I'm still recovering from my extended business trip to Puerto Rico.  While I was away it became fall in Colorado.  The hummingbirds are gone, the aspens have changed, and yes, we've already had some snow.  

The day after my return home my good friend Bernd arrived from Germany.  He is spending about 10 days in Colorado.  Our mutual friend Dave is getting married this weekend so there are lots of festivities planned which we've been enjoying. On friday night Bernd took me to dinner to celebrate my birthday.  We went to L'Atelier in Boulder.  On his plane trip from Munich his seat mate was the ever famous Radek, chef and owner of L'Atelier.  We received an invitation to dine at this amazing restaurant.  Our time was special, we were treated like honored guests, being treated to a premier table and sharing wine with Radek.  Later that evening good friends of Radek's arrived and joined us - and such a small world it is.  Paula from Sun, who I've been worked with since last fall was one of the friends!  That made our evening even better. 

 
Bernd has great luck in meeting people on airplanes.  That's exactly how we met 7 years ago....we were seat mates, and now dear friends!  He's my German Angel!

On Saturday he and I were both still suffering from the elevation but decided to take a hike to a summit near Mountain House.  We just took our time, walking slowly, stopping, chatting, and just enjoying the beauty.  Here is a picture of the valley from the summit.  Yes, taht is the Contintal Divide on the horizon.  What you are missing is the sound of the wind as it's coming over the rocks....can you say beautiful?

More to come....wedding festivities and parties galore! 

Skunks and Ground Squirrels..... Sounds like a repeat post!

Mountain Andy decided that skunk sounded good for dinner.  So, he ventured out and found one.  Brought it back on the deck and proceeded to enjoy a snack.  I'm glad I'm thousands of miles away till the smell dissipates.

And, a ground squirrel decided to make a cozy next under the hood of my car.  Mountain Guy popped my hood and found a delicately crafted winter nest made of Bear's dog hair (The Aussie who is smart enough to stay away from skunks!).  Good thing he had gloves on to remove it....the new homeowner was hiding in my car, and considered fighting for his home.  Mountain Mikey had a nice snack as well.

Kind of makes me hungry for lunch - NOT!   Here's me and the little carnivores - prior to any skunk interaction!

Tomorrow I head out to Raleigh.  My time at home has been short.  It was great to be home and check in on the pooches, hummingbirds and Mountain Hubby.  Today I was engulfed with work, laundry, packing and errands.  Unfortunately I did not plan well so no time on the mountain bike.  I did get to see the kiddo's in Boulder.  My 1 year old god child was excited to see me, as was her 4 year old brother.  

I also learned I sleep best in 50 degree temps.  Last night was my first really good nights sleep since I left on the business travel over 3 weeks ago.  In spite of the powerful air conditioning at the Ponce Hilton it just doesn't even come close to the cool, sweet, fresh mountain air of the Rockies.  Maybe I'll get two nights of over the top dream land quality sleep before I leave tomorrow.

I'm always amazed at the changes in vegetation in just a short period of time.  All the wild flowers that were in bloom when I left have now faded.  They have been replaced by equally splendid blossoms, with all the colors of the rainbow.  And, I was luck!  I got to sample a few of the early wild raspberries.  I'm thinking they may be spent by the time I get back in September, which made them all the sweeter.  I guess boo-boo will have more berries to eat as fall approaches.  

I got my dose Mountain sanity.  Yikes, the morning will come way to fast....

Today the Tree Guys arrived to take down a really big evergreen that had died quickly this spring.  The location of this tree, as well as the size, required professional intervention.

I was in a bit of a rush to have it taken down.  Last summer during a gale force wind storm I had healthy tress snapping.  Given this trees sat within falling distance of :

a) the house,

b) the bridge,

c) The truck, and

d)  the above ground gas tank (propane for heating the house)

I didn't have time to waste.  So, $700 dollars later, I am out of danger of going ka-boom during the next windy day. 

Yesterday I hiked to Blue Lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area.  In my humble opinion Blue Lake is one of the prettiest spots in Colorado.  I would never venture to call it, or anywhere, "the prettiest spot" because there are so many, but this would make the list.   The hike is relatively short, 2.5 miles one way, with an elevation gain of just over 800 feet.  Blue Lake sits at the base of Mt. Toll (elevation 12,979 ft).  Across the lake waterfalls cascade from the snow melt, and this high country body of water still has ice flows.  Blue lake is aptly named given it's deep sapphire color which I was unable to capture. 

