Steve and Judy's Travels!

We drove to the top of Independence Pass on Saturday. I decided to have my
run for the day at the top, twelve thousand feet. It’s like going outside
when it’s twenty below and you don’t have to, just for the rush. Running at
twelve thousand feet is an instant puff. It’s an immediate level five on
the treadmill stress test. It’s an immediate; “why did I think this was a
good idea?”

A hairy woodpecker. An american dipper. It was a tough recovery from surgery for Annie. Several trips back to the
vet, but she seems to have made the recovery. The biopsy on the lump from
her ear was negative. She is back to her normal charming self, active and
enthusiastic.

The elusive red crossbill…. The elusive Weller Lake. We got directions
to where the red crossbills are the most plentiful, the trail to Weller
Lake. We drove there. We parked. We hiked. We looked. We didn’t find
the red crossbill. We didn’t even find the trail to Weller Lake. We know
it’s there, somewhere. The Broncos suck! We should have kept Frerotte.

Earlier in the week, a drive to McClure pass and a red-naped sapsucker.
This weekend, Independence Pass in search of the red crossbill…

Swarms of chickadees. Black capped chickadees. All summer long they are
dispersed for nesting, but in the fall they get more social and gather up
into gangs. The occasional mountain chickadee. A downy woodpecker. Barn swallows. A green-tailed towhee in the bushes right in front of the motorhome. A new
bird for us.