Trip to Jackson Hole

 

Amazing trip to Jackson Hole with friends Kim and Marcia. My first time. The mountains are breathtaking and the town is darling. Lots of laughter and fun was had.

Very cute place we stayed in -Parkway Inn. Everything was walkable from there and it had an enormous deck just for us.

Definitely a big play on the Wild West. In our short time we made the most of it and did lots of shopping, exploring, and eating.

Our last night was at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and dinner at their steakhouse. What a crazy hopping place! And yes the bar stools were all saddles. Super uncomfortable (at least for me) I'm no big horsewoman. Kim and Marcia had no problem of course.

Grand Teton National Park was truly breathtaking which gives me incentive to come back with Mark and do the whole area, which is Yellowstone as well. Somehow we've never made it over. Can't wait to come again!

Don and Roxanne visit

 We just had the most amazing week with our friends Don and Roxanne. They were first time visitors so we made sure we showed them everything. I'm pretty sure they went home and needed to rest. 

Killer hill from Mark's football days. Running 75yds wind sprints!

We jumped right in and started the whirlwind tour. Highlights included driving to Cumberland Pass, Taylor Reservoir, Paradise Cafe for breakfast, the CB farmer's market, dinner at Elk Prime for Father's Day, stopping by our alma mater Western Colorado University, visiting Gunnison's famous Traders Rendezvous (where purchases were made including cowhides and things) and the live concert series in Crested Butte on the lawn. And that was just the first few days!

on the way up to the summit before it got really cold

at the top with 50mph winds!

ended the jeep trip in Silverton - great lunch and shopping

And then there was the Alpine Loop jeep trip. Engineer Pass to be specific. It was amazing as always. I've never been this early with that much SNOW. The pass had only been opened the week before. Definitely required Mark's excellent jeep driving skills.

Last days spent CB shopping, eating (Camp 4 coffee, Two Twelve, Dogwood cocktails, and of course Secret Stash), and a last night at home including our neighbors and good friends for Mark's elk meatballs. What a wonderful week it was.

There were many animal sightings and gorgeous flowers all along the way too. I think Don and Roxanne are wild animal whisperers. Way too many photos for one post - see my previous post from yesterday for those.

Animals and Flowers bursting out in June

Whetstone Mountain

 Amazing summer happenings here at Star Mt. The wildflowers are in full bloom and wild animal sightings are everywhere. We've just come off a week with good friends from Naples visiting, and I have so many photos, I'm breaking this into separate posts.

the bear crossed over the road and I walked right in its path

Bear sightings galore! First, a very large black bear popped out while I was walking early one morning. You can see he ambled down the road to pass quite close to our back fence. I stayed quite far away and just used my zoom lens on my camera.

he's wet from getting out of the pond -photo by Don.

Mark and I saw two other bears between the two of us (no photos sadly) and then while taking friend Don on our ATV for a ride, Mark and Don saw this one at our pond. They are all black bear by designation but come in a variety of colors. Beautiful!

moose number 1

moose number 1 

moose number 2

Moose number 2

moose number 3

Onto the moose - as in plural. WOW is the reaction we all had. These were all sightings when taking our company, Don and Roxanne, around to see various places, so I have to think they had some sort of moose whisperer vibe going. Moose number one (juvenile) was on the paved back road to Crested Butte. Moose number two (another juvenile) was the same day on the way back into Crested Butte for dinner. Moose number three (adult male) was near Ouray and Silverton area a few days later.

glacier lily - a bear favorite 

sunflower

lupine

Columbine - Colorado state flower

photo by Don

Oh the flowers! The scope is hard to show but it is a magnificent display in every direction.

red fox with prey

doe

dusky male grouse - it's a fake "eye" to scare away from the nearby nest

Some more of our creatures on my morning walk.  I never know what I'm going to see. Makes it extra interesting to get out there.

And while these are not wild animals, I'm including them, as all the while we play,  the cowboys work their cattle around us. A slowly dying way of life. We are immensely lucky to have it in our area.  It's also a reminder our leased cattle will be descending on us soon in Star Mt. proper for the summer until October. The rancher is waiting for the larkspur to die down at Star Mt. which is a beautiful purple wildflower but poisonous to cattle.