An Early Morning Walk

The other morning I wanted to go out for a walk just as the sun was rising. Henry was happy to join me as we walked across the pasture to the fenceline. 

We crunched on the frosty grass and admired the snow up high. The snow on the mountains always makes them seem so much taller.

We disrupted a raven who had been hanging out on the fencepost. We heard many Canada geese flying off in the distance, along with some sandhill cranes and ducks. 

And then, off in the distance, I saw a small form. Henry stopped and sniffed the air. A coyote watched us, and then another one off in the distance started howling. It was so cool!

The coyote we were watching didn't seem to be bothered at all by us and eventually sauntered out of view. 

Meanwhile, Henry had fun running all over the meadow, letting his puppy energy loose. I think he likes going out on early morning walks as much as me!

Rabbitbrush Seeds

Despite our early snow, the bright yellow flowers of the gray rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) linger, lighting up an otherwise drab landscape.

Many of the flowers are releasing seeds in the autumn. They are dispersed by the wind, and can travel up to 165 yards according to the Forest Service database.

Because this plant is wind-pollinated, it causes allergies in many people. Usually I'm one of those people, but for some reason this year I'm not, and I suddenly enjoy rabbitbrush a lot more.

The tufted seeds look so pretty with backlighting. The seeds only survive one year, and although they don't seem picky about the winter temperatures, they have a narrow range of moistures that will allow them to germinate after the winter snow melts.

Rabbitbrush is always a late-blooming shrub, signifying the end of summer. 

Usually the flowers have disappeared before the snow flies, but not this year! 

Henry

I feel like I've neglected Henry lately. Okay, not in the sense that he's not getting spoiled rotten, because who can resist a cute puppy.  But he's been neglected in the sense that he's been just a shadow in the blog lately. So today here are a few photos of how our little puppy is growing up quicker than a slug crossing a sidewalk. 

Henry loves playing with other puppies, and there happen to be quite a few in town. Here he is romping with Bean. They even take turns going to each other's houses, but they never bother to ask if they can go.

Sometimes the playing appears to be quite rough, but they never seem to tire of it. I love some of their expressions as they tumble and plow into each other.

Okay, maybe they do get tired. Here's Henry after running, playing, and running some more. I've found out that he can run over 20 mph. He thinks it's a pretty good game to run alongside the truck when I drive down to the babysitter's (where he can play with another puppy!).

I'm just not used to seeing Henry look so calm and relaxed, so I had to snap a few photos. You can see that his paws are a little muddy--he is always getting wet and did several laps in the pond this morning to fetch sticks.

Finally he perks up a little. He wants to know what's going on, and if it's worth his bother to get up.

Desert Destination: Zion National Park in the Rain

Every Monday we visit a desert destination.

Zion National Park is one of my favorite places, with its soaring sandstone walls, secret creeks, challenging canyons, and variety of vegetation. My brother Ed came out for a visit, and we took time to discover some of the beauties.

The view from Angel's Landing is spectacular, with the Virgin River far below, curving around the rock outcrop. The hike up to Angel's Landing is also spectacular, as you cling to chains drilled into the rock so that you don't plunge 1,500 feet to your death. I didn't manage to get photos of that clinging part--I was too busy making sure I wasn't plunging! 

Here's Ed, all relaxed. Notice the clouds building in the background. We had originally planned to go canyoneering that day, but the weather forecast was for certain rain, so we decided to stay out of slot canyons and avoid flash floods. The morning was beautiful, though, and we made the most of it by hiking.

Here I am. In the background you can see a couple different layers of rock, red and white, and the far-reaching canyon that extends as far as the eye can see. Because those canyons are so long, it can be sunny where you are and raining upstream. That rain can cause a flash flood into your sun-drenched spot without much warning.

This is the West Rim trail, a scenic area without the crowds on Angel's Landing. The sky looked quite blue behind Ed. But before we got down to the trailhead, the skies let loose, and we were drenched. Then the fun began.

We watched water cascading over sandstone in places we never thought saw water. The water twisted and turned, forming rivulets and then roaring streams of dirty water.

The number of waterfalls was amazing. Some poured nearly one hundred feet off the rocks above.

We were supposed to come out of one of these canyons, so we were really glad that we had played it safe. Besides, the views of all these waterfalls made for a one-of-a-kind experience.

We were even able to get nearly underneath a couple waterfalls.

This is a waterfall at the Emerald Pools.

Don't expect this sight if you go visit Zion. Nevertheless, there is always water around, it's just usually at the bottom of the cliffs, rather than pouring over it!

Photo Caption Contest-We Have a Winner

This is how Henry drinks. I wonder if it will work for me.

Our winner is Germaine S! Congrats! I will get you the packet of beautiful wildflower seeds this week.

It was a hoot reading the entries, thanks to everyone who entered. Below are a couple more pictures of Desert Boy slurping from puddles. I think he really was trying to be like Henry. Or maybe he's just a little strange. Just a little.

I don't think he could have gotten closer if he wanted to. I'm just glad it was a semi-warm day and he could dry out quickly.

One of Desert Boy's chores (yep, have to start them early!) is to feed Henry. Often he doesn't quite get the dog food to Henry's bowl. This isn't much of a surprise, because Desert Boy has a hidden agenda for enjoying his chore.

He 'helps' Henry by picking up the dog food to try to get it back into the container. And it just so happens that he slips a piece of dog food into his mouth in between photos.

"Ooh, did anyone catch me?"