Jacquie's Journal

Doe, a Deer, a Female Deer

Sam called us and told us to look out of the windoe, and this is what we saw:
She saw us and obligingly posed for me.  They come down from the mountains when it gets really cold and snowy foraging for food and she was nibbling on our bushes - I do hope they aren't poisonous. 

Dam!

The Boston Terrier meet up was only the first of our adventures on Saturday!  In the afternoon Edward, Gary and I went with Edward's Scout Troop on a hike to a beaver pond.  It is situated near Solitude in Big Cottonwood canyon and the trailhead is just yards away from the cabin we rented when we first moved over here.  This beaver pond is one of the largest in the country and the work the beavers have put into it over the years is unbelievable.  I have no idea how old it is, but it must be several decades.

We didn't see any beavers this time. The only time we have seen them there is when we lived in the cabin and hiked up there at dusk.  Mr Beaver came out to inspect the dam and have a swim around.  He was very thorough examining the whole length of the dam checking for leaks.  It was a real treat and of course we didn't have the camera at the time.

It was very peaceful there with only the early wildflowers and a few little critters for company.  We saw a couple of chipmunks but they didn't sit still long enough for a photo shoot.  The pot-guts were a little more obliging.  Pot-guts are like squirrels but with little, short, non-fluffy tails.  They live in burrows in the ground.  They are cute and not too bothered by humans being close by.

	The dam runs all along the right hand side of the pond.  It has become so big and strong that a path has formed across the top.
	That untidy looking heap is the beavers' lodge.
	A pot-gut
	Penstemon?
	Columbine?
	Scouts!
	For those turned on by aspens - you know who you are!  We walked through them on the path you can see and turned back to this breathtaking view.
	We had to take quite a few photos of them...
	There was this one...
	And this one.

It was a lovely afternoon and with record temperatures in the valley it was the best time to get up in the mountains where it was a little, if not much cooler!