Connie in Ouray

 It feels like Mineral Farms Lane is full up, lots of coming and going.  Dempsey has finally calmed down to the point where he doesn't bark at every vehicle coming up the road.  Ten months of the year, nothing much happens up here, so it's different for him. Mag chloride was put down just before 4th of July.  The road is now pretty dustless and in a nice, smooth condition.   We've been in a dry spell for the past month or so, but the forecast is showing the monsoons kicking in next week.  The ponds are still draining in a big way.  It is still green, green, green. And speaking of full up, the town of Ouray is craziness!  Camp Bird Road down by the Via Ferrata and Sutton Mine Trails is always jam packed, as are the two parking lots for Via Ferrata and razr/jeep staging.  Tourists are on the move. Some photos: View above and below from Ridgway Music Series I've been hearing this referred to as an albino columbine True state flowers in the ...

The tourists are here, in all their different and often irritating styles.  Recent examples: Mike and I were coming down Camp Bird Road, and when we got close to the Sutton Mine trailhead, an SUV was backing down the road...in the middle of the road...and not very well.  I am a terrible backer, so I know bad when I see it.  As they were veering left and right backing downhill, of course, another car came up the road, and now the SUV was blocking everything.  It was so tempting to get out and offer to take over, but they finally pulled over on the mountain side.  They were scared! Last week, I followed a Razr coming down Camp Bird Road, so on the safe mountain side, going five mph and braking the entire way.  I can't figure that out at all. And last weekend, I followed a Jeep up the road, which was taking its half out of the middle and in the oncoming lane.  I get that it can be scary, but it was going around blind corners in the wrong lane. All this sa...

 It's a gloomy Saturday morning, and it's been this way for a few days now.  The ponds are full, the outlets are gushing, the fish are well.  We'd been hearing loud water-sounding noises from the pond, and we initally thought the aerators had gone rogue.  But no!  There's a waterfall between Aaron and Marchelle's house and David and Faith's.  I climbed back there - well, because I could - and I found it, along with bear poop.  There's a surprise - not.  Anyway, water, water everywhere. Ridgway Reservoir is filling up fast, and we could tell that it was going to happen because the Uncompaghre north of the reservoir went down significantly in volume.    We're seeing paddleboards, sailboats, and kayaks, but that water must be so cold since it's almost all snowmelt. Greg and I went to Box Canon Falls last week.  I was curious about volume and the new structure that had opened near the bottom to allow closer contact with the falls. ...

My mom used to quote this ditty every spring, and the grammarian in me cringes each time I hear it, "Spring has sprung, the grass has ris, I wonder where the flowers is."  Ugh.  However, it is appropriate for what's happnening on MFL.  The aspens are almost completely leafed out, and the dandelions are in full bloom.  My dad used to call them "the children's flower," which gives me a whole different perspective. Walking up Veenstras' trail earlier this week, we found lots of plants blooming, and at the overlook, the cacti are getting ready to bloom - such a treat. Cinnamon the bear made his/her presence known at our house this week by knocking over one of my favorite pots on the deck and breaking it.  This was around midnight.  From the way the pot landed, the bear had to have either been walking on the railing or climbing up to the deck.   It really doesn't matter.  He/she hasn't been around the past week, so I'm hoping our joint efforts to ...

 Those of us in residence have found ourselves in the middle of a rogue bear situation.  Barb (3) has been keeping us all apprised of the goings-on, and Colorado Fish and Wildlife has been out.  Greg had his first bear sighting last night around 10 p.m. when the bear triggered the outdoor lights on our breezeway, and he spooked it away.  He said the lights didn't come on after that.   Now that it's gotten more aggressive in breaking and entering, we're pulling in our hummingbird feeders at night. We also have a resident turkey.  Marchelle had spotted it a week or so ago, and Mike sees it in the early morning in front of our house.  I saw it this morning casually walking up Jason's (15) driveway.   The first year we were here, there were four of them. it's a good time to remind everyone that Ridgway Reservoir is first and foremost a water management tool.  I know it's upsetting to see it drained and boats not being able to get in and...

 We finally made it all the way up the trail to the overlook yesterday, and we saw so many sights along the way.  But first, my happy place: There are still areas of snow, enough for Mirabella and Dempsey to lie down in and get snowcones.  My girl will find the last little bits of snow until it's all gone, and then she will be sad.  Because of the snow still on the trail, there are rivers of water coming down and mud, mud, mud.  Fortunately, Dempsey didn't lie down in the mud puddles, as he loves to do.  We're of course not out of the woods, literally, on that, but Mike has the hose hooked up for dog rinsing. We saw bear prints in the snow, huge prints.  They were heading uphill, luckily, and I was for once smart enough to bring our bear horn.  There weren't any sightings on our part, but I would bet they saw us. There were four to five new trees down on the trail.  Mike was thrilled, of course, because he'll get to take his chain saw and cle...

 On our way home from Ouray last night, we came across a yearling bear scampering across MFL near the Fickerts' driveway.  It was heading down towards Barb and Steve's.   We've been seeing signs for the past few months, specifically poop on the road, but this is our first live sighting. The pond is very full, as full as we've seen it, and the little spillway is doing its job.  We've been seeing lots and lots of crawdads/crayfish/mudbugs - whatever you want to call them - in various forms, alive, dead, swimming, more than we've ever seen before.  I think they're creepy.  We've been wondering if foxes, which are still doing their screeching thing at night, or bears or coyotes are feasting on them.  Hard to believe, but I haven't studied up on what those animals eat. The fish that were delivered last week seem to be thriving and alive.  I've been feeding them once a day, and I still find it hilarious to watch them grab the feed. And I have a daf...