HEAT

It has been so hot here and will be so all week. I've had two days off work and spent most of my time indoors catching up on indoor 'stuff', taking advantage of air conditioning.
Jerry is headed home tonight after spending two days working 'up north' in the mountains at a power house. I finished up all the left overs in the fridge so had to venture out this afternoon to buy food. I'll cook a couple of burgers out on the grill tonight. I have also sliced up a melon and my taste test proves it is an excellent one. The grocery store had a cut flower sale that I couldn't pass up. A big bunch of white roses and baby's breath for the dining table and a luscious bunch of deep pink roses for the bedroom. How the fresh flowers seem to cool the rooms!
The news is on briefly, more wild fires, but the one up in Truckee/Donner is controlled. This winter and spring were so dry, I am afraid we'll be seeing fires until the rains come. Time to turn off the news, I've seen enough.
Looking forward to snow skiing!

Wolf Creek, California

I took over 150 pictures this past weekend. I hope I haven't posted too many. The joys of digital photography! This first one is a shot of the 'golden' foothills, along the western slope of the Sierras.

Along Carson Pass, crossing from the west to the east, there are a cluster of brilliant lakes. I think this was Caples Lake.

Setting up our camp in the woods bordering a grassy valley meadow. Jerry takes great pride in his camp cook skills. Our friend Gene looks on.

The meadow; cattle spend summers here, fattening on the lush green grass. We had to drive over the Carson Pass, South along the base of the eastern slope for an hour, and finally quite a distance up and deep into the eastern side of the Sierras to reach this uninhabited area.

Viewing the meadow as our horses climb higher along the trail into the mountain wilderness.

Higher still! We are just starting on our Saturday ride. On the lower right you can see "Rock's" ear and the narrow trail.

The trail climbed to a summit and followed it for several miles. Looks like Jerry was trying to point something out down in the canyon.

Granite surfaces are common in the mountains. These were fairly steep and slick on our trail Sunday morning. We were all a bit more cautious today as one horse in our party had fallen Saturday and was wedged in a tight crevasse. The rider was a bit bruised, the horse OK, after Jerry and I used lariats to roll her over so she could get back to her feet. Sorry no pictures of that!

Another breath-taking view as we reach another little meadow after climbing trails for over an hour. Jerry, Sharon, Julie, Larry and Gene.

A not-so-clear picture of riding in the mountain forest. The trails were dusty, especially for the photographer riding 'drag'.

You probably can't appreciate how high we are above Wolf Creek along this narrow rocky trail. There were trout in this river. Larry caught quite a few Saturday night. Wouldn't you know, I neglected to pack my fishing gear this trip!

Rugged beauty! The eastern slope of the Sierra is much more harsh and dry than the western side.

I wish you all, who enjoy the wilderness and outdoors, could share these wonderful trips and places with us. I hope in some small way, through my pictures I can share this land that we are so blessed with.

Meet Jerry

One month Anniversary!
This one is about Jerry, you don't know him very well yet, since we live on the other side of the country.
So here's Jerry........



He is quite a 'horseman'. Here he rides 'Remington'.



He enjoys rodeo, and I like his wranglers.

He sets up a fancy camp and cooks wonderful camp vittles. And I like his chaps.

We share a love of the wilderness and the mountains.

Jerry and his son J.J. smiling, despite the freezing temperatures in Colorado.

Kind to all animals, horses and whatever that is ... a)odd canine b)sheep c)goat???

Handyman, always willing to tackle chores.

Taking time to 'smell the roses'' or nap in the lupine.

A fun grandpa!

Took me to Colorado skiing, soon after dislocating his shoulder and couldn't ski himself.

Un'BEAR'ably Adorable

This was a perfect weekend. Awesome country to explore. Compatible riding buddies. Good horses. Blue skies and comfortable weather. I'll share all that later. This post, I want to focus on the cutest experience of this trip.

All weekend there were 'reports' from fellow campers of glimpses of a small bear scurrying about the area we set up in. Saturday night we were star gazing and enjoying the shooting stars when one horse out in the meadow acted up a bit, the owner checked the horse and claimed to have seen 'the bear'. We organized an impromptu bear hunt (recall those snipe hunts), laughing and stumbling about in the dark, we weren't too surprised not to find 'the bear'.

