Views of a Few Colorado State Parks

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Service oversee the care of 42 state parks, all wildlife, and over 300 state protected wildlife areas.  Here are views of six parks...

Cheyenne Mountain

James Robb - Colorado River

Eldorado Canyon

Roxborough

Golden Gate Canyon

James Robb - Colorado River

Lory - Arthur's Head

The Devil's Backbone Photos

The Devil's Backbone

I love going to the Devil's Backbone in Larimer County, Colorado.  It's a short drive compared with some other places I like, and it's free.  One must pay to enter state and national parks, but the Devil's Backbone is a part of Larimer County's Open Space.  The 2,200 acres on the east side of the formation are open for hikers, runners, mountain bikers and horse back riders.  If you leave from the Devil's Backbone trailhead, you can hike 15 miles to Lory State Park, all on Larimer County Open Space.
   The Devil's Backbone is a 2-mile-long hogback of Dakota sandstone that stands west of Loveland.  The sandstone was originally the shoreline of an inland sea at the time of tyrannosaurus Rex, and cataclysmic earthquakes in past ages have set the sandstone on end.  Some parts of the Devil's Backbone tower 200 feet or more above the ridge that the geological formation appears from.  The sandstone has weathered into angular arches, and many photographs have been taken of the Keyhole, a now famous sunrise photo spot.
   The Backbone is the nesting area for a number of raptors, and the trails closest to the rocks are occasionally closed during nesting season.  Red-tailed hawks, great horned owls and barn owls are frequently seen in the area.  It is also the home of mule deer, elk, black bear, and mountain lions.  If you are a lover of plants and flowers, more than 120 species of plants have been identified within 100 yards of the trails.  In the spring, you might be able to see the rare Bell's twin pod, a yellow flower that is found in very few places in Larimer, Boulder, and Jefferson Counties - and no where else in the world.
   The Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute tribes of Native Americans lived and hunted in the area for many centuries.  Many tribal artifacts have been found in the area.  Since the sandstone was once a part of a sea shore, many fossils of ancient sea creatures and fish are to be seen.  In early settler days, the skeleton of an ancient American elephant with 5-foot-long tusks was found.  This skeleton is now in Chicago's Field Museum.
   And I have to admit that if I approach the Devil's Backbone in fog, or a snow storm, and can only see a few parts of the huge formation, I can easily believe that some monstrous thing is rising out of the earth, and shaking free….   I easily understand why it was called the Devil's Backbone by the early white settlers.

More Odd Animal Friendship Photos

A Night At the Caucus - Or Primary vs Caucus

As I stated yesterday, I spent the first voting years of my life in either Florida or Virginia.  In both states, one visited a designated precinct's polling place, signed in, and went to a voting machine to make one's vote.  When I moved to Colorado, I was initiated into the role of the Caucus.  I didn't know it, but Colorado had used Primary elections in the past, and changed to the Caucus venue to save an estimated $3 million in cost per Primary.
   The Republicans in Colorado held a non-binding straw caucus last night, in some areas, while the Democrats were holding their Caucus.  I went to my place of Caucus, Boulder High School, and, after waiting 3 hours, and having been assured (at the beginning) that my vote would count, I was one of hundreds, possibly thousands, that were turned away.  I was very upset and angry.  In counting the non-binding straw vote, Repulicans largely supported Trump; while in Longmont,  from a precinct with a voter turn-out of 20, two voted for Trump, and there were nine votes each for Rubio and Cruz.
   At 1 a.m. this morning, the Boulder Democratic committee stated that during last night's Caucus, 23,568 votes were cast - 63% for Bernie Sanders. 36% for Hilary Clinton, and 1% undecided.   But the Democrats also stated that they were completely overwhelmed by the voting turn-out and had very badly underestimated the interest in this year's vote.  (They had planned for a turn-out of 15,000 or less.)  Hundreds of people at my sister's caucus site, Centennial Middle School, were turned away.  My room mate Beatrice and I were turned away, as were many other hundreds of voters at Boulder High School.
   The Boulder County Democrat Party has apologized to those of us who were unable to vote.  I think that,perhaps, Colorado should go back to a Primary voting poll rather than a caucus, in the very near future.....  Colorado uses mail-in ballots, or one can deposit them into repositories at several locations.  At least that way, I know my vote would have been counted - as it was not last night.

Assateague and Assorted Photos

Ruddy Turnstone

Assateague dawn

Wild turkeys

Assateague sea star

Cleveland bay foals playing

Odd pairs of good friends

1880s snow-roller in the state of Delaware

Super Tuesday - Time to Caucus

If you live in the United States, and it's the designated day for your state to either vote in a primary election, or gather in a caucus, please do so.  If you are a Republican, please go out and vote for any one other than Donald Trump.  If you're a Democrat, please vote for your choice of candidates.  As an American citizen, legally of age, and registered to vote, you are being incredibly stupid if you do not express your choice for the candidates running for President.
  I make no bones about the fact that I'm a born-and-bred Democrat.  My husband was a card-carrying Democrat, and both of my parents were registered Democrats.  Dad was the son of a farmer in Kansas, Mom was the daughter of a waterman on Chincoteague Island; my husband was the son of a plumber in Alexandria, Virginia.  And I'm currently living in Colorado.  As an adult on the east coast, I am very used to voting in a Primary election; a caucus is still something new to me, here in Colorado.  But tonight, I'll wander across town to Boulder High School, sign my name on the rolls, and, for the third time, participate in my voting precinct's caucus.
  People in what were British Colonies in America, and which became the United States of America, have fought and died for the right to vote since 1774.  At first, only white men who owned real estate could vote; it has been an up-hill battle ever since for people of color, and for females, to be able to vote freely as a citizen of our United States.  As a white, lower-middle-class female, born into the late Baby Boomer generation, I've been extremely lucky in having "my rights" handed to me.  I've always had a birth certificate, and I was given a Social Security number when I was 13 and began to work part-time.  When I was old enough to drive a vehicle, I earned my first photo-identification, my driver's license.  I've been able to conquer the world with those three items - a birth certificate, a Social Security number, and a photo-ID.  I'm very lucky.
   I'll declare loudly, to anyone, that I do not like Donald Trump as a Presidential candidate.  He is loud, crass, obnoxious, and a huge snob due to his billionaire status.  He delights in holding a grudge, and "getting back" at (or "getting even with") individuals and institutions that he feels have slighted or insulted him.  I just don't want this man to represent my nation, and me, before other national governments.  I feel that Trump, if elected, will make America the laughing stock of the world - and I will not enjoy that status.
   So, fellow Americans, if you are a registered voter, and if you want a "say" about how our country is run, and today is a voting or caucus day in your state - go out and vote.