timing is everything

After lunch, Tom decided to try some of the Blue runs (intermediate). He did great!

Fortunately, we had to leave around 2p -- just about the time that all of these clouds rolled in. I assume it snowed there again after we left, but we were happy to miss the storm.

Tom graduates from the bunny slopes

This photo is near the Nordic Center -- there is a bunny slope where they have lessions, one chair lift, and a good ol' fashioned tow-rope. Up until yesterday, Tom was mainly snow-boarding on this hill.

perfect time of year here

Tom & I are discovering that in the spring time here, we have consistently good weather: plenty of sunshine & great hiking days. But it is still cool enough up in the mountains to have good snow.

So yesterday (before I went to work, no less!) we drove up the mountain, and went skiing. I went x-country skiing, and Tom went snow boarding. It was such a gorgeous day...

another day in paradise

We only hiked about 3 miles (round trip) of this trail yesterday, but it was spectacular.

the Continental Divide

We are feeling so lucky to live here: yesterday, we left the house around 3p, were on the trail at Eldorado Canyon by 3:30p, and were sitting on a mountain side by 4:30p -- snacking on power bars, admiring the Continental Divide. It was a challenging trail for us: the first mile had about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, but it was well worth it. As you can see, the Rockies (in the background) were shrouded in clouds -- but they would intermittently peak out in all their glory....

We were down off the mountain another hour later, and by 7p we were feasting on chicken with chipotle-raspberry sauce (and a salad, of course). It seems to us that you just cannot beath the opportunities that are here to get out and go.

the springing of Spring Time

Yesterday we went hiking at Eldorado Canyon (a State Park near our house). We saw these little yellow flowers -- almost ready to pop open -- covering just about any east-facing hillside. It was so beautiful!

The entire month of March has pretty much been 65 degrees and sunny. I kept telling Tom that I was still expecting one more storm, so I was going to wait until April 1st to pack away my winter sweaters. Yesterday, however, I had some free time -- so I packed up a box of winter clothes for the garage....

Well, joke's on me: we woke up this morning, and everything is covered in snow. Hahahahaha.

a Clark's Nutcracker

Thank you to John for the name-information... and I guess you'd better watch out if your name is Clark!

Is that Tom, or the Charlie's Angels?

Today we enjoyed a beautiful day with our friends John & Robbie at Rocky Mountain National Park. We are so glad that we are only about an hour away from the park -- there's great hiking in the summer & fall, and great snow-shoeing and skiing in the winter & spring.

Today we started out at Bear Lake, then took a short trek up to Nymph Lake. Our last stop was Alberta Falls -- all together we figure we snow-shoed about 2.5 or 3 miles, which was quite a work-out (especially at 9,500 feet).

Say cheese!

Photo opportunity for us at Bear Lake.

Trouble in paradise

Fortunately (for both of us!) Tom thought twice before finishing this one off....

Finally, a photo of Elise!

John says that our blog has plenty of pictures of Tom, but only rare pictures of me. Therefore, he took several snaps of me alone, so that I could increase my "publicity".

alien snow shoe tracks

Ok, I admit -- I digitally enhanced this photo -- but it was hard to convey a white on white image.

We kept seeing these raised tracks -- which I couldn't figure out. John explained it to me: at some point when the snow was deep & powdery, people snow-shoed in these areas. This packed the snow down. Then, as the snow (all over the mountain) melts -- the packed down areas melt more slowly... so you end of with "relief" images of what used to be snow-shoe tracks. Cool.

excellent day for wildlife viewing

We saw several of these birds -- I don't know if you can tell, but his (or her?) tail has brilliant blues & greens. According to John & Robbie, it's a Magpie.

baby elk

my elk has fleas?

Herd of Elk

We saw a massive herd of elk when we were leaving the park today -- this was just one part of the herd. They are definitely unfazed by cars & people. The herd extended probably 3 times this size -- it was awesome.

From a hike in January

Today I just learned how to use the "stitch" program that came with the camera software. I'm sure there are others that need to be done, but I remembered these pictures from a hike we took in January.... and I was so happy with the way it turned out, I just had to post the picture.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Tom and I decided to explore another State Park that is within an hour of our apartment today: Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Our original plan was to snow-shoe on one of the hiking trails. Before we left, Tom called to get some advice from one of the rangers. The ranger told him that this particular trail was fine for hiking; no snow shoes required. So we took off for the park sans snow shoes....

As you can see, we probably would have done better on our snow shoes! But it was still a perfect day, and it was so warm that we didn't mind getting a little wet. We figure by the next time we head out there, maybe the trails will be more passable... but next year, if we go in March, we'll definitely bring the proper gear.

The Horseshoe Trail

Although we would have had an easier time with snow-shoes, as you can see, we still enjoyed a perfectly gorgeous day. You can't beat sunny and 65 in Colorado!

One of Tom's infamous self-portraits

We have become poster-children for hats & LOTS of sunblock....

As far as we could go

This was where we stopped for lunch -- we couldn't really tromp any further. It was well worth the struggle, though -- it was absolutely gorgeous. I think we ended up going about 1.5 miles each way.

Tom skiing

Our friend John took this picture -- Tom & John went to Winter Park this week for some spring skiing. I had to laugh -- John's wife Robbie emailed the picture to me, titled: "Uplifting Tom."

I was somewhat surprised, but Tom told me that he skiied through the infamous Tunnel. Fortunately, there were no trips to the hospital because of it...

Game on!

Tom is living the good life: yesterday, he went skiing (I hope pictures will follow, but I'll have to get them from our friend John first), and today he went fishing. This one looks like a pretty small fish to me, but Tom assures me it is early yet in the season.

Me? I got deposed today -- but that's a whole different story. I'm hoping this lawsuit will all be a thing of the past soon.... I'd rather be fishing.

Goose!

See? Jennifer really can keep her eyes open... much to Henry's delight.

Tom's hired

His new job: DON'T MOVE.

Tom's $1 shirt

Who says Jim has the market cornered on these shirts? And boy, is Tiff looking skinny!

Faster than a speeding bullet....

Look at them fingers fly!

The boys doin'

what the boys do best.

We miss our friends

Thanks to Sarah & Erik, we got to see a bunch of our friends for a little BBQ. It's obvious why we miss Jim & Sheila so much!!!!

We have had great weather for hiking

It's been up to 70 degrees here recently! I took this picture during a hike last week. I'm not sure you can see it, but at about 12 o'clock in the picture, there is a very bright blue-bird. The birds were all over the place, which made for cool accompaniment on the hike.

Tom goes snow-boarding

This is a self-portrait that Tom took about a week ago while snow-boarding at Eldora, which is the local ski resort where Tom has a weekday pass.

More hiking along the Flat Irons

Tom says we've already got a million pictures of the Flat Irons, but I still think they're gorgeous. This photo was from a hike last week -- before we got another couple of inches of snow. Now they're completely white again!