A Great Fall Day at Young Gulch

Almost November and really wonderful weather for a hike up the Poudre Canyon at Young Gulch. On a Saturday, you've got to get there early if you want avoid crowds. I arrived with perfect timing just before 7:00.

The coolness of having multiple cameras on hand:

The Moon at Sunrise from the Little camera...

and from the Big one.

Mostly, a quiet hike. Chickadees, Nuthatches and several Townsend's Solitaires. I focused on the hike and decided to be a slightly less lazier bum than usual and hike the whole trail.

After reaching the trail's end, I happily turned back and headed for home. I was moving and not paying tons of attention when I spotted a light-colored bird across the stream sitting on a branch in the sun:

Oh my gosh, so not-just-any light-colored bird!

My very first [un-assisted] Small Mountain Owl sighting!! A Northern Pygmy-Owl!! Oh MY Gosh. This would be the point at which a great hike became a fantastic hike!

More on the way home:

Clark's Nutcracker making a general commotion

Mountain Chickadee

Exciting Trail Growth.

More photos from today's hike:

Water Play in Breckenridge

An energizing Land Art workshop today had me following light and flow along a small stream. The task was to compose and create (think Andy Goldsworthy or Robert Smithson) but as usual I got sidetracked:

and a little video too:

Getting Outside

On the Photos

One of my favorite questions today: If its fun and easy, is it still legit? Also, if you compose, pick a subject matter and insert yourself in a specific location, is it yours? These questions come from the now long-running dialogue around digital modifications of photos. I love this conversation (a few years ago some photos of mine were criticized because they were beautiful, but un-pure.) I think it's a great, rich discussion. Here's some more, a photographer's take on exploring iphone photography.

As such, a series from today's hike up Deer Mountain 

in Rocky Mountain National Park:

more...

On the Day

My strategy worked! I got to the trailhead at 6:15, before sunrise and before the elk-watching hordes. (It is after all Elk Fest weekend....) Didn't see a soul 'til after the summit, and the hike did me all sorts of good. Granted I wouldn't recommend driving around Estes this weekend, but it was a beautiful day for Fall Aspen viewing and bugling.

Birds and Mammals: Juncos galore, Stellar's Jay, Pygmy and White-breasted Nuthatch, Western Bluebirds and Downy/Hairy Woodpecker. Fox, 1 million chipmunk and some tired-looking Elk.