All things four footed and gorgeous scenery

Clouds and rain at Star Mt.

Big animal doings going on. Fall is most definitely with us and we're observing the changes. Ground squirrels gone underground, chippies frantically gathering food (including roots and flowers from our pots on the deck), hawks and eagles soaring over hill and dale, deer and elk moving, munching, mating, all headed towards winter. Had our first freezing temp two nights ago. It's actually quite late, with our local professor expert saying we are 10 degrees above normal in our lows for Sept and fall color is late, while last year was early. Rain? Hmm.

a few days ago on Ohio Creek - there's a huge bull elk out of sight (his harem)

 elk down our hill this morning

buck with his harem - in our yard

eating the last of our wildflowers

out the front door this morning -weasel after the chippies

Marched off for another day sightseeing trip. This time Lake City to Creede to South Fork to Cochetopa Pass and back. Fun stuff and yet another lovely restaurant,The Far Dog for lunch. Creede is tiny, with cute shops and a theatre. We caught it with a car show down Main street and the last week of restaurants open. We also saw where there was a forest fire close by, and a major area of beetle kill. Quite devastating, 30 years for recovery I think.

Giant beetle kill in the background, happily hard to see

the best shrimp and grits

and we end with buffalo

We are trying to see as many friends as we can before the season winds down, and we actually fly to Reston for a quick Penny trip this coming weekend, which cuts into the time we have left before leaving for Naples. And Mark has a business trip (or two) thrown in for good measure. All good stuff, life just moves at supersonic speed most of the time.