Stupid cows

Stupid cows.

Stupid cows.

Stupid cows!
Ack! The neighbor's stupid cows are back! The game camera was full of pictures of cows.
Actually the cows aren't stupid. They're pretty smart -- they know their owner doesn't maintain his fences. I'm just saying "stupid" because I don't want to cuss on the blog.
I was gone all day, so the cows had plenty of time to do some real damage. Then they came back again overnight, and were in the garden before it was even light outside. (Nocturnal cows!)
I considered myself lucky not to have to wash the dog this time, though.

Thank You

Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your very thoughtful, kind comments about Terra. Her mom, Sue, conveys her thanks too. Terra's mom is doing remarkably well - she is tough and resilient, but still, of course, so sad. She has been keeping close company with Shanti in the last couple of days - I know Shanti is a comforting presence. This is a photo of me and Terra playing in Marinwood Creek - Terra (r) and me (with the kong, duh!). Me and my family are still a little shell-shocked; losing, really, two of my three good doggie pals here in "homeland" in just two months feels like too much. Mom's going to do a little research on this "hemang...." disease over the next couple of days. Thank you again so much for your generous outpouring of kind thoughts.
Love and Hugs xo,
Sammie and family

Yumzers!

Mom took us to Miller Creek a few days ago, thinking that we needed a run (and we did), but... once we discovered the gifts on the forest floor, we stopped our runnin' to investigate...
These are pretty awful pictures of us, but you can see us nosing around the leaves for something...
And here's a short movie of what we are doing...

And below... what. we. are. nomming. on. Yumzers!

CAMBA Trails - Telemark

Today was the first day of scoping out the CAMBA (Chequamemon Area Mountain Bike Association) Mountain Bike Trail System. The CAMBA trails area located in NW Wisconsin. The Trails System boasts some 300 trails, utilizing paved and grave, roads, fire roads, ski trails, single and double track bicycle trails.
The trail system is divided into "clusters". A cluster will be comprised of a couple of trail heads and the trails emanating from those trail heads. The clusters are located near the towns from which their names come - Hayward, Seeley, Cable, Drummond, Delta, and Namakagon.
Before coming up here, I checked out the CAMBATrails.org web site. Here, you can view and print trail maps. However to ride these trails, I recommend buying the CAMBA Map packages. These maps will be MUCH more readable than the ones coming off your printer!
For a first look at the trails, I selected the Telemark trails of the Cable Cluster. The main reason is that there was no parking fee at that trail head. There is a $5 parking fee at Sawyer County parks trail heads.
Yesterday I stopped by the Hatchery Creek trail head (a Sawyer County park). There you see a location with envelopes and a drop-box for paying fees. The envelopes showed monies went to a ski group and a $10 fee. For me, that is a bit high. So, i stopped in the Hayward Lakes Visitors Center. They called the county and told me the fee is $5. But, this weekend (Saturday/Sunday) all trails in Wisconsin are fee free (guess because its National Trails Day).
Telemark has been a Nordic ski resort out of Cable, WI. Recently the lodge was closed. But the trails are open.
The directions on the CAMBA map is easy to follow as far as parking. I had some problems making sure where the trail starts. I had decided to ride the "Out and Back" trail - a short trail to check out the terrain. The photo above is of "Out and Back".

The topology of the region gently rolling hills. No "mountains" here, but some good climbs.
The trails is a combination of bike trail down ski trail and singletrack. Most of the trail I was able to ride. I should have been able to ride all of the section I rode, had my legs a little weak from the pavement ride a couple days ago. That and not sure were I was going as I was riding on unfamiliar trails.
Telemark trails has ATV, ski, and bicycle trails. Each group going their own way. I started to understand the signage, but did not to go too far. Headed back to the motel after a paltry 3 miles.
Nap time (I had not slept well last night) then dinner at the Angry Minnow (a sponsor of Festival of the Trails). The Angry Minnow is on Hwy 63 about 4 blocks south of junction of 63 and 27. Its an old lumber company office building. The lower photo is of the Angry Minnow.

