PHOTOS FROM OUR WORLD
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Many people are curious about where we live and
why we live where we do. We offer these photos to answer those questions. We
recognize that living eleven miles from a paved road is not for everyone, but it suits
us! Have a look! It is all photos and will take a while to download.
I am going to start writing an occasional
newsletter to be called Life in Mountains. I will publish when I have something to
tell about and when I have time. Send me an email if you would like to receive this
publication. Be aware that is will be pronature, opinionated (mine), and no doubt
biased. I will feel free to state my opinions on any topic that occurs to me at any
particular time. I plan to write about what daily life is like at 9.700 ft is an
isolated located with frequently just the birds and animals for company. If you are
interested, let me know. Just tell me that you want to be on the Life in the
Mountains List. Liz opal@opalopal.com
We plan to do a series of photos of the changing
aspen trees this coming month and put them on the web site so plan to come back and share
fall with us. These photos are being posted on the new Fall in
Colorado page. Check it out.
The older photographs on this page have been
reduced to save loading time, but you may CLICK on them to see the
enlarged view.
September 5, 2000
The sunset from September 5, 2000 taken from the deck. Silverheels
is to the right just out of the camera's view.
This photo was taken just after sunrise. This effect
has to be the inspiration for the "purple mountain's majesty" that is so
familiar.
I startled this little chickadee as I was walking around taking photos
of leaves. I snapped his photo just as he was about to fly away.
Walking in the woods taking leaf pictures also gave us a picture of this
little guy. He is a pygmy nuthatch and is our smallest bird other than the
hummingbirds
August 30. 2000
During the summer of 2000 we have counted eight
different "adult" bears that have been on our property. There is a
possibility that one of those is a duplication, but we cannot be sure. One of those
bears was a mother with two cubs, so that make a total of 8 or nine different bears that
have been around our home this summer. They will continue to possibly be around
until Thanksgiving according to the Forest Service literature, so we always allow for
their possible presence. So far the vast majority of the bear visits have been at
night so there has been little opportunity for photos, but recently we had one
particularly cooperative little fellow who came three different times during the course of
one day creating many photo opportunities for us. We estimate the age of this bear
to be about two years.
To give you an indication of size the blue block
holding up the bird's water dish is 8" square.
Right after I took this photo he knocked over the
bird bath dish.
This is a golden mantle ground squirrel.
They will soon hibernate for the winter They will come and eat from
your hand if you offer something they like.
This little guy is called the least chipmunk.
And the bear came by again. Can you see part
of his claws? I know the photo looks as if I am standing right in front of him, but
trust me, I am not. I am upstairs in the house photographing out of the window when
it comes to these guys. This is the same little bear
from above by the way. No doubt this starts to give you an understanding of why we
pay so much attention to their whereabouts. The large ones are four times this big
and not too good humored if disturbed.
We went out for a drive on April 2, 2000 and took
the photos below. This is what April looks like in our area.
This is a view of the Kenosha Mountains.
This photo was taken on the North side of
Silverheels which is the mountain that we face. This is the area "behind"
Como Colorado more or less between Silverheels and Boreas.
This is another view taken looking toward the
backside of Silverheels.
On the way home we took this photo of a storm
coming in. We got another six inches of snow overnight as a result of this storm.
March 13, 2000
Have a look at our most recent photo from the front
of our house. That is Silverheels in the center covered in snow. March is one
of our snowiest months in this area.
This is our studio/house as it is situated in our
world. The studio is the level below the deck and is totally separate from the
house. The mountain in the center is Silverheels. The large mountain to the
left of Silverheels is Mount Sherman. Silverheels is approximately 13,800 foot
elevation and sits just in front of the Continental Divide. The mountains visible
behind it are on the Continental Divide. September 1999.
A little closer view of Silverheels.
September 1999.
Overnight it will sometimes snow on the mountains,
but miss us. We actually had a light snow, but not enough to show up in the
photo. September 1999.
Another view of Silverheels. The sun comes up
from behind the house and always baths the mountains in light before lighting the
landscape immediately in front of us. This is an early morning photo. November
1999.
This is one of our glorious mountain
bluebirds. When they start appearing on our deck rails, it is a sure sign that
spring has arrived.
Another creature that we do not see over the winter
is the little guy below.
We all call them chipmunks one of our Rocky
Mountain animal books calls them the Least Chipmunk. This little one is busy
eating a sunflower seed on our deck. P.K., our cat, sits at the glass door and
watches their comings and goings with great interest.
Can you guess what kind of animal made these tracks
in the snow overnight?
When we have fog during the night, as we frequently
do, the trees, grasses and everything else gets coated in a layer of frost as the moisture
freezes onto them. We wake up in a crystal ice world that is quite beautiful. When
the sunshine hits the coated branches, grasses, etc., all sparkle like
diamonds. I have never been able to successfully photograph the effect, but
this gives you one small idea of what it looks like.
These are three bull elk that strolled past our
home on a Sunday morning about a month ago. We were surprised to see that they
had not yet lost their racks. These guys annually shed their racks and grow a new
set.
Elk frequently wander by in front of our
house. This is part of a small herd that came by one morning this fall.
September 1999.
The deer are also regular visitors. October
1999.
Here is a deer track in the soft soil at the side of our street.
This is a photo of a badger hole. The hole measures at least one
foot across. This one is just a few yards behind our house. The occupants are
not pleasant and dislike people. So we leave them alone and they leave us alone.
They are a hazard to all of the little ground animals around our house and would be
a hazard to P.K. if she were allowed outside.
Albert is a golden mantle ground squirrel busy
stuffing his checks with bird seed.
This is not a very good picture of one of the bears
that frequented our house this summer.
They come and raid the bird feeders.
This is a much better photo taken by our
neighbor. He had hung the hummingbird feeder up high to keep it out of the bear's
reach.
We have coyotes all of the time, but they are
difficult to photograph, because they are always on the move.
The magpies are one of the largest birds that come around the house.
They only take a backseat to the Raven, Hawks, Eagles and other birds of prey.
The chase the song birds away from the feeders and eat the food.
This is PK peeking at you. If you came to see
us this is probably all you would ever see of her.
This is a photo of Liz in our booth that we
use for art shows. If you have ever seen this display at an art show in the
mountains in our area, you have seen us!
This is Doc in a neighbor's driveway. It is
quite difficult to get a photo of him. It is easier to photograph the wildlife!
We have lots of other types of wildlife in our area
including bobcats, mountain lions, antelope, chipmunks, squirrels, ermine, porcupines,
racoons, badger, rabbits, and many varieties of birds including eagles and hawks. We
will add other photos in time!
If your computer is Java enabled, you can click on
the link below to talk with us if we are on line. If we are not on line, you
can send us an email message. If you are not Java enabled you can talk to us on the
Chat Room Page using AOL Instant Messenger which is available for free.
Gold Rush Jewelry, Bead and Art Company
P.O. Box 635 Fairplay, CO 80440
719-836-2143
719-836-0831
You are welcome to call us. These numbers ring at our home and studio which are located in
the same place. Just place your call at some reasonable hour for our time zone which is
Mountain Time in the United States. You may also contact us by email at any of the
addresses below.
goldrush@starband.net
opal@opalopal.com
sales@opalopal.com
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