BEAR #3, cows leaving?, and jeeping

Headline does not lie - ANOTHER BEAR! This time on our property and within sight of the house. This morning the scenario goes:
We look out our living room windows watching deer eating inside the fence and another group outside the fence. All of a sudden they all bolt, those inside leaping over the fence and all racing across the hill to the other woods. Mark says, "I think I'll look out the bathroom window to see what spooked them, maybe a bear." I snickered as he walked away. And then he called, "it IS a bear", and I ran in with the camera.Just outside our fence, and then it went back the other way deep in the woods. One very out of focus bad picture, but I'm putting it up anyway. Crazy year, before this summer we had seen a total of bear three times ever, and now we're three just this summer.

Bear is there - the black blob in the middle

Another jeeping trip yesterday. This was above Almont towards Flat Top winding through a maze of rough roads in sagebrush and cactus territory. Sooo, maps aren't always accurate, and roads aren't always where they're supposed to be. We were ready to find our shortcut which turned into, oh no, we're going to dead end into private property and the gates will be locked and we'll have to back track(You go through a lot of gates on these treks, to keep cattle in) We were within sight of Ohio Creek Rd and Eagle Ridge Ranch and just knew that we would get to the last gate and have to turn around. Hurray, it was unlocked and homebound we were. It would have been an extra 2 hours if we'd had to backtrack. Eagle Ridge must have an agreement with the national forest to have open access. Thank goodness.

rocks picked up there - sandstone and ?

The cows are leaving, maybe. Cowboys showed up late this afternoon to herd out about 50, a little less than a third of what's here. Doing it in stages this year? Not sure, but if they are leaving now, it's 3 weeks early. Everything was early this year, and all the local people you talk to are hoping and praying for a GIANT snow busting winter.

Early color, ya, ya, repeat. When I'm back with Tiffany and Penny in a week, it could be peak. Breathtaking is the only word for fall here. Books have not been priority recently, but did finish Martin Walker's Black Diamond. He is a terrific writer, longtime AP guy and recently turned to murder fiction. Good stuff.
Next post from baby territory in Virginia.