Black Bear eating birdseed in Morrison/Evergreen, CO

Thursday morning at 2:00 am, my wife pushed me out of bed when one of our bird feeders crashed to the ground.  I am a deep sleeper and didn’t hear a thing, but I dutifully got up and walked groggily to the window to see what was up.

I found a bear crouching on the edge of our patio scooping up all the bird seed.  With my heart racing and adrenaline pumping I checked the sliding glass doors which we sometimes leave open.  Fortunately, they were closed and the bear didn’t seem to care about me.  Then I went for the camera and was able to get this photo before my wife told me to stop taking pictures and get that bear out of her garden…

I am not much of a match for a 400 lb black bear, but I grabbed the first thing I could find – a broom – and started to open the sliding glass door.  Fortunately, the bear was more afraid of me than I was of him.  He hopped over the wall and climbed a big pine tree about fifteen feet away.

By this time, my whole house was up and gawking.  One of our dogs got out and was racing around our deck barking her head off (fortunately, she never got close to the bear).  We all watched the bear watch us from the tree for the next 15 minutes.  It kept snorting and huffing – I assume to warn us to stay away – although we didn’t need much encouragement.  I kept my eyes on him while I made a few short dashes out to collect our bird feeders and sweep away the remains of the bird seed that he had started eating.

Finally, he climbed down the tree and ambled away.

We have lived in the foothills of Conifer and Evergreen for fifteen years and have seen several bears and even a mountain lion.  We just returned from a trip to Alaska where we saw lots of black bears and brown bears eating salmon, but this one was a little close to home.  I haven’t started looking for a realtor yet, but you never know.

The snow and rain over the last couple of months has really done its job.  Everywhere we looked was green and moist.  It almost makes you wonder if you are still in Colorado.  We saw a number of wildflowers and flowering bushes.  Lots of yellow, white and blue to highlight the green.  In addition, we were amazed by the amount of white quartz.  Some huge specimens that almost glowed.  In some places, it looked like snow was still holding on the hill.  One of the most beautiful pieces of quartz that I found had veins of red and even some of the white quartz looked a little cloudy with the red.

And the views were tremendous!  We were watching the whole time as the clouds moved in, but it made the views look even more dramatic.  Unfortunately, the thunder and impending storm kept us from getting to the top of Bergen Peak, but it still was an excellent workout.  The good news is that we had made it back to the bottom just as the rain really started to come down.

We are so lucky that Jeffco has spent the money and resources to develop the open space system.  Do yourself a favor – take advantage of it!

Mountain View from near the Top of Bergen Peak

Of course, they learned a lot about anatomy during the day and over night – in fact they are still learning this morning – “the top of my right calf hurts”, “my tailbone used to stick out, now it is pushed in”, “I can really feel my abs”….

Diane and I chose to avoid the aches and pains – we went snow-shoeing.  We followed some cross-country ski trails most of the way and went through some beautiful woods – no traffic noise, no houses or condos.  We spent some time watching a squirrell chew through a pine cone like it was an ear of corn.  It looks like the pine beetles are having a feast too.  I wonder if there will be any trees left in five years…

We didn’t have quite the same aches and pains as our kids, but we felt it too.

Thankfully, the hottub was there at the end of the day.  Oh, what a pleasure it is to soak and watch the sun go down.

And today, we’ll do it all over again.

Just a note about the ski area – long lines (of course it is Spring Break – the weekend where Denver and JeffCo school area spring breaks overlap and we just got hit with “the blizzard of ought-nine”…).  We did hear a lot of complaints about the lines.  I guess the recession isn’t hurting the ski industry quite as bad as I thought it might.

I am sure the drive back down the hill will be slow….  Oh well, that’s what happens when we get some good snow.

We hiked all three loops including the loop at the top.  The hike took about 2 hours.

The trail was icy in some spots and a little muddy in others – where the ice was melting.  It was easy to manage, however.  Nothing was impassable.

We started at about 2:30 in the afternoon and only passed a few other people on the trail.

This is a trail that is well worth hiking.  It does get crowded at times, so it is good to check the parking lot at the bottom to make sure it is not too busy.  Late afternoons or early mornings are best on the weekend.  If you can get up there during the week, you will have the trail to yourself.  Check it out.  Enjoy!

Some minutes later:

[Him] Held up by cattle herd. I shit you not.
[Me] O RLY?
[Him] Yes. I has a picture, but not a great one because I was "zomg cattle!"


