Another Rainy Day

Today we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park to check out what kind of hiking trails they had. When we pulled up to get our park sticker the gentleman at the booth told us most trails were still coverd in 50 inches of snow. But we found one that wasnt. On our way up we saw a huge heard of elk, a few new kinds of birds, and some hampster/gopher like things we called "Humphrey(s)." Humphrey burrows multiple tunnels underground - all connected of course - and he scurries around the prairielands popping in and out of different holes. Of course, anything resembling a squirrel and Daniel is all over it, so we'd already had a great day and it was only 9:00!

This guy's actually very vivid blue and black and quite a pest. He was sitting on the elks neck pecking away. But the elk didnt seem to mind.

So, when we did start hiking, we couldnt just stay on the trails. First i'll preface these next pictures and story I am going to tell with how we have been listening to my sisters "The Secret" book on tape series. We decided to test the "law of attraction" by stating out loud that, "we want to see the bones of an animal killed by a mountain lion." So we went hiking up this mountain, and along the way we came across a few ribs, and a huge antler and a few other pieces. Then...we hit jackpot! We basically found what was obviously the boneyard of a mountain lion (or some other large animal eating machine) which was poised overtop a large hole looking like a possible kitty-den created by large boulders. The pictures dont really tell the truth very well, but there were two spines with attached pelvis', femurs still attached to lower legbones, plenty of ribs, an antler, etc. We thought it was sweet.

Antler found on our way up the mountain/foothill?

Our trail...from the viewpoint of the lions den (we think).

Just before we found the bones we stopped to rest on a rocky cliff. This was the view looking downward.

And...our boneyard.

the femur (or something) with joint cartilage disc still intact. Sweet. Course i picked it up silly!!! This is the same girl who dissected the duck in Andrea's neighbors yard when we were little. :)

One pelvis,

two pelvis...

No mountain lions though. You'll all be happy to know we are fully intact and healthy. Tonight we are staying in Boulder and enjoying a regular bed for the first night in 7 days. Happy Easter to you all!

Love,

Marlayna & Daniel