shirley - behind the lens: Colorado

Showing posts with label Colorado. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Colorado. Show all posts

The Boulder Flatirons - Chautauqua Hiking

>> Friday, February 19, 2021 – Colorado, Flatirons, great outdoors, mountains, snow

I almost labeled this for Fence Friday, but the snow capped mountains command this scene - at least they do for me.

I took the opportunity to travel to Colorado with a local running friend whose daughter lives in Boulder. While the temperatures only hovered in the single digits (Fahrenheit!), the sun reflecting off the powery snow kept us warm while hiking the trails. My friend appologized for the non-ideal conditions, but I would rather hike in the beauty of a snowy forest than a more typical green one. Another upside - not many hikers on the trail, perfect in this time of social distancing; I find solitude adds to the magic of the crystalline snow globe. We accessed the trails from Chautauqua Park, hiking the Chautauqua and Flat Irons trails, crossing back along the Bluebird Mesa Trail as seen on this trail map.

Maybe I'll get to experience these trails again during the warmer months. Even so, I'm glad we got out despite the bitter cold.

Best Shot Monday - Wildflowers

>> Monday, September 14, 2009 – best shot monday, Colorado, flowers

Some wildflowers from our trip to Colorado

Check out today's other BSM entries here. And share yours today, too!

POTD - Tall Aspen Tress

>> Sunday, September 6, 2009 – Colorado, POTD, trees

From my collection of Colorado photos - the Aspen trees.

Best Shot Monday - Spanish Peaks

>> Monday, August 31, 2009 – best shot monday, Colorado, landscape

Taken from "Engagement Rock" along the Stonewall during our trip to Colorado. This was our last hike up Stonewall, and I forgot to download the picture until yesterday - it was a pleasant surprise.

If you look carefully, you can see our friends, Pete, Allison and their two children on another Stonewall rock (you may have to go to the full res version).

Click here to see the other Best Shot Monday entries and have a great Monday!

POTD - Rock Lean-To [shapes]

>> Thursday, August 27, 2009 – Colorado, POTD, rocks

The rocks form a triangle lean-to. The leaning rock features several petroglyphs.

Best Shot Monday - Hummingbird

>> Monday, August 24, 2009 – best shot monday, birds, Colorado, motion

We saw so many hummingbirds at during our stay in Colorado - the Ranch puts out several feeders around the Lodge and the little birds are not shy - they flit and buzz around your ears if you are close to the feeders.
They also fight with each other, claiming their territory around the feeders. We tried to explain to them that there was plenty of nectar for everyone and they could drink more if they didn't fight with each other.
They didn't listen.

POTD - Bar NI [ABCs]

>> Saturday, August 22, 2009 – Colorado, POTD

The official brand of the Bar NI Ranch.

POTD - Signs [ABCs]

>> Thursday, August 20, 2009 – Colorado, POTD, sign

Two paths diverged in the woods. I took a picture of the sign.

Really, we did hike up to the top of Bart's pass which can be accessed via either path.

POTD - Can you see an "H"? [ABCs]

>> Wednesday, August 19, 2009 – Colorado, landscape, POTD

Passing through one of the vast meadows, the fence keeps the Bar NI horses somewhat contained (some still manage to jump the fences though). The two Spanish peaks can be seen in the far distance.

POTD - Appaloosa, Brook and Colorado [ABCs]

>> Tuesday, August 18, 2009 – Colorado, horse, nature, POTD, trees, water

A is for Appaloosa.

Sampson was the first horse we saw as we drove into the Bar NI Ranch. He looks like he's got some "attitude", but he is the sweetest, gentlest horse. Brian rode him all week long and misses him now that we are back home.

B is for Babbling Brook.

Duling Stream winds through the mountain and down by the lodge, providing us with its musical babbling.

C is for Colorado.

Our first visit to Colorado.

231/365 - Travel and Momentos

>> Sunday, August 16, 2009 – 365, 365-2009, Colorado, travel

Yesterday, we made it to Topeka, KS and found a nice Hampton Inn to stay the night (the kids love the Hampton Inn - they love the nice bathrooms, the great pool and the queen size beds with duvet covers). I managed to book the room while we were driving on I-70, using my highly functional iPhone (I was happy I had service again, after a week of being off-line).

Even in the comfort of the Hampton Inn, I couldn't help but compare the present scenery with the scenery from a mere 10 hours before - breathtaking mountains, unspoiled nature vs. the electronic billboard viewable from the hotel room, which toggled between ads for the car dealer, the realty company and a restaurant. Guess which I prefer?

We left Topeka early and arrived back home around 3pm, giving us enough time to get laundry started and order pizza for dinner.

The kids declared - "We miss Sampson" and I agreed that I missed the mountains and horses, but we had wonderful memories and momentos:

230/365 - So Long, Farewell

>> Saturday, August 15, 2009 – 365, 365-2009, Colorado, friends, horse, vacation

As a last parting activity, we watched the horses come down from the meadow this morning. They came booking down the hill, and a couple horses bucked. I stationed myself near a big tree, and I hid behind it as one of the horses spotted me and ran in my direction. [human vs horse - the horse will win]

Ben and Binet rounded up the horses this morning - we think they did a great job.

I haven't dabbled that much in B&W and simply used a preset in PSE. The colored version showed some noise, but with the B&W, I thought it gave the picture an old fashioned feel. [now, to figure out how to convert it to sepia - that's my next trick]

We said goodbye to our gracious hosts -
Teresa, Bob, Stephanie, Tiffany and Ben.

