Spring Is on the Way

Considering that I haven’t posted about nature in a bit, I thought I would give a quick update about the onset of spring here in BV. Last weekend I was fortunate enough to spend both beautiful days outside, on the river and on the rock.

On Friday afternoon a group of us ran the fractions from Elephant Rock to town. What a gorgeous evening. At one point a massive great blue heron flew up from the river side and caught some airborne bit of food in an abrupt aerial maneuver. This majestic creature then flew South only to return, circle over me and head off again. It was wonderful to have such a close encounter with my namesake.

Saturday Katie, Mike, Chad and I did Pine Creek/ numbers. A gorgeous day again, and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting back and watching the scenery pass as I floated downriver. I’ll often be similarly distracted by the scenery behind the wheel, and I’ll just say that Katie is not a fan of this. I can’t say I blame her. But on the river I was free to gaze up at the granite formations to the East and observe the various tree varieties sinking their feet into the water at river’s edge. Turns out that Douglas Fir are quite common in the Riparian corridor. A beautiful tree easily identified by its cones; below each scale extends a three-pointed “bract” which to me looks like a dragon’s tongue.

Saturday afternoon Andre and I went climbing at the Pleasure Dome in Four Mile. Another gorgeous location. This west-facing crag was warm and the climbing was fun. I did some exploring up a small gully to the South of the main routes and was greeted by two ravens intent on defending their territory. Although there were some good looking routes up there, I decided not to harass the locals whose vociferous squawking could have conceivably turned into aerial assaults. I was particularly struck by two ancient trees growing here. One was a Ponderosa whose trunk diameter was considerably larger than the diameter of my arms (yes, I engage in tree-hugging from time to time). I have no idea the age of this old sage, but it has seen many seasons come and go. Another massive Douglas Fir perhaps even larger than the Ponderosa grew in the Raven’s range and may have even housed their nest. I would have embraced it had the raven’s not made clear that it was their territory.

Finally on Sunday Andre and I made an extended personal first ascent of Davis Face in Four Mile. This four pitch climb was really fun and also pretty epic considering the 20-30 mph winds we were encountering. After a week inside in Boulder, my weekend at home and in nature was much-needed therapy. Spring is on its way and although the Cottonwoods and Aspens aren’t leafing out yet, the wildlife is active and the days are long and warm. Stay tuned for updates on the plants popping up here.