Monday, June 17, 2013

More Hiking

There are 50+ miles of hiking trails here at Mueller State Park.  This is the trail map.


Before we leave in the fall, we hope to hike most, if not all, of these trails. Highlighted in pink, here is a map of the trails we have been on so far.



We hiked to three ponds on our last two hikes. Last week, we saw Never/Never Pond.



We have been told the name comes from the fact it is never full and never dry. We thought it looked more like a puddle than a pond.

Today, our hike took us to two ponds. Lost Pond is little better than Never/Never.



There was a duck floating around on the pond. I think this is a female mallard.




We probably saw her mate on Geer Pond, the prettiest pond we have seen here, yet.



On last week's hike, we saw two buck mule deer that were growing their antlers. This one was the best looking of the pair.



We also saw these flowers. I think they are some variety of cinquefoil. Anybody know for sure?



Today, we spotted this black-chinned hummingbird.



We also saw several of these swallow-trail butterflies. Since I don't have a butterfly book, I can't identify it more definitively.



As always, the countryside we walked through was beautiful.


What other delights will we find as we hike other trails here?

5 comments:

  1. Wow, you've inspired me to "get out there and hike!" :-)

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  2. The flowers might be prairie rocket, a member of the mustard family: http://www.easterncoloradowildflowers.com/search.htm

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  3. Thanks, Susan. What a cool link for wildflowers! I will use it often.

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  4. That's an ambitious goal, but I think you can do it. I guess you're having pretty perfect hiking weather now.

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  5. Your butterfly looks like a Western Tiger Swallowtail. I dug out my flowers for Colorado book...check out the Rough Wallflower...maybe.

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