On the Trail

Last weekend we were up on the trail.   Pebbles got a chance to jump in the water and she was pretty happy about it.

She loves the water and jumps in any time she get's a chance.  We were out early and it was nice as we didn't really come across any other people.   We did come across a deer who was hiding in the bushes.

The Tortilla

I came across the Tortilla Moon picture today when running through FB.  Have to say that brought a smile to my face.   Very creative idea and made me laugh.  Now that I am writing about it I might need to go heat one up.

Never made homemade tortillas.  Went and looked up the recipe.  Might have to give it a try if I have time, but they are so easy just to get at the store.

I fell down on the job today.  Manged to get up and walk to work.  Got 3.5 Miles in but tonight I bailed and caught a ride.  I was tired.   Got to sleep just after 1:00 AM and then then up at 5:15 AM and was on the trail an hour later.  I was pretty busy at work today and when I looked up at the clock at work it was already 5:45 PM and with being tired I was like, find a ride.  Actually Eric was just leaving so I snagged a ride with him.  He was headed to the house anyway to get some grub, so it worked out well.

Adding in the 3.5 Miles from today that gets me up to 49 Miles over the last 10 days.

This morning on the way to work I came across three deer down in the creek.  Everyone needs water!  They smiled, looked at the camera and let me take they're picture.

On the trail

I got up at 5 AM this morning.  Hung out outside on the patio and checked the news and my email.  Showered up and then cooked up an egg to go with my lettuce and tomato.  

We were out the door just before 7 AM and on the trail.  Took Donkey with us and she was happy to be out.  I took the camera with me as I was wanting to see if I could get a better picture of the shrew.   Well it was MIA today but I did see a nice buck and a little rabbit.

Rats

More damn rats making their way through the neighborhood.

Deer

I had two meetings up in Denver today.  The first started at 7:30AM. So it was an early morning for me as I was up at 5:30AM.  Did the SSS and was dressed and out the door.  Made it on time for the most part, I was about 15 minutes late.   They did have a nice little breakfast, with eggs and sausage.  Can't go wrong with sausage, just ask all my Muslim friends.

Informatica was presenting on Agile Business Intelligence.  Decent presentation but not very well attended.   That's what I don't like about hosting events like this.   People have the best intentions but something always comes up and then they don't attend.  At 9:30AM the fire alarm went off. We didn't have to leave the building but the alarms were a little annoying.  I swear I didn't have anything to do with it.  Anyway we made it through alarms.  The content was good and I learned a couple of things.

We wrapped up at 11AM so I connected with two other co-workers and we met up for lunch.  We ate at The South Restaurant.  I had the special for the day and it happened to be prime rib.   It was ok, a little heavy on the rosemary in my opinion. 

From the restaurant we went across the street to the TDWI (The Data Warehousing Institute) chapter meeting.  We had a team of six people in attendance and had a small table with sales literature and a few gimmies.   This event was very well attended.  We even had two of our current customers in attendance.

I left the meeting about 2:30PM and made my way back to Colorado Springs.  The traffic wasn’t bad and I was back by 4:00PM.   As soon as I pulled in the driveway I ran inside and changed into my hiking gear.   I did 5/miles up through BCP to Gold Camp and then down and around.  I had not walked the last two days and I have been beating myself up for not getting out.  Felt great and was glad to be out.  I stayed on the main trail for the most part but in a one place I did take a side trail.  Well I found a nice and complete Deer skull head.  It had been pretty gone over by other animals and insects, so gone over it was picked clean.

You don't come across to many finds like this and I had to have it, why I don’t know.  So I took my pack off and cleaned out an area where I could pack it and take it home.  I loaded it up and away I went.  When I got home I put it out in the backyard.  When Candy got home she noticed it out back and was OK with it.  The dogs all gave it a good once over and didn’t mess with it.  That is probably a sign that if the dogs won’t mess with it, that I shouldn’t be either.  Oh Well!

Happy Hiking

Out & Back

I took today off as a Holiday day.  Our company is closed on Monday but I will be working a trade show down in Orlando so took my day today!   I left the house around 7:40AM and headed down the street.     You know you are in trouble when the deer are at your door looking for food.   I came across this deer standing on the front porch of the neighbor’s house.  I guess he/she was looking for an invite to come in and eat.

I worked my way up the Bear Creek Trail up the GCR.  Just about at the top of the trail I came across some poor bastard who I am guessing slept out in the cold last night.   He was lying off to the side of the trail with a little motor scooter.   I scared him up as I went by, he moved and mumbled something.  That’s answer the question why I at times hike with a gun.

After making the loop by the creek I started my way back up.   This section was very icy and took me some time to navigate up the hill.   I made it and once I was about to the top I came across an old man who apparently slipped on the ice and was sitting on the ground on his butt.

I helped him up and suggested that he not go down that way as the rest of the trail was covered with ice.  He agreed and so we walked up the rest of the way and chatted for a few minutes.   I then took my trail to head back home and he went another way.

Got a few nice pictures today and need to start packing for my trip as well as laying out my clothes for tomorrow’s hike.

