Lots going on at MPEC!

As we are around the mid-point of the summer, there is no lack of activity in Pueblo Mountain Park. Along with summer flowers like goldenrod, Kansas gayfeather, and golden aster blooming (thanks to some badly needed rain the last part of July and the first week of August) and the end of our busy summer camps last week (we served around 200 campers, ranging from kindergartners through high schoolers), we are now gearing up for the start of our Earth Studies program in a couple of weeks (all 1200+ 5th graders from Pueblo City Schools will come to the park 6 full days over the school year for outdoor-based education). And while several bears continue to be spotted in and around the park, construction on the East Wing of the Horseshoe Lodge is moving along right on schedule. Here are a couple of photos of the dormitories and restrooms, all framed with plumbing going in as I write. I project the East Wing (and the entire Horseshoe Lodge Renovation Project) will be complete around mid-fall!

MPEC shifting into summer mode!

We completed our final Earth Studies session of the 2010/2011 school year a week and a half ago, when the 5th graders from Bessemer Academy hiked to the Fire Tower, learned of the fascinating history of Pueblo Mountain Park, and got up close and personal with some flowering plants. This culminated a school year of 1200+ 5th graders from Pueblo City Schools coming to MPEC six full days over the year for eye-opening outdoor-based education (not to mention programs for the Beulah School of Natural Science, PSAS, and several other schools). And now we are about ready to begin our summer camp season, when our first Wonders of Nature Camp for 3rd and 4th graders, and our Greenhorn Wilderness Backpack for 6th - 9th graders kick off a busy summer. Not to give the impression that we only have programs for youngsters, we have a great line-up of summer Nature programs for adults: digital photography workshop, summer solstice drum circle, full moon music hikes, a Women's Walking retreat...check out our website at www.hikeandlearn.org for all the details.

Speaking of Nature, the cool winds of spring seem to be morphing into the toasty winds of summer. We had a bit of moisture in April and May, but the winds, recent hot temps, and a winter of well below average snowfall have the landscape in the grips of a drought that has taken hold of much of the southwest U.S. I just read that this past winter's snowfall overall in the state of Colorado was 249% of average...for the high country. The front range mountains and eastern plains have been dry! In spite of all the dry, there are still some flowers blooming in the park. I've been thoroughly enjoying the low penstemon and golden banner that brighten up my walks back and forth to the office each day, and there's several others blooming out there as well.

Yes, it's dry...but, dryness seems to be a part of the new norm. Dry or wet, there's still much beauty to be found! And lots going on at MPEC this summer!

May begins in a wintry fashion!

I woke to a wintry landscape yesterday morning, May 1, as around 4" of snow fell overnight. Adding in this morning's 0.3", the seasons' snow total is at 74.3". This is 65% of the average 115" of snow that the park has received each snow sesaon over the past decade or so, so we are going into the spring/summer seasons pretty dry. That being said, the park has received exactly an inch of moisture spread over the past nine days, so the wildflowers are receiving some water as spring kicks in. I hope to get out on the trails to take a look, but I expect the recent moisture may have the flowers looking a bit better that I originally thought they'd be this spring, considering the stingy snowfall. Kinnikinnick, larkspur, toadflax, spring beauty, bladderpod, dwarf daisy, chiming bells, mahonia (holly grape), wild onion, sugarbowl, low penstemon...these are a few of what may be adding color to the landscape as May takes hold. I took these photos last evening from my deck across from the park as a snow squall was moving in...as we say, spring snows bring spring flowers in Pueblo Mountain Park.

Spring is exploding in Beulah!

MPEC Board Member Mary Twinem, who lives across the Beulah Valley, emailed this morning that she was listening to the song of the black-headed grosbeak in the soft morning light. The black-headed grosbeak is an attractive migrant that has apparently just returned from its winter grounds south of the border. Its song is one of my favorites, long, sweet and very melodious. The last few May mornings have been magical - plants are greening, trees are beginning to bring forth their leaves, and birds are busy with breeding behaviours: pairing up, claiming or guarding territories through song, nest building, and bringing the sounds of spring to the days. Wildflowers coming into bloom include Nelson larkspur, creeping holly grape (mahonia), and I've been seeing lots of mountain candytuft. May is a lovely month in Pueblo Mountain Park and a great time to pay the park a visit.

A delightful spring afternoon hike!

