Sometimes up here I feel like we could get close encounters of the third kind too.

But these particular encounters where just as thrilling for us. Tuesday night we were just about to sit down at the table to eat dinner when Rick looked out the window that overlooks our newly formed open area (we had our beetle-killed pine trees cleared out) and shouted out DEER! Sure enough, there was a little buck deer just standing there munching away.




Look at those huge ears and those cute furry nubs of antlers coming!

Then yesterday we were about to sit down by the window to eat again, this time for lunch, and Rick looked out and shouted MOOSE! We ran for our cameras but by the time we got back to the window the moose had moved in to the trees, happily munching on our baby aspens. Here is what we saw:




The back end of a moose! In the next photo is you look closely you can see the moose’s head looking in our direction. Both photos taken from inside the cabin with a 300mm zoom lens. Pretty hard to get anything with all the trees in the way.



We watched it slowly wandering around eating, hoping that it would come out in to the open again but it didn’t. We debated on whether or not to go outside and see it we could get a clear shot of it or wait and see if it decided to come our direction again.

We looked at each other and knew we were going moose stalking. So, with a margarita under our belts that we had with our lunch and still in our house slippers, we set off, cameras in hand.

We could not see it anywhere, so we both walked “indian style” through the woods in the direction we had last seen it headed. It worked pretty well and soon I spotted him on the road. Again, all the trees made focusing a challenge.

Here he is with his head turned around looking straight at the camera. You can see one eye and one antler.








See him peeping at me? It only took him a few seconds to decide he didn’t like us or those things that were pointing at him, and he took off at a gallop. Sorry these aren’t in focus but I was doing the best I could to track him.






Big moose but probably a young one. We were thrilled with our lunch guest!

Then last night Rick decided to go fishing again. It was a lovely still night and no wind (unlike the daytime weather!) so it was perfect. He was thrilled to catch five fish in total, all baby brook trout. (Rick fly fishes and it’s all catch and release unless he hooks one big enough to feed us both.) I’m including a pic just for fun.


Just because we were out and about anyway we decided to drive down to Bennet’s Pond which is a spot where we have seen moose before.

I was looking in the other direction when we rounded the corner by the pond and Rick shouted at me excitedly to “quick get your camera ready, there’s a moose!” And here he is:





A different moose than the one we saw earlier in the day. This one had an injured leg and was moving with a pretty good limp. Plus, if you look at the photos above of the other moose his face was a much lighter brown. We watched him for a while but didn’t want to stress him to feel like he had to run, then we left him alone to graze.

Very exciting!!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level

I am still trying to catch up on blogging and now I’m a bit behind.

On Sunday we packed a picnic lunch and decided to take a drive to the Snowy Range since we haven’t been up there is several years. It’s a pleasant drive, especially the “back” way.

We took 80C over Sand Creek Pass from the cabin over Sand Creek Pass and down to Woods Landing.



The Rawah Mountains as seen from the top of Sand Creek Pass.

The roads are all dirt and right now they are in pretty good shape. I don’t think we passed one car. At Woods Landing we cut cross-country on another dirt road to connect up with Snowy Range road and in to the tiny town of Centennial, Wyoming which was founded in 1876. There are lots of bars in Centennial and I think I know why!

From Centennial the road is a gradual climb up, up, up. The Snowy Range Road was originally a wagon road built in the 1870’s. It was paved in the 1930’s and finally widened and improved again in 1988, receiving the designation as the nation’s second Scenic Byway.

We passed many campgrounds that were closed due to fallen trees from the bizarre winds they’ve experienced this past winter and spring.

At the top at 10,000 feet above sea level a sub-alpine tundra exists. The mountains are raw and right in your face.







You can see the view if you look at the above two photos, squint your eyes and place the second photo next to the first photo and line up the one peak. Or you can see Rick’s panoramic shot on his blog site.

At this scenic view point I found my one of my favorite alpine flowers. I was afraid we were too early to see them since there was still a lot of snow in huge drifts that were just starting to melt.

Here are the flowers: Sky Pilots.

And Rick snapped this photo of my taking the above two photos. See what I go through to get flower shots? They are tiny and grow very close to the ground.



These were growing right along side the Sky Pilots. They are either Dwarf Clover or Alpine Clover. Too hard to call.



Also tons of marsh marigolds just as the snow starts to recede. They really like things wet. They come in two different colors.







At the top we got the dogs out for a walk and a romp in the snow. What scenery!







Bella of course headed straight for the water. It must have been freezing but it didn’t seem to faze her. If she hadn’t been on a leash she would have waded out further but she was having trouble keeping her footing due to a rocky bottom!






The Glacier Lily, or Snow Lily is also very abundant just as the snow recedes.


It really is beautiful country. Here is Rick taking slow motion footage of the waterfall. You can see that footage here on his site.

All in all, a lovely way to spend most of a day!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level

I chose that title because those were the most prevalent wildflowers here when we arrived. Now the dandelions have mostly gone to seed and the larkspurs are fading. Just another reminder that our days at the cabin are going by quickly.

In their place come the paintbrush, of which we have three different varities, well actually four if you count the rarer white ones which have not bloomed yet,










the pink plumes,


the salsify just this morning,



We got a rare treat on Saturday—we had a thunderstorm roll through and it really poured for a good half hour.



Sam looking out at the rain



Rain

There is certain smell here in the high country when it rains. It’s a damp woodsy smell that is a mixture of the soil and the wet bark on the trees.

It cooled it off an good 20 degrees so I started a fire in the wood range just to take the chill off.


After the rain Rick went fishing down by Sand Creek. He didn’t catch anything.



Alex went along as official fishing dog.



There are lots of wild iris here. So pretty.





End of day as seen from our window on the world.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level

No words necessary. The title says it all!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level

The other day the conditions were just right for con trails. This is the sky over Bull Mountain early on in the morning from our driveway (more or less).




And here is the sky a little bit later on our walk.





And this shot after our walk just outside our cabin door.




And for those few of you who took a guess at the mystery photo I posted the other day, it was my my nearly empty cognac glass on its side, looking down into it towards the fire burning in the fireplace. If you go back and look closely you can see the flames in the lower right part of the glass. Steve, you were really close! Good call!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level