Happy Hiking!

Glad to be home!

Got my lazy butt up this morning and headed out for a little walk. It was cold and very foggy and I think the tempature was about 25 when I left. Visibility at best was maybe 100 to 150 yards. I made my way down the road and caught the Bear Creek trail. The first thing I came across was a couple of Deer who were having breakfast.

I continued up the trail until I got to Gold Camp Road. I crossed and started working my way up the mountain. Once I started climbing I heated up pretty quickly. With each step the fog was diminishing. Once to the top I stopped and took a couple pictures looking back on downtown Colorado Springs. With low level clouds the city couldn’t be seen.

Above the low level clouds there was only this one cloud in the sky. At the elevation I was at, the sun was shining bright, so bright that I actually got a sunburn on my face from the sun and the reflection coming up off the snow.

I checked on an old fort to see how it was holding up. Looks like we may have to make a few repairs this spring so we can camp out in it next summer. One thing that is nice about hiking in the snow is that you get to see all the animal tracks. I came across Rabbit, Fox and even Bird tracks today.

Worked my way down the hill and came out on High Drive and back over to the Bear Creek trail system. I did manage to get 7.35/miles in today and have plans to get back out again tomorrow. Note to Self: take sun glasses.

Happy Hiking!

Through the Park

I got a late start this morning and for a little while there I though Candy was going to be called off work. She got a call at 5am and said they would call back in 4 hours if they needed her and then called back about an hour later and she had to go in. After that I just went back to sleep until about 8:30 or so.

I did my weekly sales call and then headed out the door. I did a short trip today as I just wasn’t into it. Not sure why though? Anyway ended up with 3.3/Miles and just did a quick walk through Bear Creek Park. Had the camera with me and didn’t really come across any good pictures until I was back on my street headed home. I did catch a nice little red finch and came across about 8 deer. This is the best picture that came out of the deer from all the ones I took.

I am working on refinishing a pie safe and went and picked up some of the pieces and brought them home and started sanding. A couple of weeks ago I was able to take it all apart and luckily didn’t break any of the pieces so as long as I can remember how it goes back together I should have a very nice piece once it is all sanded, stained and back together. It’s going to take a while! I will be sure to add some pictures at some point.

So tonight for dinner I am trying out a new recipe. Not sure how this one will go.

1 14-Ounce can Ocean Spray Jellied or Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

1 12-Ounce bottle Heinz Chili Sauce

1 2-Pound bag of frozen pre-cooked meatballs

Combine the sauces in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until smooth and then add the meatballs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through.

I plan on cooking rice to go with this, so we will see.

Happy Hiking

New Life

I searched the web to see if I could find the most common month in the year that animals are born. I couldn't’t really find anything or at least not what I was looking for. Not being a subject matter expert, I am going to take a wild ass guess that it is June.

I had written about the robins nest earlier this month and have been checking the nest each morning and night. Well this morning I got my first glimpse of the newly born chicks. From what I can tell their are three of them so far. This is the best photo I could get. This is from this morning and I took several this evening but the lighting I needed was gone. I hadn't looked at the pics from this morning, the sun was in my eyes when I took the shots and didn’t expect them to look all that great. This one actually came out pretty decent and I cropped from the original to get the one shown.

Around the first of the month I was walking to work through Bear Creek Park and I came across two coyotes on the right side of the trail about 30 yards away. And from the left side of the trail, down by a creek, I could here young pups crying. I stopped and watched the coyotes on the right and then they began howling. I guess I was blocking their way back to the pups.

Since seeing the coyotes I started carrying the camera because I wanted to get a picture of one. Well that was about two weeks ago and I haven’t seen any since. The morning that I did see them I had to be to work early and was probably one of the first on the trail. Another reason to leave early and be the first one out!

And finally, on Monday of this week I came across this little guy, which is probably about two weeks old at most. The doe actually had two fauns, but I was only to get a picture of one of them. I had seen them about a week ago in our neighbor’s yard across the street. The neighbor actually feeds the deer and this is about the fourth year in a row that fauns have been born in his yard.

Yeah their really cute when they are young and have spots. Oh so precious, well guess what they need to eat. All of your nice little perennials and annuals are all up for grab on this smorgasbord of colorful vegetation. Money well spent at your local greenhouse so that you could feed these cute little bastards.

I think I can, I think I can

Tomorrow should be a big day for me. I am about to break two records. The first is crossing the 300/Mile mark since I started tracking in March. I am at 298.6 as of this evening. The second is if I can get at lease 6.5/Miles in tomorrow then I will have reached a 100/Miles for the month.

Tonight I did 5.4/Miles. I did the Red Rock Canyon area. Not sure why I don’t do this trail more often as it is such a pretty area. Traveled light today as I wanted to move quickly, no pack, water or camera. Should have taken the camera.

Overslept and had an early AM meeting or I would have walked to work today instead. It all worked out.

On Monday I came across this bad boy on the trail to work. It was about 6:40am. This will wake you up, when you come around the bend and run into him.