Skiing in Mid-May. Flattops Wilderness Area

Here we are up at West Elk, the snow is tapering off but we'd guess there is a good foot in most places facing North.
ahhh... a nice campfire with some good food cookin'. Doesn't get much better.
We snowshoed up the real steep stuff. This is looking North into the Flattops Wilderness. I'd say we're at about 9500 ft. in elevation.
workin' hard to elevate!
Kenya usually leads the way!

Callie often found her way into the bare tree wells.

Just having a little fun

Not sure if XC Skiis are made for this!?!

a clean landing!

An example of Southern exposure...

We both fell a lot this day. The snow was tricky.. it was about 60 degrees air temp.

what a great way to end it! Goodbye!

Enjoying our last weeks of school year

Heidi, Katie, Jess, Callie, and Kenya atop of Mushroom Rock.
Log ride! or trying...Sopris looms in the background...
...maybe we'll hike that next ;)

A job well done Kenya.
Pondering the Colorado scenery... or the wonderful place we work.... hmmm

Morning Walk in New Castle

Things are really turning green out here, it's nothing like it was back in August when everything was brown.
I ran into a fox and tried to follow him for awhile, these little guys are pretty smart. He was trying to play some trick on me, hiding behind a tree... then quick jumping out, or he'd run away over a hill but then come right back towards me to see if I was following him. What a sly fox.
I think this is a female bluebird?

I would guess this is the male bluebird?
I like this picture a lot. This is looking towards Glenwood (West) from New Castle. Doesn't look like it but the picture was taken right in town.

This is a 'mountian' bluebird I think?
We had some fresh snow up in the hills this morning, probably one of the last times we will see that this year. Here's the hogbacks.

Storm King Memorial Trail

On Sat. May 10 we decided to hike up Storm King Mountain, known for the famous South Canyon Fire which claimed the lives of 14 firefighters in 1994. The trailhead to this hike is located about 5 miles from New Castle. Along the trail, there are several plaques that you can read leading up to a memorial. From there you can hike the actual footprints of the firefighters as they tried to make an escape. Along the trail we encountered several graves where the firefighters were consumed by the fires. This was a great hike and was very moving. It isn't hard to imagine yourself going through the experience as you follow the trails. A "must do" hike for sure!

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