The Bridges of Summit County

In the woods of Colorado, you can always hear a stream long before you see it.  The sound of rushing water fills the air for what seems to be miles around each and every stream.  As soon as that sound comes into ear shot I begin to wonder what I will find when the stream comes into view.  Will it be a little stream joyfully flowing through a flower covered meadow?  Or will it be a torrent rushing down the mountainside carrying the melting snow of the last 6 months of winter?  And then my mind quickly jumps to the next question, how will we cross this stream.  And then many times in the midst of this wilderness tract, I am surprised to come across a man-made bridge that crosses the stream.

On Saturday as Zack and I made our way through the Eagles Nest Wilderness Area, we were following the course of two very significant streams - The Middle and South Forks of Willow Creek.  Though they are called "Forks" each of these watercourses is a major stream in it's own right.  Our hike weaved in and out of the water sheds of both of theses streams.

We crossed and re-crossed both of these streams numerous times.  Each time there was an unexpected surprise in the fact there was a bridge for us to cross these raging torrents.  Coming across these bridges is just the most marvelous experience.  I am not sure why they elicit such a feeling of surprise and amazement in me but they do.  Here's a few of the many bridges that we crossed yesterday.  By these pictures you can tell that the Gore Range is definitely one of the more wet mountain chains in Colorado.

Zack and I usually have no problem crossing the rushing streams on these bridges.  The dogs however, clearly do not like it.  Despite the extreme frigid temperatures of the water, the dogs will frequently plunge head first into the torrent to escape the difficulty of crossing the bridges.  Maybe it isn't so much that the bridges are hard for them to cross, it could also be that they just love being in the water!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Thanks and peace to all! ~ J.

A Moose on the Loose...

I had a totally different subject that I was going to write about this evening but instead, I am going to write about our close encounter with a moose.

This morning when Zack and I went out for a hike, we hiked into an area of the Gore Range that is known for having a population of moose.  As we hiked through the dense forest we crossed and re-crossed the middle and south forks of a stream called Willow Creek.  Due to the spring snow melt, these streams are full to the point of overflowing their banks.  In many places the streams have spilled out and have turned meadows into marshes that are just filled with dense green vegetation.  This got me to wondering if we were going to see any moose while on our hike as the conditions were exactly what moose like.  But unfortunately we did happen to spy any moose.  Bummer.

After our hike we went back to our condo and spent the afternoon relaxing.  Both Zack and I managed to take naps.  It is almost unexplainable how great it feels to take a nap at the condo.  After a day of strenuous hiking it is the greatest thing.  My bedroom faces towards the forest and when I take a nap, I open the blinds and the window.  This allows me to get a nice breeze into the bedroom and see the tops of nearby aspen trees swaying in the wind.  Sunlight floods into my bedroom in the morning, but by the afternoon it is deep in the shadows.

It was almost 5:30PM when I awoke from my nap and got about the rest of the business of the day.  There wasn't really anything major to do except feed the dogs and taking them out into the forest so they can do the things that they need to do after eating.  Given the amount of space around and the fact that my dogs normally listen when I call them, for the most part I leave them off leash for these walks.

As we were coming back to the condo after this evening's walk, I was focused on calling the dogs and keeping them close.  For whatever reason as we get closer to the condo they tend to be less obedient, but today they were following my directions very well.  Given the focus I had on the dogs, I wasn't concentrating too much on the situation around me.  That lead to the big surprise.  As we were getting close to the steps to go up to the condo, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a massive shape coming around the corner of the building.  It was big enough that it caused me to do a double take and quickly realize that it was massive bull moose!  Once all this dawned on my brain, I practically jumped out of my skin.

Thankfully the dogs were close at hand and I managed to quickly grab them by their collars to keep them from rushing him.  Lex didn't seem to care at all.  He stared at the moose and didn't do a thing.  Finn on the other hand, decided he needed to make a fuss.  He got down on his haunches and started to growl.  At that point, Mr. Moose decided he wasn't too pleased with me and the dogs.  He gave us a thorough stare down and started to make some snorting noises.  The end result of all of this was that I kept a strong hold on the dogs and got them up the stairs to the condo!

