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Spring news

 We have two geese making their home on the upper pond, and as a result, there is a lot of goose poop on the dam road.  It seems a small price to pay for such interesting visitors.  The number of crawdad carcasses seems to be diminishing, but maybe the live ones have just gone deeper.  There have been no dead fish seen - yay! After much work on the spillway, the leak continues.   Maybe someone visiting this summer will be able to figure it out.  In the meantime, Mike thought he had spotted some algae on the spring stream feeding into the pond, so we went to scoop it out.  Turns out it's mostly grass, and we scooped out as much as we could.  The stream otherwise looks healthy. Mike and I hiked the Perimeter Trail from the Visitors Center to Cascade Falls last week, and it's completely clear of snow.  The Ouray Trail Group had done a lot of work on that section earlier in April, and even though Mike talked me through what they had done, I ...
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On Veenstras' trail

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Mike and I walked up the trail this morning.  This is when I miss Mirabella the most.  She would have been lying in the few patches of snow around, frolicking and splashing in the swampy area, and going off on adventures only she understood.  She was definitely the ringleader as Dempsey goes with us, but he doesn't go far from the trail.   New snow on Abram The wildflowers are starting to bloom all the way up to the overlook.   buttercup field of pasqueflowers pasqueflower  mountain pennycress I got a video from Barb today.  It's from their webcam at their house here, and it shows two big bears meandering across their front yard.  Aaron reports he's only seeing foxes on their webcam.  We saw no evidence of bears on the trail, but the voles are building underground cities.
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Happy May Day

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 It's a gloomy, rainy day, rain in the forecast for the next five out of six days.  I'm not complaining. Mike and Aaron, along with our Ouray friend Mike Pelkey, have been working on the pond issues.  Pelkey is an engineer and has owned ponds - even had one dam fail when it overran its banks.  They've been digging and looking, trying to figure out where the leak is and what to do about not finding the source.  Three holes have been dug, and we're going to try some QuikCrete and some gel-type product to seal up some concrete cracks.  Aaron and Marchelle's contractor, Bumper, has suggested dumping in a load of sand and then pouring concrete or bentonite on top of it.  They are trying everything they can to avoid draining the pond.   I got an email yesterday from Ouray County about the rockfall in the narrows:  Rockfall mitigation is complete.  Next, Ouray County Road & Bridge Department will commence clearing debris from the road ...
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Fish have arrived!

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 I was lucky enough to be able to see the delivery this year, and the delivery man had a lot of interesting information.  I did not know that trout eat crawdads - yay!! - and that once the fish is filleted, if you see reddish tones, that means that fish has been feasting on them.  He also took the temperature and oxygenation levels of the pond - 54 degrees and 120% oxygenation, which he proclaimed perfect for the fish.   Mike has had an engineer friend over to look at the leakage in the pond.  It is very low, and there are leakages on both sides of the spillway.  Additionally, the concrete blocks in front of the spillway are separated and movable.  Assessments will continue. I've gone through a 25-pound bag of fish food and picked up another 50-pound bag today.  However, now that I know there is food in the form of crawdads available, I won't be so paranoid about missing a day.
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Seasonal attitude adjustment

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 I try very hard to have a sense of humor about tourists and their very bad driving, and this is the time of year I need to gear up and do some deep breathing - ohmmmm.  It's the unnecessary braking around curves and erratic speeds that do me in.   The county is working on the road closure above us in the narrows.  Supposedly, tomorrow they will be blasting rock.  There has been no estimate of when the road will be open. I've started feeding the fish, and it's the typical frenzy.  There are at least 20 dead crawdads on MFL and the dam road, so I have texted Barb and Steve that they need to come RIGHT NOW and set traps.  I know it's a dog eat dog world, and the crows need to eat, but I really don't want to see it in my face.  I am so grossed out. We're now able to see what the road damage is that I mentioned earlier.  There is a big crack in the road, and there is no news as to when they plan to fix it...or how.  For now, it is down ...
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Sun then sick then snow

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 Mike and I had the most wonderful time in Florida with Barb and Steve, sun and greenery - no mud! - and fabulous food and conversation.  We are so grateful for their invitation, and I'm willing to share all the details with anyone who asks. fun boat! Hibiscus in the yard the most amazing iris  we don't see these in Ouray! I started getting a cold last Saturday morning when we left Florida for home, and it escalated quickly.  I'm finally starting to get my energy back. We had four and a half inches of snow yesterday and two and a half more this morning.  It's cold today, but yesterday's didn't stick on the road.  Our total for the year is 137.5.
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Mud season - ugh

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 The snow is melting, the roads are horrid, but the tourists haven't descended yet.  I think we have another month of calm.   Update on the closure of Camp Bird Road at Senator Gulch:  the county was going to contract with a company to do mitigation, taking down imminent rockfall and repairing the road, but I've not seen nor heard anything that suggests it's started.  This could impact traffic on Camp Bird Road in a good way for us but not so good for people wanting to go over to Telluride the hard way. Mike and I are heading to Hobe Sound, Florida on Tuesday to visit Barb and Steve for a few days.  We deliberately chose this time so as to get away from the mud.   I have a flower on my geranium!
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