A Quick Hike

 A couple weeks ago I was really worried that all the fall colors would disappear rapidly (as they do some years), so I dragged the kids up into the mountains to go for a little hike. The vibrant rabbitbrush along the way caught my attention. Most years I am allergic to it, but for some reason this year it hasn't bothered me. (Ragweed, however, is another story.)

 We stopped at Mather Overlook, but I had a hard time getting the photo I wanted. The sky was overcast and kind of blah, but there were nice colors scattered all around.

 As we continued higher, I just got more excited by the colors. I stopped, hopped out, and looked for scenic vistas to capture to remember of all the color when we soon enter the monochrome season of winter. My kids weren't nearly as impressed. Someday they will be.

 The sun peeked from behind the clouds to dust these aspens with a few rays as we drove by.

 I was grateful that hardly anyone else was on the road, as I kept stopping to take more photos!

 This dead limber pine is one of my favorite trees in Great Basin National Park. It's just past the Wheeler Peak summit trailhead.

 Finally we reached the parking lot and got out. You can see how excited my kids were. Desert Girl was really tired, so I knew there was no point in even trying to get her to hike. Instead, I put her in the stroller.

 Soon Desert Boy was feeling better.

 Even Desert Girl managed a hint of a smile.

 This aspen tree is part of the reason I wanted to go up there. I love how it curves.

 Desert Boy even helped me with a smile.

 We decided we had enough energy for  a walk through the campground.

 But first I had to run and get a different camera battery and couldn't resist a photo of the trail to the amphitheatre.

 It was so incredibly beautiful that I wanted to dawdle and spend as much time as possible. However, it was a little on the chilly side.

 I tried experimenting with more creative compositions. I figure if I take enough photos eventually I'll end up with something good. I need to learn to be a little more aggressive with the delete button on the computer so I don't fill up the hard drive too fast.

 Desert Boy really enjoyed pushing his sister, and she was content. She just let her feet, encased in cowboy boots, dangle, as it was too much work to put them on the footrest.

This has to be one of the prettiest campsites anywhere. We're going to have to try to stay there--next summer! I'm not too eager for camping in freezing conditions!

Fire Revegetation

Not far from us we had a wildfire this past summer in a sagebrush habitat. You can see some photos of the fire on my friend Jenny's blog. I was going past the other day and decided to stop and take a closer look at what's coming up a couple months after the fire.

The raven had a high vantage point as he looked out over the charred landscape. It was clear that a lot of green was making an appearance.

Bunchgrasses were coming up from the roots. Apparently the fire was fast enough that it left some of the roots intact.

The bunchgrasses were fairly extensive.

I was surprised to see the wild rose emerging. Rose comes up quickly after a fire, but the reason I was surprised was I hadn't known it was there before!

Skunkbush was also emerging in one area.

Desert Boy was happy because he found a bone, and it was slightly charred on one end.

Prickly pear had burned, but small new prickly pear pads were starting to pop out of the ground.

Fortunately I didn't see any cheatgrass. It will undoubtedly come, but it's nice that some native plants have a head start.

One other plant I saw a lot of was this heron's bill. It's sometimes considered to be a weed, but at least it's keeping the ground down!

It was really fascinating to see what's coming up, and I'll have to take a look again and look for changes.

A Strawberry Stroll

 We wanted to find some bugling elk, so we headed up Strawberry Creek. The end of the road has been closed all summer, and you can see by Desert Boy's expression that he wasn't too thrilled about walking.

 So it started out a little more like a drag than a stroll. But we persisted. Actually, I had the idea that this nice autumn day could be a good day to take a family photo, so we gave it a try.

 The disgruntled looks don't make for an enchanting photo. Oh, well, onwards.

 The feel of autumn was really in the air. I love this time of year--we're about to quiet down and have some time to relax!

 I think some of that eventually soaked through to the kids, as they calmed down and started finding things to enjoy. Desert Boy was entranced with the beetle galleries on a piece of bark.

 Before long, Desert Girl was even interested.

 At the end of the road we reached the reason the road was closed: a new parking area.

 On the other side we crossed the very long pedestrian bridge.

 We tried again for a family photo, but it didn't work out so well. At least this one of Desert Girl and Daddy turned out decent. While my husband and kids amused themselves with the creek, I walked a little farther, still with hopes of seeing some elk.


 I didn't see elk, but I saw lots of sagebrush (and tried to get a sunflare photo for a photo challenge).
Eventually it was clear that the elk had moved on, so I turned around and headed back.

 On the way I saw a sudden movement across the trail: a snake slithered across, with something in its mouth. How cool!

 The snake had caught a rodent, and she moved quickly to go enjoy her treat.

Back at the bridge it was time for me to play in the stream and my husband took some photos.

 The kids had gotten pretty happy after playing in the water for awhile. And they weren't even too wet!

Even though we didn't see any elk, it was still a nice family outing. It was also interesting to see how the leaves hadn't changed much, even those the ones at higher elevations were very colorful.

Bountiful Garden

 Our garden has been rather pitiful this year due to deer, insects, and much more, hence I haven't shared it on this blog. Fortunately, some friends at Home Farm have had a bountiful garden this year, with more than they can use. Today Desert Girl and I went and visited their garden, which Desert Girl called the jungle.

 Jane helped Desert Girl pull up carrots. They were beautiful carrots, big and so orange.

 Desert Girl looks like she can't quite believe that under all that greenery, deep in the ground, the carrot was growing! Her expressions during the visit were hilarious, as you will see.

 Now Desert Girl is helping Laurie. It's hard work pulling up those carrots!

 Laurie had washed one carrot off and was eating it, but Desert Girl doesn't look like she quite believes that you can eat that orange thing right out of the ground!

 Next it was on to cherry tomatoes. Usually Desert Girl doesn't like tomatoes, so I wasn't expecting her to say that she wanted to give one a try. But she was feeling adventurous, and she said, yes, she would try one.

 Jane and Desert Girl try them at the same time.

 Hmmm...maybe not quite what she was expecting!

 I wish I knew what she was thinking here!

 With a half-eaten carrot still in hand, Desert Girl followed Jane to the broccoli. Desert Girl loves broccoli, and she turned out to be very good at spotting it. She wasn't too thrilled eating it raw. But we ate some cooked broccoli tonight--so delicious!

 They still had beets left, so Desert Girl helped pull up some of them, along with a few onions. I think she was surprised at all the varieties of food in the ground.

Swiss chard. Desert Girl is having her horizons expanded! She had such a fun time at the garden and with Jane. Thanks so much! We really appreciate Home Farm's generosity and feel blessed to be able to partake of such well-tended produce. We all ate carrots as a snack this afternoon. Yum!