Me and Dude take a hike

It sure seems like we hike a lot, huh? Well, we kind of do. We have a dog to exercise and rather than walking a dog around the neighborhood like city folk would do, walks here are hikes. So we hike a lot. We’d hike more if the neighbor puppy didn’t come tire Dude out, but it’s sure nice to ensure he’s exhausted without doing a damn thing (except sending a text up the hill).

Anyway, Erik was traveling in May to Cheyenne, Wyoming, sexy I know. This was his second trip up there to help with some research trials. It was a quick trip, but I needed to get Dude out. One night we went to a trail near our house to do the 3/4 mile loop. It’s a pretty easy trail with some decent views.

The next day we did a different trail not too far from home. This one has a lot of rock outcroppings and Dude loves to climb rocks, so I got some fun photos of him being the king of the world. My favorite was with the spring runoff, there was a seasonal stream running. It’s no longer there, but was beautiful while it was.Here are some photos from our hikes together. He’s such a good guy.

May hike to the top of the world

The bad part about having a blog is when you get busy, you don’t post, but in that busyness there is a lot to post about.

So sometime in May – let’s call it early May – yes i think that’s right, we hiked to what felt like the top of the world. It totally wasn’t, but it was the highest we’ve been (altitude, not pot). We have met a couple here and done some stuff together, so one weekend, the weather was turning nice and we decided to do a group hike. They have been here longer so we let them choose the trail, which was nice because we hadn’t been anywhere near the one they chose. We met at the park-n-ride in town and followed them up. And up it was. We drove up Caribou Rd for like 15-20 minutes. We had no idea how far we had to go, but the views were fun and it was kind of a neat road because it was gravy, narrow and no guardrails. Finally we got to a parking area/trailhead. Unfortunately, there was way more snow than they expected. We weren’t really dressed for so much snow, but we went anyway. The beginning part was hilly and forested. Then we climbed up to what could be a meadow, but there was so much snow it was just a big open white area. The interesting part was it felt like I could just reach up and grab the clouds – they seemed so low. From there, we headed up. And it was tough, especially with three or more feet of snow and the occasional step sunk way down. It was like treading on uneven ground, being careful to step in the footprint of the person in front of you, nervous about sinking deep and at the same time trying to look around and enjoy the views.

The day was warm(ish) and the sun was hot, but there was  so much snow it was almost strange. 

Finally, we reached the final steep descent and climbed to the top, wearily. It was beautiful – the continental divide was just right there. The blue skies, clouds, sun – amazing. Here is a 360 video of the top. 

Dude and Yoda, the other couples’ dog, enjoyed frolicking up on the top of the hill.

We rested for a bit and then headed down. The problem with inclines like this is the downhill hike sucks just as much as the uphill – just different kinds of suckiness. We made it down to the car and were just exhausted.

We got home and Dude was so tired, he didn’t even make it in the house before he crashed.

This was the hike that told us we weren’t quite in hiking shape yet. We napped and rested all afternoon, we were just beat! Erik got a bit of a sunburn and burnt his eyeballs, so note to self, always bring sunglasses especially when it’s snowy and sunny!

Ok, I’ll do my best to get more updates up in the coming days! Hope you all are doing well.

 

Magical sunsets

My iPhone is perfect to capture memories and simply do blog posts, but, it just doesn’t quite capture the beauty if our surroundings. Here was a lovely sunset earlier this week.

An Elk Attack

For those of you who saw my Facebook post yesterday, you know what’s coming.
It was early afternoon and we were both in our offices, working away. Suddenly, something in the backyard caught my eye. I usually catch glimpses of swaying grasses or frolicking squirrels, but this was big. It was as if my brain and eyes were working in slow motion. Once I finally realized what was going on (there were animals!), it took what seemed like forever to assign the label of elk to what I was seeing. I could almost watch the sensory information move through my brain and back. It was crazy. Once I realized what was going on and knew what they were, I had to muster the wherewithal to yell to Erik. I shouted something about window and elk and Erik shouted back to take a video. I scrambled to find my phone under papers on my desk, but by the time I opened the app and prepared to video, the excitement was over. This herd was moving very quickly. It was a full sprint through the yard and I missed it. They stopped in our yard, but deep into the trees. Here is a funny video of Erik explaining what just happened:

They hung out for a couple minutes – we both we in shock over the situation – and then they started to move again. This video shows them moving and captures a lot of great footage:

After the scare and splitting of the group, the big group that remained sauntered up the hill a bit and landed right outside Erik’s office window. I took about 30 pictures hoping to get some gems. The one at the beginning of this post was taken during that time. So was this one: They stood there for at least 10 minutes, eating snow, scratching an itch on the neck and just looking around. It was interesting that it appeared some of the older elk stood guard. They were in a circle and looking in various directions, but the guards were a couple feet outside the herd, looking outward and remaining very still. It was quite interesting to watch. Then they started moving again, this time around the front of the house. We took a video of that too:
They came to rest in the front yard again, this time in the sun.

They hung out up there for a while and finally decided to move on. They trotted away and soon disappeared into the trees. Until next time little elk friends.