Our obsession with Lost

We. Can't. Stop. Watching. This. Show.

That is all.

Hall Ranch

Jo and I have been so busy with school and work that we have not had many opportunities to go out hiking together. We couldn't take it any longer, and decided to go on a short hike at Hall Ranch, a trailhead in Lyons which is only about 30 min. from our house. I had to be at work at 2:00, so we were tight on time, but we decided to do our best...





This is a very popular trailhead and it can be a muddy mess when there's a lot of rain or melting snow, but luckily, today, trail conditions were good, so we were ready to go.

First though, we had to take care of some business.  And, by business, I mean dumping a squashed squirrel we had picked up on the road on the way over out of the plastic bag it was being kept in and leaving it behing a bush a little ways off the trail.

Don't ask.  R.I.P, little squashed squirrel.


Hall Ranch is a rather arid environment, which is interesting because it's so close to the mountains. The trail goes way back, but since we didn't have much time we weren't able to make it all the way back yonder, to the top of this mesa. Oh, well, maybe another day.







Some random B&W shots of the trail. I am obsessed with dead branches- there is something about them that is just so beautiful to me. Especially when they are in B&W.



We see deer all the time around this area, but this is the first time we've been able to zoom in on them, seesing as we have the Canon now. We took advantage of the zoom lens to capture this youngin'. Jo made a good point: its ears are about as big as they're going to get, even though it has a lot of growing to do.


A few more shots of deer...

And a few more...

I really do wish we had had more time to explore this trail. Like most trails, this one is fairly busy at the trailhead and gets less crowded the farther back you go. We pass by this trailhead all the time, but we really do need to take more time to get to know it better. We did, however, have time to get to know this rock fairly well.




And there's always time for Jo to stop and observe some random detail he finds on the trail.

We came across these two ravens flying in tandem. So fun to watch. The swooped and dived together, and eventually drifted off into the distance.

Perhaps this is where they come home to at night?

Another thing I lovelovelove, besides dead branches, is exposed birds' nests. I like 'em in all shapes and sizes. Little itty bitty nests made of hair and feathers, and bigger ones made with twigs, like this one.

We came across a little stream along the way. Where the water wasn't flowing there was a thick layer of green algae.

And, a few more random shots. A jet and, surprise, surprise; more dead branches!

This is about as far as we got before we had to turn back. At least we got the pretty view before having to turn around.

And these last shots are not as random as you might think. Jo and I are gearing up for wildflower season, and we needed to get an idea of how the Canon would perform with the close up shots. This little succulent was the perfect stand-in for the wildflowers that will follow. We are still figuring out the lens, but with a little practice we should be fine.

Picnic in the Park

It's finally Spring time here in Colorado, after what's been a long winter, so Jo and I decided to celebrate the beautiful weather properly by having a picnic in the park.

Old Mill park is a sweet little jewel of a place, tucked inconspicuously among some of the houses in Old Town Longmont. It's practically our backyard and it takes us minutes to walk there, so it is the perfect place for a picnic. I picked up some sandwiches from my FAVORITE sandwich shop of all time, ever, in the universe: Spicy Pickle. Yup, good ol' SP, as Jo and I refer to it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

With every sandwich, you get one of their signature spicy pickle spears, which Jo seemed to enjoy very much.

I could eat one of these puppies every day for the rest of my life and not get tired of it.

And, to top it off, a couple of colorful Izzies. We cheered to, of course, picnics in the park.

The meal was sososo good, and just as we were finishing Jo recognized someone he knew from the library coming in to the park. For the record, Jo knows half of Longmong from the library; he is forever pointing out patrons he recognizes, or coworkers he works with. Anyway, he called over Ms. Norma Figgs, who is a sweet lady who is one of the park's caretakers.

Even though she was busy picking up twigs and telling little children not to run on the grass, she graciously found time to take us on an exclusive tour of the three cabins in the park.





Here she is with Jo in the first cabin.

And here I am with Jo.

This is the second cabin we toured.

And some randon, old-fashioned artifacts.

The third building wasn't a cabin, but the milkhouse. It was much colder than the other two.

After the tour, Norma went on her way and Jo and I returned to our blanket.

I don't know why either of us planned on playing frisbee after we scarfing down our huge sandwiches, but we ditched that plan and pretty much lounged around and talked before heading home to watch some Lost. Maybe I'll make a post about that, since it's become such an obsession for both of us... More on that later

Wet, Sloppy Snow

Our state is notorious for its indecisive weather, and in true Colorado fashion, the weather decided to dump a buttload of snow, even though Spring is just around the corner. This is what we woke up to this morning... Thick, wet, sloppy snow that coated everything. No light, dainty, delicate snowflakes for us; this snow clung aggressively to everything it could get its icy little fingers on, which I'm sure will wreck havoc on the poor trees, which were buckling under the weight of the heavy snow.

This is what our street looked like.

As you can see, this snow was clingy. As I mentioned earlier, snow that's this heavy is disasterous for the poor trees (not to mention power lines) that have to try to carry its weight. Many don't succeed, and end up snapping. Fun fact for you: did you know that the shape of pine trees is actually designed to shed snow, to prevent this from happening?

Even though it was still early, the snow was already starting to melt and fall off the trees in big clumps. While we were out there taking pics, we had to constantly be aware of the heavily-laden branches we were walking under, otherwise the snow would get the best of us.

I may or may not have requested that Jo give this tree trunk a little kick, just to see what would happen. Consider it an experiment in physics: what happens when a force is applied to a solid object that carries reverberations through to a supply of unstable matter that is full of potential energy?

It really was a winter wonderland...

even if it was a lot of hassle.

Whatever.  Jo and I love the snow, so we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Up next are some random pictures of the snow as it covers the world.

The craziest thing about this day is the complete 180 degree change of heart it had.  It threw its heart and soul into being snowy in the morning, but then it decided it wanted to warm up.  So it did. 

Check out the nutty before and afters.