Love The Signs

5/9/11 There is an update with the last picture.

I do enjoy the old signs along the roadside and in this case it's mostly hotel old and new. Cannot help but to think of the times gone buy and all the stories that could be told. This first one is in Thompson,UT just west of Grand Junction. There might be a couple people living here. Click on the picture to make it bigger and again to make it huge.

This is in beautiful down town Maybell,Co.

I'm unable to separate the two pictures above but the "Lazy X"  motel is in Vernal,UT and I'm  glad to have come across the "Four Winds" which is somewhere in the Four Corners area. The Sweetwater resort is off the Colorado River Road almost in the Flattops Wilderness area. The last picture is not from here and a friends photo from Costa Rica. It's a great picture and it's got plenty signs and a volcano.

Teresa left a comment and she also sent me her picture of the "Four Winds". I'm told it is just outside Durango on the way to Cortez. Thank you for that. Here it is.

Butler Wash Ruins

This is a ruin seen some time ago and wanted to get close to it by coming up the drainage. Did that last week and this turned out to be one of the easiest climbs of several I did last week around Cedar Mesa in Utah.

The easy came after I quit thinking about the best way to get there as it was hard till then.

From The Window II

You never know what you might see from the windows at my work place. It can be similar certain times of the year as with the low level clouds seen in pictures toward the bottom. There are more of these and some better. Next time there will be more green.

None are very recent but I can tell you this. There is just under 30" outside this window now some places more. There's  140 some of snow pack on Mt. Werner. There are 160 maybe 170" just to the north on Buff Pass. A local retired water guy says he's never seen this much snow around and this is not a record snow year. It is very fair to say that we are three weeks behind in things we do outside normally this time of year.

Runoff is going to be very interesting. You can hear the water and the boulders crashing down Fish Creek from 200 yards away easy when it's roaring. Runoff has not even begun. Yes very interesting.

And a sucker hole is just that. You get them a bunch in NW Colorado.

 

Pictures From 4/3/11

Trappers Lake

Trappers Lake is found between Yampa and Meeker in the Flattops Wilderness Area  a distance of about 80 miles that goes over two passes Dunkley and Ripple Creek. Over eight years ago a fire devastated this area as can be seen in the pictures but it is still one of the prettiest places anywhere. The lake is packed full of native cutthroat trout and has a a dozen or so very rustic cabins to stay in plus a couple small campgrounds.

The people who pioneered here were hardy souls at the least as the only way in here when the snow flies is by snowcat or snowmobile. This is where the White River begins and flows west to Meeker. There is hardly any public access to this river as the wealthy own most all the land and they do not like to share. This is a very special area and the poor video is used only to illustrate the size of things.

What Hungry Elk Do

They eat whatever they can and in this case it is the bark off of trees. Elk have never wintered in this area since I've been here. Let's just say it's a long time. We know there's one for sure that did not make it. There is a lot of tree damage like this. It was a long tough winter for everyone and it's not done yet. These animals get to do pretty much whatever they want and that's as it should be. In addition they are on their own as well.

 That's over 30" or more you see here and it's snowing hard right now. The sun will not be seen for several days either. It hasn't been seen that much period. 384 total on the mountain in the back round with 118' sno-pack which is the most I can remember. This run off could be real serious if conditions come together. The picture above was taken Jan 6th and they left the area about two weeks later. The others were taken today.

Spiders But Just Pictures

We take pictures of everything. Spiders don't bother me much and at the very bottom is a feisty one for sure. This particular one is a wolf spider and have to admit a bit of eeee when I saw this I did not know what this was at first and flicked it or something and immediately realized  it was the "mother load" as at least twice as many babies jumped off as what are being carried. This thing was huge. Remember about clicking on the picture to make them bigger.

 

Not the best picture but like the color.

As with this one. Talk about matching colors with these two. The yellow one was brought in to me ans was of course released. Green and a yellow spider. That's cool!

I don't know the name of this one but I'll say it's a type of horn spider. Reminds me of those huge barn spiders back in the mid west  but different and not quite as big. They just keep to themselves and not seen anywhere else except for in the windows downstairs and not up where it's brighter.

Then there is this fellow. He's a jumper and a aggressive defender/fighter. These are a "jumping " spider which there are many of. The short video shows what I mean but you have to watch closely as these guys are quick.

Bones From Yesterday 6/18/09

There are a lot of posts over at OTC and by no means are they all political. There are enough that you don't always remember what you've done. Rummaging around OTC looking for other things you run across things such as this post originally done on 6/18/09. It's good enough to be here and here it's not always the best that gets posted.

What I like about this is the flower pictures. I look at these and just keep looking. Again when clicked on these get bigger just once and that size is huge.

Yea even an old dog gets a bone now and then. I do not fancy myself a photographer or a movie maker of any sorts. I enjoy it a bunch trying to take pictures that are interesting to me and videos that are different as well something not seen else where. It's just fun.

All this stuff was done yesterday in one area. Click on the flower pictures as the clarity is amazing.

I must have columbine myelitis as I do not tire of these flowers and enjoy seeing them in places like this so that is the reason for the video.



This creek is still roaring from runoff. The reason for this video is the intensity of the water and the fact most of the trees are gone having been removed because of beetle kill. Last year the houses would not have been able to be seen. I like the one at the very end.

On a sad note last Saturday a women lost her life in this creek above here. Also on the same day in Wyoming another local lost his life as well in fast and dangerous water in a canoe.



This because you'll not see this anywhere else.



Click on these and take a good look and maybe try one for a screen saver for a day or so. The centaurea/mountain bluet in the first picture have been battered by rain and some hail. This is my favorite color of blue.