Thursday, May 15, 2014

Colorado Trail Series

Colorado Trail Series
Day 6
Taylor Lake to Junction Creek Bridge
 
Hiked: 9 miles
Elevation: 8,520 ft
 
After a very relaxing afternoon at Taylor Lake we were greeted with a relaxing morning in camp.  Another semi-short day ahead of us, we were in no hurry to get on the trail at the crack of dawn.  Besides, we had both traveled from here to town before (whether by bike or foot) so we knew what to expect for the next two days.  Nothing overwhelming today, so let's take our time and enjoy the ride... err Hike!
* As always click to enlarge photos *

Oat pancakes with warmed maple syrup anyone?
 
The trail head parking area at the top of Kennebec Pass -
accessible by car and frequented by nice people.  We were able to get a rare "couple's photo" taken and they were sweet enough to take our small bag of trash!  From this point on we will travel in an area quite popular with the bears.  Might as well dump 5 days of trash if we can and minimize our chances of a midnight campsite raid by the ursine sorts.

 Jim points back to the mountain we climbed over, around and through in the past 5 days.
 
Gotta love scree field traverses!
Sharp, loosely packed and narrow.
 

I paused to look back across the pass we had just traveled through and admire a bit of history.
 

An old mine precariously perched on the side of the mountain.

Once past the pass and the sketchy scree, we drop into a world reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest.  Waterfalls, creeks and afternoon drizzles made for a sweaty and sticky day.

The high humidity is fabulous for the local flora.
I picked wild raspberries to plop in my small jar of rum and sugar.
A few shakes and a couple hours of soaking - Voila! Raspberry Rum! Yum!
 

Rest where you can!
My berry bag hanging conveniently from my chest strap.
 

The final descent into our camp by Junction Creek Bridge.
 
Check back for more stories from the camp...

Broody B!t*hy Chicken


HOLY ANGRY HEN!!
 
Rosie showing Scrappy where she can kiss it!
 
So about the time we brought home the babies, Annie & Frankie, Rosie went broody.  Whether she could sense the little ones or not is the question.  She never saw them.  They have been kept in the house.  Could she hear their soft peeps through the window?  Is it just a spring time coincidence?  We may never know.
 
What we do know is the she has stopped laying eggs, gotten really protective of the eggs the other girls lay and enjoys strutting around the yard like a blown up male turkey. 
Crazy girl!
 
Jim researched and hopefully we won't have to fight her for the eggs much longer.  She should be over her unjustified moodiness soon.  Meanwhile, the red girls ( Scrappy & Cocoa Bean ) have learned the take the wide path around this pissed off puffed up chicken.
 
Lesson from a chicken:
Nobody likes a mean person!

Monday, May 5, 2014

Farewell My Lovely...

Carla
Spring 2012-14

This last photo was taken a week ago.
 
Our lovely Carla moved on the the big coop in the sky today.
She was young, only about two, but something happened last spring and she hasn't been right since.  She acted as though she had a stroke.  The color faded from her cheeks and her comb shrunk.  She started walking funny and losing her balance while ruffling her feathers.  Carla lived like that for quite a while.  Then about a week and a half ago she became even more lethargic during the day and stopped going up at night.  We would wait until dark, then gather our poor girl up and gently set her in the coop.
 
Do chickens suffer?  If so, how do you know?
 
We felt the only humane thing to do was to help her move on.
 
Rest In Peace, Carla