Catamount Reservoirs

I started to write a post with pictures from the three weekends this month I spent camping, but today’s hike was interesting so I’m writing it up while it’s still fresh. Also, I’m playing with photo editing software, so some of the pictures in this post are cropped and/or have the color balance adjusted.

My first choice for a hike today fell through (I couldn’t find parking within half a mile of the trailhead…) so I ended up in Green Mountain Falls to hike up to the Catamount Reservoirs. I parked by the pond, which had ducks in it:
Ducks

From town it was a long hike up the side of the valley. I passed a few groups of people lower on the mountain (including one with a dog that just didn’t trust me, he had a hard time getting past me because the trail just wasn’t wide enough to stay back from me), but once I passed the waterfall (pictures of that later) I didn’t see anybody else out. There were a couple spots with gaps in the trees to look down and see the town:
Green Mountain Falls

Once I hit the top of the ridge the trail descended slightly to follow the creek through a remarkably green meadow (picture not taken by the creek, that section was too overgrown to have any sort of view):
Garden of Eden Meadow

As the trail exited the meadow I passed a national forest boundary sign, and shortly after that the trail dumped me out on a road. The Catamount reservoirs are dammed and used as part of the city water supply, so there are a number of utility buildings and maintenance roads downhill from the dams (which is where the trail from town is). Also, the reservoirs are also accessible to the public for fishing and boating (at least kayaks and such) so there were parking lots and restrooms nearby once I finally found my way to the water.

Last weekend we hiked the crags, which I believe ends up on top of the large diagonal piece of rock to the right of this picture:
Crags

Obligatory picture of Pike’s Peak, too bad the water wasn’t smooth enough for a reflection:
Pike's Peak

During the vast majority of the hike it was overcast, though thankfully there was very little rain. This was one of the few sunny moments
Sun on the water

Public access to the reservoirs stops at 7pm, which was unfortunate because I didn’t actually get there until about 6:30. I didn’t get sent off by the park ranger who was driving around making sure everyone was leaving, but I don’t think I made it back to the national forest until about 5 after.

I took most of my waterfall pictures on the way down. With the fading light the shutter speed was slower, so the falling water is a blur instead of a sharp snapshot:

Eventually I made my way back down to where I parked. That bit of water was still enough for a little reflection, though it would have been better had a duck not swam across right before I took the picture (or if I’d noticed at the time and waited to try again):
DSCN1099.v01

Florida Vacation

A couple weeks ago I was in Florida for family vacation. We had some days with good weather:
Arrival

Some bad weather:
Storm

And a great sunrise (the one morning I actually got up early enough to see it):
Dawn

Overall it was a great week, even if the water was too calm for boogie boarding most of the week but too murky for snorkeling (presumably due to the dredging they were doing for beach replenishment).

It turns out the birds were the most interesting part of the week (at least when I had my camera out), especially the heron that would perch on the boardwalk of our house or one nearby to preen itself after the rain. Before I get to that, here’s the one good picture I got of a Black Skimmer:
skimmer

And here are the best of the pictures I took of the neighborhood Great Blue Heron:

Weekend Adventures

We hiked up Mt Herman this Saturday (the back side, less strenuous than the route I’ve taken the last couple of times). I got a few decent pictures of the flowers in the field by the parking lot at the base:
Flower 1

Flower 2

We hung out (literally, I brought a hammock) near the top to eat lunch. This ground squirrel was really interested in what we had to eat but wasn’t willing to come anywhere near us and vanished any time we moved:
Ground Squirrel

Obligatory picture of Pike’s Peak:
Pike's Peak

Second hike of the weekend was up Seven Bridges in North Cheyenne Canyon. The trail follows a stream up the valley, so there were a number of water falls. I don’t know how much farther the trail goes, but we turned back at the seventh bridge.
Waterfalls

Found this one in my yard. Hummingbirds like red flowers, right? It took a week for the level to go down noticeably, but now my hummingbird feeder is empty. I’m wondering if there were strong winds Saturday that dumped it out.
Yard Flowers

I don’t know why, but when I was taking a picture of her Talore looked straight at me and meowed. Picture came out perfect:
Complaining Talore