Here's some of the details of the hike:  I arrived at the Trailhead mid-afternoon Sunday.  Rain and hail storms cleared out the Brainard Lake area prior to our arrival, which made parking easy, and the trails almost empty.   The first mile is wooded, wet and very lush.  The trees are healthy, the undergrowth full of ferns, wild flowers and small streams.  As I exit the forest we are on the banks of Lake Mitchell.  It's a large shallow body of water in a rocky basin. 

The trail then climbs through a rocky ravine (again full of wildflowers) and the trees become more sparse and gnarled.  As I climb higher branches only grow on one side of the tree due to the winds that blow off the divide almost non-stop.  Then, the trees stop being trees become bushes.

And, then I was almost at tree line, and the tundra.  The wildflowers are still profuse, and much smaller.  Below is a little bouquet, including White Indian Paintbrush.

I keep climbing.....:

Finally, I arrive at the lake.  My heart and spirit is light and bright.  Below is Me having a snack overlooking the lake and the ice flows:

In a previous post I mentioned the Mountain Cows which were tightly bunched.  Following my conversation with Mrs. Mountain Rancher I learned it was due to the bugs.  Based on my photo session with girls today it certainly made sense.  The flies and other pesky bugs were overwhelming on the t-bones and rib-eyes.....I would be willing to place my head near another cow's rump if it would offer me any relief if I were a cow.....ok, that is enough for now....this might be heading in the toilet, so to speak....

On my drive into town today I came across a beautiful fox using the road as his own personal path.  I slowed down and let him continue while I enjoyed looking at his lush thick red coat and bushy tail.  The fox finally got off the road, and stopped to check me out  as I was checking him out.  I got a picture of the fellow on my cell phone.  

I used to think "who needs a cell phone with a camera?  I've decided I "need" this feature.....I wouldn't consider getting a phone now that didn't offer a camera. My previous phone had one, and it was kind of fun, but I never figured out how to send the pictures from the phone.  (I know, can you believe they still keep me around at Sun?  What a technical dolt I am....good thing I have business acumen and project management skills!)  Regardless, not a bad shot considering I was leaning across the car to get this through the passenger window!

This morning we spotted the absolutely stunning Rufous hummingbird at the feeder.   They are a stocky hummingbird, and probably one of the most aggressive to birds of it's size, dominating all our broad-tails.  The males have an orange/copper iridescence on their throats.  The females are less dramatic in coloring, however do sport subtle hints of copper under their wings. 

It is believed they have the longest migration pattern of any bird in the world.  While difficult to document, the depart Mexico in the spring via the west coast, and head up to Brittish Columbia and Alaska for mating, and then head south inland, right through our property  (ok, maybe not all of them but every year starting about now we have one or two of these gorgeous at the feeder most times) as they head back home to their southern residences.  They are hard to photograph because they are really such head cases....obsessed with chasing the other100+ broad-tails or so away from the feeder.  It must be exhausting for them, and stressful. 

Here is the picture I got this morning as he was perched on a tree nearby. While not clearly focused, it shows the extraordinary brillance of this minature creature.

I had the pleasure and opportunity to speak with Mrs. Mountain Rancher today at the mailboxes (this is the place we most frequently see our neighbors).  I shared with her my amusement with this batch of cows, and asked her why they were always so tightly packed in a bunch.  I wondered if it was because they were (a) odd,  (b) scared in their new surroundings or (c) like this for some other cow reason.  If you guessed (c) you get the prize!  Yes, they stay tightly bunched to avoid the nagging insects.  

If you are a cow, and the bugs are bad, apparently it is good to be in the middle of the bunch, even if your head is right in front of another cows butt (with all that goes on there)  because of the tail flicks.  The tail flicks from your neighbor will help keep your face bug free (given they don't have hands to swat them), while your tail is keeping your butt bug free (say that fast three times, I dare you) and your buddy's face free of the annoyances.

And, no, I haven't been drinking as I write this post.  Nor any prescription narcotics......

Between conference calls today I took a drive to the mailbox.  Before you jump to conclusions that I'm to lazy to walk to the end of the driveway, let me advise that said box is over a mile (approximately 1.6 km for my non-US readers) from the house....it's not at the end of the drive, and not even on our road! 