 Once I had the dogs on the steps up to the condo, I called out to Zack to let him know what was going on.  He came out of the condo and stood on the deck.  Of course he was utterly amazed when he saw the moose in the courtyard below.  When the dogs were safely in the condo we both went down to the deck of the unit below us to look at this amazing and beautiful creature.  Our neighbors, having heard me call out to Zack about the "moose in the courtyard" all came out to get a look.  Everyone stood around watching this massive animal feast on the lush green grass and dandelions that fill the courtyard of our condo complex.  It was amazing to watch him tear massive amounts of foliage out of the ground and devour them.  If he decides to keep coming back to our condo complex, our management company isn't going to have to mow the grass this summer!

He must have stayed in the courtyard gorging on the plentiful grass and dandelions for a good 30 - 45 minutes.  All of our neighbors were respectful of him and no one got too close.  He seemed to feel safe, comfortable and not threatened as he kept munching away without a sideways glance towards anyone.  When he was done with his meal, he causally meandered over to a small grove of aspen trees, lay down and chewed his cud.  It was an amazing experience to see all of this!

I managed to take a whole bunch of pictures with my camera, but unfortunately I do not have my memory card reader with me.  Instead, I can only post the pictures I took with my cell phone and a bit of video footage.  Regardless, I really wanted to share this story with you all!

I sincerely hope everyone is having a safe, happy and fun Memorial Day Weekend!

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.

Another News Story to be Commented Upon: Why Vultures Devoured Hiker's Body in Minutes

Why Vultures Devoured Hiker's Body in Minutes

I must really be in a verbose mood yesterday and today, as I keep wanting to put things out there.  This one is gross but that isn't the real point of why I am commenting on it.  I have seen this story on several websites in the last 2 - 3 days and whereas most people feel revulsion by the whole story, I think there is a wider lesson to be discussed.

First off, here are the first couple of paragraphs as written on NBCNews.com.  (For the entire story, click on either the main title of this post or the line at the top of the entry.)

"A flock of vultures devoured the body of a woman just minutes after she fell to her death while hiking in the Pyrenees Mountains in France. 

The woman, 52, had been hiking with two friends when she fell about 1,000 feet (300 meters) down the side of a steep mountain. Police believed she died from injuries sustained during the fall, the Daily Mail reports.

Vultures are known to be able to sniff out the gaseous chemicals emanating from a dead body more than a mile away.

"When we first went out in the helicopter looking for the body, we saw numerous vultures, without realizing what they were doing," said Maj. Didier Pericou, of the local police, as quoted in the Daily Mail.

But by the time the police reached the body, there was little left to recover.

"There were only bones, clothes and shoes left on the ground," Pericou said. "They took 40 to 50 minutes to eat the body."

The Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) that consumed the body have been under considerable stress, as their primary source of food — the carcasses of cattle or other livestock — are no longer available throughout much of Europe."

Ok the story is gross.  It's not a pleasant thought to be eaten by a vulture.  Though on an interesting side note, for followers of the Zoroastrian religion that is how they traditionally depose of their dead.  However the Zoroastrianism tradition of placing their dead in "towers of silence" and letting vultures come and eat them is ending because in many countries where there are Zoroastrians, vultures are dying off in unprecedented numbers.  (If you are interested, here is a link to an article on the Zoroastrian "Towers of Silence".  Please be aware there are a couple of graphic photos of a Zoroastrian Tower of Silence in the article. Don't read the whole way to the end if you are squeamish. Zoroastrian Towers of Silence)

The key thing I took from reading all of this was the fact that you have an entire species of animal that are so desperate for food that they are beginning to stray from their pre-programmed genetic instincts just to survive.  Think of how desperately hungry those birds must be.  It's utterly horrible what happened to the woman who died.  (I need to make sure everyone understands that!)  But in a world that we humans are recasting as a man made creation, an even greater tragedy is occurring as an entire species is fighting for survival.  What will our world be like if it loses yet another species?  It is really sad to think.  And as much as vultures are gross-looking, scary birds, think of what it must be like to be one of those individuals - starving and finding no food.  The whole story is just a difficult one to read and process but I thought I need to share my thoughts.

The picture below is a Griffon's Vulture, which is the kind that ate the woman in France.  The funny thing is, they aren't that bad looking, they are actually kind of cute.  Usually you think of vultures as the kind that are always shown in movies with bald heads and totally black feathers.  In reality, the kind shown in movies seem to look more like California Condors rather than vultures.

Hope everyone is having a great Friday!!

Thanks and peace to all! ~ J.