikonZ50 II & Nikon P950 straight out of camera.

 May 21, 2026

Today Allen and I went turkey hunting in Sanborn.  We took his Ranger.  We didn't see or hear any turkeys. We saw lots of elk and surprisingly mostly bulls.  They're looking very healthy after the mild winter.  It was pretty cool - low 50's and the wind was howling.  We couldn't have heard a turkey if it was sitting on our lap...haha.  It was a good blessed day!  Iphone 15pro

May 20, 2026

Today I went up Dave Wood and hiked around a bit.  I was mostly looking for birds.  I had a hard time getting the Panasonic G97 to focus on them for some reason.  I missed a couple good shots of a Stellar Jay and a Woodhouse Scrub Jay.  I saw a big pile of bear scat down in the bottom.  How soon we forget the nastiness of oak brush and mountain mahogany.  I decided to head straight up the hill from the bottom on what used to be a 'sort of' trail.  It was nasty.  That stuff grabs your clothes like it has hands.  Coming down I decided to come down the fence line - I hadn't done that in years either.  I'll never do it again.  It too was overgrown and very hard to get through.  There was a bit of wandering around as parts were totally impassable.  Thank you Lord for the day out and the lesson in patience!  Panasonic G97