Sunday morning a small group of us headed out on a ride before breaking down our camps. My cowboy, the mighty 'tracker', was ahead scouting out the area as we headed out. He knows of my great desire to see bears/ cougars/wolves/big foot..... while out in the wilderness.

He soon hollered back to us, "HURRY, run this way! BEAR!" All hesitated to dash forward, I am sure that all were thinking the same as I, "CRAP, do I really want to see 'the bear' up close and personal while on a horse...." Jerry yelled again, "KATHY, get up here!" So, thinking we haven't been married long enough for him to wish me harm, I urged "Rock" into a trot (note-not a gallop) and passed the others to join my craz-- I mean 'cowboy'.

Following are a few photos of the tons I snapped of 'the bear' .








Our bear turned out to be just a CUB. She was thin and no momma bear around. As we rode closer to her, she started up a tree.




She started climbing down again so Jerry 'woofed' at her a few times and she climbed back up.

We were on the far side of the tree and encouraged the others to come closer for a look at 'the bear'. All were relieved the cornered beast was merely a CUB. No sign of a momma bear anywhere.

She made it up to the nearest branch and settled down, I think she was trying to be invisible.




We all rode closer for a better look. She was very cute! Our horses were a bit jumpy at the scent of bear. 'Rock' had seen her scramble up the tree and she kept prancing about trying to look behind the tree.



She shifted about so we could admire her lovely markings (or possibly scouting out an escape route).

We admired her for a few more minutes, snapped a bunch of pictures, marveled at our luck to get so close, and worried about how such a tiny lone cub will survive the harsh mountain winter.




As we rode away, we saw her climb down the tree and rush off into the woods.

My New Stuff

OK, I 'really' did not marry my cowboy for the truck, trailer and horses, but heck; they sure are pretty, aren't they?

While Jerry is on the road today, I'll be getting everything together for a weekend in the mountains. We're going with the riding club, to an area we haven't camped or ridden before, "Wolf Creek", on the eastern side of the Sierra, south of Markleville. It is a wilderness area, no water so we have to haul in our own and drinking water for the horses. There is a 50 gallon water tank in a corner of the horse trailer. Supposedly there is a creek nearby, if it hasn't dried up yet, we can water horses there too. Also a large meadow nearby and we can hobble the horses for grazing. This is a protected area and regulations say you can only bring in certified 'weed free hay'. The idea is to keep all vegetation out except which is naturally found, good idea but I think someone forgot that bird droppings disperse all kinds of weed seeds! Shoot the birds? I'll get to the feed store today and pick up hay cubes or alfalfa pellets, since we have no local certified weed free hay.

My list of 'things to do' to get ready for horse camping will keep me busy for much of the day. It's a good time to get started, temps are in the 60s, skies are clear blue and there is a nice hint of the 'delta breeze'.

Scrolling

The previous post will require you to practice your scrolling skills. Sorry about that but I cannot figure out how to eliminate the vast emptiness between pictures. Any help appreciated.

Revisiting Michigan

MICHIGAN SUNSET


It sure takes longer for me to recover from trips than it used to. I thought my post-Michigan 15 hour sleep fest had me all refreshed, but the 10 hour work day yesterday was brutally exhausting. I saw the typical cases of itchy skin, a few diarrheas, and an assortment of tumors. The worst case was a small kitty that had been snake bit, not just once, but twice. One bite on her face and the other on a back leg. The owner insisted it absolutely could NOT be snake bite, but it was, and poor little kitty sure was in pain and doing poorly. We referred her down to Sacramento for evening care.


Today I'm planning to run errands and get everything ready for the weekend trip to the mountains; camping and trail riding. Somewhere I have a list of supplies that I started when I camped for a week last month.


Now I will attempt to post pictures taken in Michigan. This may take me a while... please forgive my mistakes, it may take me some time to learn.



Enjoying refreshment at the local watering hole.

Donde es mi cervesa?

The younger set learn some important life skills.





Lake St. Clair 'rocks'! Thanks Dave

I had a tough time chosing pictures to post.

There are some priceless family portraits.

WHICH do you prefer... THIS ONE?






OR THIS ONE?

I love this 3 generation photo BUT.........

This one is much more entertaining.

I'll close with the lovely guest of honor!




LOVE YA TAMI!