Well then.

I have to admit, I was impressed, and a bit grossed out. It’s not just nice pretty butterflies, it’s creepy crawlies, with 100’s or thousands of legs.

They’ve got three types of cockroach, and for once I’m glad the US is the loser in the “mine’s bigger” category.

The stick bugs were certainly cool, and the millipedes rawked.

And then we entered butterfly land… Woah!

Thousands (i’m guessing) of butterflies just flapping this way and that, it was quite impressive (I know I used that adjective already), they were everywhere.

If you’re looking for something to do on a lazy weekend, hop over, it’s worth the 8 bucks.

Incredible, barely covers it.

We left Friday afternoon around 2:00 and pulled into the camp ground around 7:00 or so. It’s amazing how long it stays light out at night down there. It was 9:00 when we started cooking dinner, and we thought it was barely 8.

We got up early saturday and went into the park, to hike the dunes. We started out a bit over dressed to say the least. Being used to hiking in the mtns, we donned our camel backs, boots, breathable shirts, and pants. Sleeves were rolled up and outer shirts were off by the first 1/3 of the dunes. Pant legs were zipped off by the halfway mark. Once we got to the top it was time for the san filled boots to come off. The sand felt great, and was only a bit hot on the sunward slopes, but everywhere else it was refreshingly cool on my feet.

We went back to camp for a nap and to relax a bit, then headed back to the dunes to put our feet in the river… along with a small city’s worth of people! There were eazy-ups in the middle, people playing football, kids digging holes, it was crazy. It was like a day at California’s beaches. We hung out for a bit, but we had no eazy-up so the sun was kickin’ our butt’s

If you’re looking for a fun vacation that isn’t too far. Definitely check out the Great Sand Dunes, a 5 hours drive from Denver, and worth every mile of it.

The following pictures were all taken along the Boulder Creek Bike Path between the Valmont Bridge and the underpass at Pearl Street (Google Maps satellite view). I thought I’d never make it home, what with all the photo ops materializing on my route. Luckily I ran out of space on the SD card.

The crane was just standing there in the pond between Valmont and the back of the Flatirons Business Park, waiting for fish. It started wading away as I approached the shore.

The geese were in the usual nesting area along the shore, traveling west, just after the 55th Street underpass. If you’re lucky, you can sometimes pick up some great quill-caliber wing feathers in this spot. There’s always prairie dogs peeping away at you as you pass here. It’s a good time of year to watch the itty bitty tiny pups waddling around.

And this here’s a bull snake. I saw a small knot of youngsters crowded at the side of the path, and I slowed down to check out whatever they were staring at. I was just in time to nearly get knocked over as the snake made it perfectly clear that it did not appreciate being manhandled for the camera. Everyone jumped back as it whipped its considerable bulk around in a powerful lunge that translated clearly to “Hands off!”

The kid’s sneaker is included for perspective, but it’s not really enough to demonstrate the size of this critter. I’d say it was at least four feet long, maybe five, and thick as a stout tree branch.

Here it is again, winding away down the path beside my bookbag. You can almost make out the way its rattlesnake-like coloring on the body gives way to dramatic black and yellow stripes at the tail.

I can’t help wishing that I’d tried to pick it up too.

Spotted on October 2 outside of the bike shop near the Brewing Market on Baseline and Broadway in Boulder. I was on my way into the coffee shop. By the time I came out about four hours later, the bike was gone.

The man who picked up Terri and tossed him in his Plymouth Voyager about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday told restaurant owners that he thought the faux feline had been accidentally dropped by the side of the road. He was planning to post a notice about the plastic cat on Craig’s List, but he realized his mistake after seeing news reports Wednesday morning that Terri had been stolen, said Wok & Roll owner Steve King.

He immediately called King, saying he wanted to return the restaurant’s “mascot.”

“He’s not a guy who wanted to do something bad,” King said. “He was pretty embarrassed.”

—”Tiger theft an ‘accident’,” Daily Camera

Things I learned from this:

1. The tiger is plastic, not wooden.
2. The tiger’s name is Terri.

Things Wok ‘n Roll should learn from this:

1. Stop leaving your frickin’ tiger unattended! Every time you walk away, someone thinks the tiger’s there due to a prank! Your tiger should not be left unsupervised!

That is all.