I grabbed the camera as I was heading out the door.  I wanted to share the view from the meadow just up the road of our place - and the views of the Continental Divide - that continue to cause me to pause and be thankful any time I head out from Mountain House.

The meadow is ranched by a Mr. and Mrs. Moutain Racher who have lived up here for quite awhile.   Each summer a herd of young cows arrive, spend the summer chowing down on the mountain grasses and clovers, and are carted away in the fall for you-know-where.  While I am not a vegetarian I still have a huge soft spot for any animal.  I love watching the cows - they are not overly smart animals (I'm sure there are exceptions).  The herd this year is really funny.  They have acres and acres to roam, yet they have remained in a tight bunch.  Literally, it would be difficult to walk through the herd as tightly as they are packed. 

A couple of days ago I  parked on the road to say hi to the girls.  While cows can sometimes be very curious, this group takes the cake.  They were still in their tight little crowd, but they were pushing and shoving to get to the fence to check me out.  I call them each my name - but the conversation goes something like my Mountain Lion Encounter:

Me:  Hiya Sweetie #72

Cows:  Chew, blink

Me:  #56 isms gonna make good t-bones

Cows:  Chew, blink

Me:  Fatten yourself up pretty #7

Cows:  Chew, blink

You get the idea.  Aren't you glad you read to the end of this??  Yup, you an now say, that chick is really just a 'bit' different....  

We have a very healthy, large group of Ground Squirrels (not to be mistaken with chipmunks) that live at Mountain House.  These furry rodents spend the spring, summer and fall months eating and hoarding as much food as possible to get them through the winter.   Our seed feeders provide these critters an unending source of yummy delicacies.  By this time of year we have some really chunky ground squirrels, and by fall they will be waddling. 

Mountain Mikey is a hunter.  He frequently augments his diet of kibble and healthy scraps with rodents. Like this morning.  This is when I learned Ground Squirrels "crunch" when they are eaten.  I  should probably get him some floss.....

On a short walk to the meadow I noticed a profusion of new wildflowers that weren't in bloom late last week.  I turned around and grabbed the camera - here are some of the new beauties.  I don't know all the names, but hopefully my friend Dora can enlighten me (again!).  

This beauty will wake you up!

Oh so delicate:  

 Funky:

 Some kind of wild Mountain Orchid - very unusual:

 Wild Geranium: 

Hardy Looking:

More delicate flowers:

 And, a fuzzy blue snapdragon kind of plant.  I need to re-shoot this one:

As I mentioned in my previous post the wildflowers are in full bloom at Mountain House.  The season starts as early as April, and runs through the end of July.  The variety is broad, and many of these plants appear to be fragile, however I believe appearances must be deceiving.  To survive and thrive here they must be hearty.  They live in questionable soil conditions (hello, it's not called the Rocky Mountains for nothing!!) and moisture is undependable.  Temperatures can range from blizzard like one day, to scorching the next.  We are blessed with a natural garden of subtle color, clinging to the rocky soil.  We have a compliment of colors - reds, yellows, pinks, whites, purples, blues and orange.  All of this against a back drop of pine needles, mountain grasses, and shimmering aspen leaves.  Yup, left to her own devices Mother Nature creates a beautiful canvas.

Here are some of the pictures I captured earlier today.  I wish they could do justice:

 Wild Rose (we have these all over and they line the driveway - stunning when they all pop, which should be soon!)

 Columbine (the state flower seems to thrive best in the shade):

Indian Paintbrush (we have only red at Mountain House, but the come in every color imagineable):

The rest I don't know the names of, so here is a White Flower:

    and an Orange Bunch:    and Blue:

 And three different Yellow varities;

No, not scat, but two old tree stumps destroyed.  Bears are always hungry, and will eat most anything.  Yogi or Boo Boo had a delicious meal of bugs and other crawly things in the stumps.  Both stumps were quite large, well over a foot and a half in diameter.  All that's left now is sawdust, as seen below and a small pillar with burrowing lines made by the former residents.  We aren't sure why the bear(s) didn't open up the stump to the right...maybe there weren't any crunchy critters inside?

 Here's the second one leveled in the foreground of the barn:

As I said earlier we usually spend most summer evenings marveling at the hummingbirds.  Mountain Hubby took some shots tonight of the hummers on my fingers using them as perches to feed.  I wish I could package the strong breeze these little miracles create as they hover around my body preparing to land, or to chase away a hummer at the spot they want.  Here is one of our magic mountain moments tonight, almost live!  

