Quiet on Mineral Farms Lane

The bears, turkeys, and mountain lion are nowhere to be seen, and I assume the bears are now hibernating, the turkeys taking off for warmer climes, and the lion doing his/her far-ranging life.  We're still seeing deer, of course, but the only time I've been wary is when one stared me down last spring on the road with her fawn in the brush.  How fast can one back away?

A few days ago, we met the new residents of 2 MFL (formerly James), Chimene and Arnold Fickert.  They are two doctors from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and they are planning on spending a good amount of time here.  Their main concern, after our warning about the really active wildlife, was the snow on the road, and we really couldn't allay their concerns since this is a new winter with fewer full-time residents.  They have been visiting friends here for over 10 years and are game for all hiking activities.  They have a dog, a Vizsla like Aaron and Marchelle's three. 

JP and Michelle (20) had two trees cut down today to maximize their pond view, and who can blame them?  The pond is gorgeous.

There are three ducks hanging around on the pond

Mike and I hiked the upper portion of Sutton Mine Trail Monday before the rain/snow came in.  For those of you who don't know, Veenstra's trail meets up with the Sutton Mine Trail at the overlook, which is where we started.  Mike had helped the Ouray Trail Group this past summer where portions of the trail had literally washed away, big gaping gullies where solid ground used to be.  Those areas were a bit tricky.  There were two small waterfalls, beautiful and unexpected, and lots of variety in the trail conditions, from dry to muddy, icy, and snowy.  And here I thought mud season was only in the spring.

Ice around the edges

This is the gully washout, trail on the left and right
and nothing in the middle

Lastly, I finally got to finish the Perimeter Trail.  I had done three-fourths of it when I sprained my ankle in May, and only the portion from the Baby Bathtubs to Camp Bird was remaining for me to do.  It did not disappoint.

We didn't get a lot of moisture yesterday,
but a cool photo of low-lying clouds in the canyon