We drove away, leaving the Culebra range behind, onward through desolate Eastern Colorado and into Kansas.

229/365 - Colorado Wildflowers and Family pictures

>> Friday, August 14, 2009 – 365, 365-2009, Colorado, family, flowers, outdoors

This morning brought more rain (it rained a little bit yesterday) and cloudy skies.
Erica and Scott still mounted up on the horses for a trail ride, Brian hung out in the Lodge and I went for a run in the soft rain - I took the loop from the Lodge, along the Stonewall, out to Rt 12 and around the main Ranch drive.

Along my run, I spotted several photo-ops. Once I completed the loop, I picked up my camera and set out again, this time stopping to take pictures.

Wildflowers:

The entrance off Rt 12, with the Stonewall Gap in the background:

Fence and grasses:

After lunch, the skies cleared up so it was family picture time - I set up the tripod and self timer against the backdrop of the beautiful Stonewall and Spanish peak.

And the requisite silly pose:

Tomorrow we head back to Illinois. We had a great time here and hope to come back in future years.

228/365 - Morning Hike

>> Thursday, August 13, 2009 – 365, 365-2009, Colorado, friends, landscape, morning, scott, Shirley

We've been instructed not to venture outside before the sunrise and after sunset due to the potential to encounter bears and mountain lions. But this morning, Teresa offered to take "whoever was willing to get up for a pre-dawn hike" up to Bart's Point. All the adults staying in the lodge got up at 5:45 for the opportunity to watch the sunrise while on the mountain.

It was well worth the early morning power hike:

From this vantage point, you can see the stables below and over the Stonewall to the lake:

A happy couple picture:

The Lodge adults - Marta, Christine, Scott, Shirley, Pete and Allison

Our group with Teresa (thanks to Marta for taking the picture):

12 on August 12 - Colorado Style

>> Wednesday, August 12, 2009 – 12 on 12, Colorado, friends, Girl, horse, scott, vacation

This month's 12 on 12 is coming to you from Colorado. Not quite the depiction of a "normal" day in our lives, but certainly a fun one.

As usual, I woke early today, and headed out to the woods to find something beautiful to capture in the golden morning light. Of course, this was an easy-easy task. I took pictures of stately Aspen trees, wandering fence lines before coming upon a group of deer, one that was particularly curious of me and my camera:

I ran into Chantal (Ged's wife) and she reminded me that the horses would be coming down from the meadow soon. The horses spend the night in the vast meadow and are brought down to the stables each morning by the wranglers. The group galloping out of the woods is quite a sight:

And into the stable area:

After breakfast, Erica and Scott mounted up for another trail ride - Scott is on Diamond this morning:

Erica is on Lightning:

While Erica and Scott are out riding, Brian and I went out and caught grasshoppers to be used as fishing bait. Neither of us had the guts to put the bugs on the hook, so we kept them in a baggie for Scott to deal with later (yuck!). Brian also played a game of Scrabble Slam with Marta:

The cute prairie dogs were peaking out of their holes to catch some warmth from today's copious sun:

After lunch, Scott tried fishing with those grasshoppers as bait.

Alas, still no bites.

What to do on a "hot" afternoon (it's almost 90, but really only feels like 75 because of the low humidity)? Play around in Duling Stream:

Erica and Olivia:

Most of the kids strike a silly pose!

And after dinner, the kids divided into teams for a scavenger hunt. The girls from Boston / the Netherlands - Julia, Doris and Eva - won, but everyone had a fun time gathering items like "Horse toe nails", "horse hair" and "dung" -

Fun stuff!

Note - I took way more than 12 pictures today. To view the rest of my pictures from today, check out my August 12 Flickr set.

Campfire Night

>> Tuesday, August 11, 2009 – Colorado, friends, vacation

Marta and Christine bought the fixings for s'mores so we had a campfire.
Since there has been little rain, Teresa and Bob (who run the Bar NI), set up the fire engine (yes, there is a small one on the property) just in case. Pete and Allison's kids, Bryan and Olivia put out the fire at the end of the night with the big fire hose (the back pressure caused them to flail about at first, then they got help from their parents).

Some pictures from our evening:

Marta and Alex:

Christine and Colleen:

You can't have a campfire without campfire songs - Bob provided the tunes:

And lent Ged a spare guitar:

The music transported me back to my youth, with songs from the Eagles (7 Bridges Road, Take It Easy, Desperado and Hotel California), Crosby, Stills and Nash (Southern Cross) and Pure Prairie League (Amy). We also sang "Wildfire" - an appropriate horse song.

I know the kids didn't know any of the songs, but they were too busy making and eating their s'mores and poking at the fire.

226/365 - Trail Ride up Stonewall

>> – 365, 365-2009, animals, Colorado, horse, landscape

Some of the pictures from today's Trail Ride up to the top of Stonewall:

Brian gets to ride Sampson:

Erica is on Lightning, Scott is on Dusty and I am on Godiva.

We walked through a vast meadow area before ascending up trails which previously served as logging routes. You build an appreciation for the horses, as the trails are steep and rocky. The view at the top is spectacular:

The Culebra peaks serve as the beautiful backdrop.

On the way back through the meadow, the two Spanish Peaks can be seen in the very far distance:

A great way to spend the entire morning.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

© Blogger template Shush by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP