Snowshoeing...again!

Really, how often do I get to go snowshoeing two Wednesdays in a row?!

This week I went with my friend Barb, her sister Jill (visiting Durango) and Jill's funny lil' pup Sally.

Of course, we went to one of my favorite places - La Plata Canyon.

We explored a series of frozen beaver dams.

 Lead the way Sally!!

 We found mountain lion tracks.

Which didn't photograph very well.

 A beautifully constructed and still intact paper wasp nest.

 A peek at the opening, shows it to be dormant or vacant. 

I wasn't gong to knock and find out.

(I believe it was a paper wasp nest but I am no expert, if someone knows better please feel free to comment with a correction.)

 Barb and Jill

At the end, Sally was so excited with her new buddies that she hopped right in my car with them.  Sorry, Sally you can't go home with your friends.

Another peaceful day spent in the canyon!!

Oops, again my failure to be competent in computers shines through.  I compressed these photos to email to someone and now they are forever small.  I was later informed that I should make a separate file with duplicates in it , one for originals and one for altered.  Ugh!!  Live and learn.

Snowshoeing with Steve

Steve & Doug & Aspen

One of the best things about my friend Steve is that he's always up for an adventure.  One of the other great things is that he's usually available in the middle of the week!!  When everyone else is working or at school, I can count on Steve for company on a mid-week back country excursion.  Today we went snowshoeing up La Plata Canyon with the dogs.

 Me & a found mine

After following other people's trails for a while we decided to break our own through knee deep powder.  While exploring, we happened upon this mining claim.  Crazy that we still live in the "Wild Wild West" where you can claim a mine and dig for gold or silver or whatever.  According to the USGS tag (the brass colored circle on the top right corner of the gate) this mine was established in 2008. 

 Another find was this snowball that had rolled down the side of the slope.  Upon inspection, we found that it had rolled perfectly straight down the hill (not randomly tumbling) thus resulting in a "jelly-roll".  If you look closely at the middle (double click to enlarge photo) you will see a perfect spiral!  It was shaped like a tire, so we had to lay it on it's side to capture the photo.

Another wonderful day in the mountains!!

Fall Hiking

After such wonderfully productive day yesterday, I decided to escape into the high country with my friend Steve today.

Steve at the top of La Plata Canyon.

Me at the trail head sign.

We hiked over to Taylor Lake and tried to cast a line but it was too windy.  We aren't even sure if there are fish there, in fact nobody I have spoken with knows if there are or are not.  Our mission was to try and to find out today.  The frost had already taken hold of this altitude as you can see by all the fall colors.  (11,660 ft)

We did see about a dozen of these...  What these are I am not sure.  I should have taken better photos of the ones that were "beached" on the water's edge.  I tried to research them but nothing looked quite the same.  To the best of my limited findings, I can say they are larval Tiger salamanders because they still have very obvious gills, small legs / feet and the only ones completely out of the water were dead.  The few that were swimming (or rather floating below the surface) in the shallows were very lethargic, perhaps from the cold temperatures.  Next time I am up there I need to better document these slimy little critters.

Double click to enlarge

After a failed fishing attempt (no thanks to the blustery winds), we walked the Colorado Trail to the Kennebec Notch.  The views were stunning.  Then back to the truck just in time for the hail!!

Behold the beauty that surrounds you!!

La Plata Canyon In Late August

Leslie and I started out for a hike one day in late August this year with no real destination, time line or agenda of any sorts. We only knew that we should be back before dark. So with our small day packs loaded up with food and water we took off up this 4x4 jeep road heading west from the main La Plata Canyon road.
Chatting and climbing in elevation along the road, we came into view of this basin with a small yet steep waterfall at it's mouth. We decided to head across the slope in search of water for the dogs and a nice picnic spot for ourselves.


Along the way we climbed up to this old abandoned mine. La Plata Canyon was a bustling mining area in the early 1900's. It was home to La Plata City and many mines located on the steep mountain sides. After it's hay day, most everything was abandoned and left to rot in the changing seasons. Currently, there are a few residents that reside at the south end of the main canyon in an area they call May Day. However, the mining hasn't quite become only a story in the history books. As I write this, the residents of May Day are trying to save the canyon from a new mining company coming in and tearing up the mountain sides.

Meanwhile, I was enjoying the exploration of the old stamp mill. Playing with the lighting and angles, I tried to capture some of the remaining woodwork.

Here, you can see the aged and rusting stamps used to crush the rock still intact.

We continued our trek toward the basin. Once arriving, we realized we could see snow on the higher slopes left from last winter. Of course, we had to climb up to it and build a snowman!! Okay, so he was tiny and brown from all the dust particles in the snow but he was a mighty little man. Aspen stood guard over him long enough for me to snap a picture, then she slid and knocked him down. After finding snow at over 12,000 feet it was time to eat.

We made our way across the scree filled basin floor to the small creek that created the waterfall we had seen earlier. Sitting on the rocks in the high afternoon sun, Leslie entertained me with stories of her other adventures in "The Canyon". She and her husband are one of the few May Day residents and consider the entire canyon their backyard. After a good lunch and a long rest for us and the dogs we headed back down to the car...but that wasn't the end of our day.

There were wild raspberries to be picked! With our little plastic containers in hand, we scoured the roadside bushes for ripe fruit. Small yet tasty, we picked as many as we could find that were ripe and left the others for another day. All in all it was a great way to spend a day off together. We only saw two other trucks the entire time which made for quite a peaceful hike.

Explore Your World!!

Father's Day in the Mountains

Happy Father's Day Jim!

We celebrated Father's Day with a hike in the mountains. The entire family went, even the old cat! It was a beautiful day as we drove to the trailhead. We parked our truck and began a short hike to Taylor lake. The dogs romped in the water and the cat explored new grasses to feast upon. Taylor lake is a small lake (pond) created be snow melt and rain, it sits at nearly 12,000 ft. The sky is so brillantly blue at that elevation. What a great place to bond with the family.