Hasta Luego

We are leaving on a big jet airplane manana for points further south.

In the meantime, here a few recent images

Z skates at Sheldon Lake:

M too:


A Christmasy flower:


A Great Horned Owl we spotted on Christmas Day:

And a Red Tail Hawk in our backyard yesterday:


Signing out for a few weeks. If you need us we'll be here:
:)

Solstice Snow Sliding

The Winter Solstice came just as it should: cold.

We celebrated it just as we should: skiing.

Clean Livin'

Clean Living. That's the only explanation for the good fortune of heading out for a cruise around the neighborhood to try out a new lens...

...and finding a bald eagle, two red tail hawks and a coyote. :)

Latest and Greatest

Up to minute weekend happenings...

Watched the full moon rise on Friday:


Were treated to an up close view of this guy:

And cut down a tree. (Hey, if you're 4 feet tall, it's a pretty big one.)

Snow Bike

I did a little sunrise snow bike today. Actually it was almost all dry and any snow there was was rideable. Much prefer frozen mud to the thawed variety as well.

Good Stuff

Had a downright enjoyable ski day yesterday. Sketchy avalanche conditions and a windy forecast steered us to a well-known spot. It tends to be crowded, but it's got a 45 minute + skin in as a price of admission and so there's often snow for everyone. There's a reason for it being well known, too: it holds great snow, offers open bowl skiing, and has minimal slide danger.

Anyway, we hit the jackpot there yesterday with fluffy untracked ultra-consistent snow that lasted even as the crowds showed and all the way through 7 runs. (This hardly phased our strong crew, but had my legs quivering by the end of the day.)

Pictures tell the story:

View one direction:

And the other:

I goch 'er christmas trees right here:


Up:

And down:

Muchas Gracias

Among the many things we were thankful for this weekend were some beautiful views.

On a windy walk to see nesting Bald Eagles (we saw three):



On a Sunday afternoon bike ride. The wind scared everyone off, so it was just me and the green machine:

Tour de 'Tooth

Inspired by a ride Jeff conceptualized last year, three of us set out with the goal of riding every trail** in Horsetooth Mountain Park yesterday. The weather was ideal; sunny and almost 60. But sooner or later winter will be here and this ride felt like a bookend on the season.

**Note for sticklers: only bike-legal trails, not all service roads, and we ended up missing small sections of Stout and Mill Creek.

The intended route looked like this:
We only made one revision: we bailed on the upper Stout loop at the end as we ran just a bit short on time.

In case you think I might be fibbing about the beautiful day, evidence:

It was easy to grin early on:
Bikes being ridden:
And a great feeling at the finish:

Warm Up Day

Took advantage of the Veteran's Day holiday and headed up to the pass to have a look around. Didn't know if we'd be hiking or skiing, but ended up being the latter. Still early season and the snow is thin, but we hit it on just the right day...

Socked in:


November doing a very good impression of December.
Exhibit 1:

and Exhibit 2 (staring Bob):



TW locks the heel (boooo!)

and the cameraman (photo by TW)

And for the grand finale, a moose:

Seven (!)

M turned seven (!) last week.


Zero:

Seven:
We held the big shindig on Saturday.

Highlight: S takes Z out for the count. :)