And all the magic of the mountains

We're in the peak of summer now. Celebrations everywhere, out of town people crowding the sidewalks, and spectacular weather. Who wouldn't want to be here? As a matter of fact, I have company coming in a week. My watercolor artists group from Florida. So excited to show them all that is. There will be painting, jeeping, eating, shopping, and much fun to be had.

Amazing jeep trip up Brush Creek.  Wonderful views in every direction and the flowers are not even peak yet. It's a very well used trail by jeep and mountain bikes alike (and some horses).

Marmot - not thrilled he's eating my flowers

This is what I've resorted to to keep Mr. Marmot OUT -sharp tips may work

The animal sightings for the week. As you can see the fawns have started to appear. I've seen 3 more since the first. And the cattle are officially in, as in where all our homes are. Oh the joys of manure. What you do not see are any photos of hummingbirds. They are almost non existent, at least on our feeders. They are still turning up their noses at sugar water. Wildflowers win out.

The annual hot air balloon fiesta on July 4th from afar as we headed into Crested Butte for breakfast. We opted out of attending the 6am start this year. Been two years in a row...

The waterfall roaring as we've never seen it.

Skiers! My great zoom lens again- this was  a massive distance away.

Glacier Lilies - early wildflowers, a favorite of bears.

Ohio Pass is finally open. Our massive snowfall this winter caused many passes to open late and rivers continue to overrun. Wow. Lots of snow still up the pass and we actually saw skiers way up high, in July, crazy. There were a number of places that avalanches came down. The power of the snow is astonishing.

Colombine - Colorado state flower

The flowers continue in magnificent display. Amazing place we're in. Mark flies out tomorrow, boo, but back in three weeks. He's back to stifling Florida to work.

I haven't mention the book recently, but it's all coming together. Formatting and cover design are happening now. Pretty intense this process, but so very exciting. I'll be back with a launch date soon. Amazon here we come--

Moose, Bear, Bucks, and heavenly weather

What a wild week! Animal sightings galore, gorgeous weather, no more freezing craziness, and boy, have the out of town people shown up. Our area is definitely on more people's radar these days, probably because Vail properties bought out Crested Butte Mountain ski resort. That's a big deal around here.

We made a drive up to Taylor Reservoir. It's especially beautiful at this time of year with snow still on the peaks. The dam is letting out a ferocious amount of water which is keeping Taylor river extremely high.

And the moose rules

The moose! We came around a bend on the other side of Taylor Reservoir and boom there they were- two males, one clearly much younger. The only other moose I've ever seen was a female, and that was 6 years ago. They are huge animals and these paid no attention to all of us who wildly stopped to get photos.

Hog trough below the dam. Lots of people fishing as usual. It's one of the few places fishermen, fisherpeople?, can get in right now. There are monster size fish in there and it's firmly catch and release only.

Bear! I was actually out doing my early morning walk and thank goodness, always have my camera with me. While I've seen a number of bears over the years, it's been a very long time since I was out there up close and personal. This bear wasn't concerned about me at all, and as it got closer I did back up still snapping away of course. It's not as close to me as it looks - that's the fabulous zoom on my compact camera. This is exactly why I mostly stopped using my phone for photos. Can't do this...

These are two different views of the same sunset from the front and back of the house. Crazy different look, right?

Come on in boys

This group of bucks have been coming by multi days and they are using our under deck deer spa. Pretty sure they're the same ones that have come back for some shady siesta the last few years.

Montanya

Soupcon

Made our trek to Crested Butte to Montanya for a pre-dinner rum drink before reservations at magical Soupcon. After the change of ownership last year, and a slightly less than perfect meal, we were a little anxious over how it would go. Back to fabulous I'm happy to report. The long time sous chef has come back as an owner so perhaps that had something to do with the great food.

Freezing temps, snow on high, and magnificent sunsets

Craziness in weather here. New snow! At least up on the peaks. Verdant green fields surrounded by fluffy ice white peaks. Really spectacular. But June 22...are you kidding?

Drove into CB for breakfast. Busier than this looked.

Drove into CB for breakfast to celebrate Mark's return. They got the dusting of snow on the peaks as well. He's here for 2 weeks again before going back to Miami. Back and forth all summer - a good way to get whiplash.

Before the front came in I was out enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck with my friend, daddy bluebird. There's a nest underneath the deck and we're all awaiting the little cheep cheeps.

Water is still very high most everywhere. This is Ohio Creek, normally a meandering peaceful kind of stream.

Wild Iris

More wildflower pics. Good thing I took these when I did. The iris are almost done as of this morning, and the sunflowers may have taken a frost hit last night. It was 31 at our house.

The Castles a day apart.

Every summer the sunsets are breathtaking. This was last night a few minutes apart. We'll just be a hangin' around this gorgeous place.