The prodigal returns

Well clearly it's been a while between posts. I spent a month in Tasmania as planned, and had a great time, but I haven't been able to post about it due to a computer suffering a functionality phobia. Consequently I have some posts to catch up on. The most recent thing I've been dealing with is the usual searing heat that I simply can't stand. As the picture above shows, the haze from the humidity was obvious from the top of Springbrook. It's days like this, when the humidity effectively means the sun doesn't shine properly all day, that are just generally unpleasant.

As it was, I decided to head for the summit of the mountain, knowing that at least the descent would be a lot cooler. It was, too. Officially a climb the size of Springbrook should wipe 6.5 degrees (c) off the temperature, in practice, the gap almost always seems to be much higher than that -- especially if you've managed to cover yourself in sweat on the climb.

With that in mind, I decided to spend some more time on the higher points, heading for Goomoolahra falls on the Eastern side of the escarpment. This place was famous for a drunken idiot walking off the edge of the cliff and falling 100 metres to his death a couple of years ago, and as useful as that event is, I still prefer to focus on the sight of the waterfall next to the cliff face. The views can be even better at a slightly lower point of the falls sequence, but I didn't have time on this particular day. I just had to enjoy what I had, such is life.

Kirby Hall from Gretton

About 4 miles there and back - to the road entrance on Kirby Lane

Kirby Hall in afternoon sunCamera-shy peacock

Pelicans A-Preening … and More

Fort Pickens Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS), Florida
Temps: Lo 65F / Hi 72F (18C / 22C)

Woke up to a golden sunrise this morning … none of the pastel pinks and lavenders of yesterday.

We hurried through breakfast to get out there while the sun was still shining. Didn’t quite make it, but the sun peeked through occasionally, so we’re not complaining. Besides, the afternoon was filled with sunshine, making us a couple of happy campers.

We went our separate ways this morning — I strolled along Pensacola Bay … only 2½ miles (4 km) this time; Mui did a 10-mile (16 km) trike ride. Then we joined forces at home, putting out the awning and enjoying the warm afternoon and light breeze until the late afternoon chill drove us inside.

Since it was a quiet day with not much to write about, I’ll just share some photos from my walk this morning and call it a day.

No mirror-smooth waters on the Bay today.

As the light changes, so does the colors and mood of Pensacola Bay.

We’re late … we’re late … for a very important date.
While these two willets were rushing off to find breakfast …

… this willet was patiently waiting at the edge of the surf for breakfast
to be delivered by the waves.

At least one of these willets isn't going hungry. Can you see which one?

The small shorebirds were busy flitting about and weren’t about to stop and pose for me. The pelicans, on the other hand, having had their fill of the bounty of the bay, were pretty relaxed, preening their feathers near the pier. They were quite tolerant of my presence, allowing me to slowly approach and sit with them for a while.

All of these brown pelicans are juveniles …

… except for the one on the right, which is a non-breeding adult.
I have to admit that is my favorite photo from today’s stroll.

This Portuguese man o' war is not afraid to show its feminine side with a
fringe of pink frills along its sail.

On my way back to the loop E beach access, a cacophony attracted my attention. Several hundred feet off shore there was a bird convention in the making.

All those tiny white dots out there that were raising such a ruckus …

turn out to be gulls (I think Bonaparte’s) keeping company with some loons Mergansers.

The gulls take off in a flurry of white, leaving the loons mergansers behind.
[thanks, Judy for the correction.]

26-second video of Willets feeding; with a snippet of the gull and
loon merganser convention at the end.
(My videographer was off triking, so you’ll have to excuse my amateurish efforts.)

And to show that it’s possible to capture wildlife photos from our campsite …

I heard this armadillo scratching around a tree behind our site. It did not
cooperate for a photo op, but you can make out its head and ears if you look closely.
(Unlike the armadillo we came across the other day, this one stuck around for a
while, and even allowed me to approach within a reasonable distance.)

I found these visitors perched on the top edge of our wetbay door when I opened it.
I thought green tree frogs at first, but they seldom come down apparently except to
mate; so I’m not sure. There were four of these tiny critters, but two of them hopped
away in the time it took me to get my camera. the one on the left is today’s “The End” shot!