The promised snow arrived on schedule, after an early morning patch of rain. Wore a scarf, my grips, and my winter jacket so’s to keep my camera dry. But I forgot that my toothy grips—which are exquisite footwear on ice and deep winter snow-pack—suck up wet snow, creating snowballs under my shoes and adding four or five inches to my height and an unsteadiness to my gait. Every ten or twelve steps I’ve gotta stop and kick off the snow.
(Truly a pain. I vow to remember next time.)
Otherwise a fine wintry hike with dog—other than the fact that I neither saw nor heard a single bird. That is, not until the last three or four minutes of the hike, when I heard the calls of a few.
Then, later, in town, I did get a photo of a bird.
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 9:03 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
2. Northern Flicker (v)
3. House Finch (v)
4. American Robin (v)
Elsewhere
5. European Starling
6. Rock Pigeon
7. House Sparrow
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