Evenings at Mountain House are magical this time of year.  The full contingent of Broad Tailed Hummingbirds are out in force.  The thirsty miniature marvels are voracious feeders.  They consume about 36 ounces of nectar a day from our two feeders.  They feed constantly through out the day, but at dusk we watch in awe as the feeding frenzy commences.  

At night Mountain Hubby and I eat our dinner and don't leave the table until after dark.  We sip some wine, and enjoy the jousting, acrobatics and interaction between the birds.  Their trilling as they fly is like music to us, and wings beat so quickly they are a blur.  The personalities are so different.  The mature females are pretty unflappable.  They take a perch and drink ignoring all the activity.  After all, these mommies have a clutch of babies to care for and can't partake in all the foolishness.  The mature males are cocky, and argumentative with each other.  They are easily distracted by any other male and frequently put on amazing displays of aerial acrobatics for us.  The new juveniles, babies from this year are tentative, and very confused.  They sometimes hover over another bird, dipping their beak into the feeder as a more mature female pulls hers out for a breather.  We saw one poor little guy trying to feed our of the seed feeder, hovering around the perches and hoping to extract nectar from the sunflower seeds. 

This morning when I re-filled the feeder I left my hand on the base.  The hummers are not bashful, they rush up to eat as soon as I have the feeder out the window.  I had the pleasure of a hummer sit on my finger as she gulped her breakfast.  Yup, life is good.

Below:   a dusk jousting match and feeding frenzy.  Check out the two guys below the big feeder, to the right of the small feeder

Yogi Bear decided to visit Mountain House tonight.  This young black bear sauntered down the rocky face and headed up the driveway around to the back of the house.  About this time Mountain Andy and Mountain Mikey (aka Macho Macho Dogs) decided it was time to defend their territory.  Mountain Andy came round the house in full Macho mode.  The bear, if he chose to, could kick the Macho Dogs biscuits, but he opted to lope off up the hill away from the duo.  Lots of doggie testosterone in the air tonight.

It all happened to quick for a good photo.  Maybe next time.

One of the "features" of living 1.5 miles above sea level is that in addition to snow and rain, we get hail, and sometimes lots of it.  Today, amid the thunder and lightening we were pumelled with hail.  The pea sized bits of ice poured from the sky making one heck of a racket on the roof, pinged off the windows and bounced like jumping beans on the deck.  At the end of the event it had appeared we had a freak snowstorm. 

While I know hail is not a new phenomenon to those of us that live closer to either pole or high above sea level, it might be interesting to those readers who live closer to the equator or in the tropics.  I couldn't resit taking a picture once the worst of the storm was over. 

It's cold - brrr!  Pretty nifty, but it can damage roofs, cars, crops, or your head.  Boink!

I have the good fortune to have the very beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park in our back yard.   I opted to drive Trail Ridge Road, the highest paved road in any US national park at 12,183 feet above sea level.  The road climbs from meadows at about 8000 feet and winds through heavily wooded areas.  Slowly the trees become smaller and gnarled.  Branches only grow on one side due to the wind.  The air becomes thinner.  Soon, you are above tree line, climbing though the high alpine tundra.  It is evident that park service worked hard to get the road open, as in many spots they cleared the road of 4 feet of snow. 

 The views are spectacular - sheer cliffs, craggy peaks, sun streaking through the clouds.  I was happy to see so many out of state license plates on the drive.  I'm always glad to see people enjoying our national parks.  After all, all of us in the US pay for them through our taxes.  I did feel for some of the drivers.  On some of the scarier parts of the drive above timberline the van from Florida crept along, driving in the center of the road, straddling the center line until they were forced into their own lane by oncoming traffic.  Same as a few other carloads. 

 Wildlife is abundant. You would be hard pressed to not see a large herd of elk on your visit.  This time of year they are molting, loosing all that winter fur.  As I dropped down the western side of trail ridge road I had an opportunity to view 4 young moose as they were enjoying fresh young greens in a marshy meadow.  The 4 appeared to be yearlings off on their own for the first time.  You could clearly see the start of the massive antlers the boys will be sporting.  They didn't may much attention to us gawkers, the salad bar was too enticing.

This is a young male.  You can tell by the "bell" hanging from his chin.  When he is full grown he will weigh between 1200-1600 lbs, and be over 6 feet tall at the shoulder.  They are massive animals. 

