Ocala, Florida

I've been in Florida this week helping my Mom out after her second major surgery in just two months. Although this was not a vacation visit, I found time to play while she rested in the afternoons. It's hot here, near triple digits every day! And the humidity is intense in July! So I headed over to Rainbow Springs to play in the crystal clear river. As I was paddling I really wished I had brought my rod. There were fish in every deep pool!
Rainbow Springs State Park is comprised of 826 upland acres, 79 wetland acres, and 15 submerged acres. The most significant natural feature is the first magnitude headspring basin which produces between 400 - 600 million gallons of fresh water per day, forming the Rainbow River. The looking glass waters of Rainbow Springs come from several vents, not one large bubbling spring. The river itself supports a wide variety of fish , wildlife, and plants, many within easy viewing by visitors. The swimming area at Rainbow Springs State Park.In total, the park contains 11 distinct natural communities, including sandhills, flatwoods, upland mixed forests, and hydric hammocks. Visitors are able to see a variety of wildflowers in season; oak, longleaf pines, magnolia, dogwood, redbud, and hickory trees; gray squirrels, red-shoulder hawks, swallowtail kites, barred owls, whitetail deer, and a wide variety of wading birds. The relative peace and quiet of the winter season offers much for the nature enthusiast. There is an interpretive room located in the visitor center displaying historical, natural, and cultural resources of the park. It's a must if you're headed to central Florida.

I also enjoyed early morning and evening bike rides with my sister Terri, who was visiting from Ithaca, NY.

We ate home made lemon meringue pie...

I found and relocated this large, fury spider while I was replacing Mom's mailbox and painting her lamp post! YIKES!

And happily cared for the dogs while I was there...

Presley, a neighbor's dog...

Bethy loves her morning coffee!

Mike and Bethy

Crested Butte:Celebration!

Crested Butte Camping:Oh Be Joyful!

We were fortunate enough to get a camp spot at Oh Be Joyful this past weekend. We hiked, played in the creek and fished some beaver ponds. Alex bought me some new flies and fishin' fixin's and I finally caught one on my fly rod! If I'd been quicker at the draw I could have probably caught 4 or 5 more...Now I'm certain I'll get it!

Forest Lakes Co, Family Backpack

photo credit: alex
After just three days with Dudley Brown we decided we would head up to the Indian Peaks Wilderness and do a backpack to Forest lakes.

There were some firsts for all of us:
Trax: His first backpack trip carrying his own gear at 14 years old.
Dudley: His first backpack trip at just 13 weeks old.
Alex: His first backpack with his very own dog.
Nell: My first backpack since my heart surgery just four weeks earlier. I felt great!

Trax and Dudley watching Alex pull the fish out of the lake one right after another.

Resting in the tent: he LOVED bonding with his pack this way!

photo credit: alex~i was too busy excitedly shouting "ptarmigans! quick! take pictures"~i decided my life long dream of being a wildlife photographer probably wouldn't work out so well...my excitement of seeing all the creatures would get in the way of getting good shots!
On our second day we hiked up above tree line. Living up to his bird dog nature, Dudley flushed out two ptarmigan on this snow field.

Contemplating something~while resting on Alex's Thermarest.

photo credit:alex

This was the edge of our camp spot. It was the perfect place to spend our first weekend together!

Dudley Brown

Meet Dudley Brown. He's a 13 week old Wired Haired Hungarian Vizsla. We've been having a lot fun getting to know each other this week.

Tonight he met Max, a French Bulldog.

They were buddies before we knew it!

And played for hours.

Middle Saint Vrain, CO

Fly fishing is still quite new to me. I've been enjoying getting out as often as possible this summer. Late in the week we went up to the Middle Saint Vrain. The waters are still running pretty high but we found some sweet pools...

where I managed to get a lot of practice in the exercise of getting my line unsnagged. But by the end of the day I was beginning to hear where the water would be good for fishing, feel the flow of casting and see what it takes to make your fly look as real as possible to effectively "trick some trout".

Alex has been a patient teacher with me. As you can see, this comes effortlessly to him.

James Peak Wilderness:Arapaho Lakes Trail

Blue Columbine

gone fishin'

Decisions, Decisons.

Marsh Marigold

Tree Swallow

Walker Ranch Loop

We have been blessed with more rain this spring and summer than I've experienced in the ten years I've lived in Colorado. The results were obvious as I walked the nearly eight miles around Walker Ranch yesterday. Only on the east coast, in the thick, moist, forests and gorges have I seen mushrooms bursting out of the earth like the one's below.