This has been a busy week for furry rodents.  Last night while Mountain Hubby was enjoying the Hockeyplay offs he had a unique experience with a baby mouse jumping into his lap.  No, he wasn't watching the game outside, or in a tent, but in our family room.  The Mountain Bichons (yes, this is an oxymoron) were lounging on the couch, and were useless in fending off this little creature.  

Given we live in the rural mountains it's no surprise to get a mouse in the house.  It is however a big shock  to have one sit with you. The little guy was terrified, but still managed to out maneuver Mountain Hubby and escape into a large closet leading to the crawl space.  We're sure he'll be back.  

A couple of years ago we had a serious problem with mice - climbing in the washing machine tub during the cycle.  Yes, in the machine, not under, or behind, or on top of the machine.  This was a far more challenging issue.  Have you ever seen a mouse after it's gone through a spin cycle?  All I can say is "ewwww".
 

Yesterday a large furry rodent ran in front of my car as I was heading to the mailboxes.  I pulled off to the road for a better look, and I was entertained by a colony of yellow belly marmots playing on some rocks.  Marmots are about the size of a large house cat, but more closely resemble a woodchuck.  Marmots are very vocal creatures, calling out to alert the colony of danger.  When in the Rockies you are much more likely to hear marmots, as opposed to seeing them.

While enjoying my first con call of the morning, the terrorists terriers spotted the local elk herd crossing the our property about 150 yards from the house.  Off they went, sounding the alarm, "we've been infiltrated!!".    Phew, success, they split the herd, encouraged them to leave our property, and returned strutting to the deck, to bask in sun, and review their heroic efforts of protecting Mountain House from the evil elk....

Woopsie, while basking in their glory, Mountain Andy and Mikey missed the balance of the herd "sneaking" across the drive....

I usually don't "break" for lunch when I work from home.  I'll head into the kitchen to fix something, and eat while I work.   Today an unusually large brazen black squirrel with ear tufts was playing on the deck just off my work space. This brave stupid feisty critter was
having a great time annoying the terriers. 

The squirrel knows he is faster than the boys, and was willing to get within in 3 feet of the fellows.  It think some day this activity may cost Blackie his life....Mountain Andy and Mountain Mikey are extremely stubborn and determined, evidenced by the skunk they caught a few weeks ago.  Eau d'Skunk didn't deter them from their mission. 

A rite of passage signaling the transition from Winter to Spring at Mountain House is the arrival of the hummingbirds who have been vacationing in Mexico.  The colorful Broad-Tailed birds (and a few stray Rofous) typically arrive to our area in the Colorado Rockies early to mid May.  They return year after year to the same place, so it's a bit like a noisy family reunion.

This year we had some early arrivals.  I captured the image of one feeding this morning from my work area at home.  I'm sure the little buggers (3.1 - 3.6 grams) are not pleased with the heavy wet snow we received earlier this week.

 The little wonders are very busy once they arrive.  First they need fuel (1 part white sugar to 4 parts water) after the lengthy transcontinental journey.  After the sugar fix they begin searching for a mate, build a next, and raise the babies.  As summer draws to an end the ranks slowly diminish with the males heading back to Mexico for some well earned beach time and Tequila, then the females take off, and last but not least the juveniles born from the summers' couplings. 

Based on the amount of sugar water they consume we think we host somewhere in excess of 200 birds.  Dusk and dawn result in feeding frenzies that would put the most ravenous school of sharks to shame.  Diving and dodging, all while trying to negotiate a perch.  Sometimes I need to shut the windows to hear on a conference call.  Here is a close up of a male taken last summer. 

 More to come, I'm positive, on Hummers....

It's a quiet morning in Mountain House.

Mountain Maggie is exhausted this morning. Life up here can be tiring! 

 I'm excited - busy day ahead.  Getting ready for out teams first face to face meeting ever.  We've been an intact work group for almost 3 years now  - 21 years in Sun Life - and this is our first ever.  Given the high concentration of us in Broomfield only 3 members are traveling.  And, for me, 3 straight days on campus. 

I think I  need to make a list of things I must do first thing in the morning before driving down the mountain -

1.  shower, wash and style hair

2.  brush teeth and attend to other personal grooming actions

3.  dress in non-yoga or non-fleece clothing

4.  find "real" shoes

5.  leave the house by 7 am.   

 Oh dear, maybe I better lay everything out tonight......