The temps were not that warm, it was kind of breezy, but yesterday's afternoon solo hike in Pueblo Mountain Park was still a delight to all of me. I first hiked to Devil's Canyon to see some major spring runoff. The video of "Devil's Dribble" (the name of the occasional creek that runs through the drainage) shows the waterfall at about as full as it ever gets (not counting floods from major storms). I then headed up the Northridge Trail. Blooming flowers I spotted along the trail included mountain bladderpod (pictured here), kinnikinnick (with more blossoms than I can ever recall seeing), spring beauty, golden smoke, and mountain candytuft. I sat up at the top of the canyon for about an hour and watched turkey vultures floating by, enjoyed a strengthening sun, and spotted (I heard it first) a yellow-rumped warbler, a migrant that just arrived from wherever it spent the winter.

We have a trails weekend scheduled for May 22/23 where we plan on doing some more work to the Devil's Canyon Trail. It's a great way to spend a day or a weekend, and it is being led by the wonderful folks at Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. Please sign up at www.voc.org - find your way to the Mountain Park Environmental Center project.

Happy trails, Ranger Dave

Easter brings the first pasqueflower after all!

After writing in this morning's blog of my unsuccessful search for a blooming pasqueflower, I walked up the steps from my house (just across the road from the park), and there in the sunny grass was this lovely "Easter"flower. So, the park's should be popping out any day now. Happy spring!

"April, come she will...

...when streams are ripe and swelled with rain" (or, snowmelt). The pond is now about 85% ice- free. The photos show the pond at around 11am today. A morning walk along the park's upper road revealed plenty of blooming spring beauties. I searched for but did not find any pasqueflowers (pasque means Easter in Latin, but the snowy March has many wildflowers, including pasqueflowers, moving slow). Mountain bladderpods are leafed out and are probably not too far from showing their little 4-petaled yellow flowers, and several others shouldn't be too long now either.

The meteorologist-wannabe in me is enjoying the weather lately. We are certainly in a storm pattern...the last 3 weeks have brought just over 46" of new snow, containing over 4" of moisture. Along with the warmer temps, it is no wonder that the park roads, which have received band aids at best for a long time and are in need of significant improvements, are a mess. Several sections need some re-engineering, most need to be re-shaped, and then lots and lots of road-base, and all of this is much more expensive than our current revenues can handle - although we are scheming on what our next step should be for a real solution. To reduce additional damage (and folks getting their vehicles stuck), we have temporarily closed them until they dry out a bit. You can still get to the main parking area by the Horseshoe Lodge to access the park for hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and to experience the emerging spring which is picking up speed each day. The birds have been especially vocal these days - ravens are pairing up, flickers are making a racket with their drumming and loud calls, and chickadees are singing. And all of this snow (we are right at 115" for the season so far, which is an average winter snowfall, and we still have several more weeks of potential snow) should make for a terrific wildflower show this year.

Spring Arrives!

If you love spring, it's hard not to love these splendid May days in Pueblo Mountain Park. Wildflowers are kicking in a bit later than usual, but the last half of May looks like it should be terrific for seeing lots of different species in bloom. Pictured here is Larkspur Violet, fairly widespread in sunny grassy areas among ponderosa pines, but actually quite rare outside of the park. The snag (standing dead tree) sports several cavities (created by woodpeckers over the last few years) and a violet-green swallow on one of the branches. As I was taking this photo, several swallows were swooping around the tree, and a couple of pygmy nuthatches were noisily checking out one of the cavities as a nest site. The green landscape, wildflowers, birds in breeding mode all say spring - what a joy is spring!

Spring Wildflowers!

I took a hike on yesterday's lovely afternoon and was happy to find several blooming wildflowers along the trail. Since February's first spring beauties, the dryness had kept many other species from blooming. But the recent moisture has brought many plants to bloom. Here are three species I saw along the Tower and Mace Trails: mountain bladderpod (the yellow flower), kinnikinnick (white and pink), and Pasque flower (lavender). Bladderpod is a mustard that can bloom as early as mid March. Kinnikinnick flowers become red berries that are a favorite food of bears (it is also called bearberry). And "Pasque" means Easter in Latin - true to its name, it is in bloom as Easter approaches. Happy Spring!

Wildflowers already!

Today's warm afternoon sun beckoned me to head up the Tower Trail, with a particular destination in mind. About this time every year, a few Claytonia rosea (spring beauty) plants decide that spring is too far away to wait, so they decide to bloom right in the middle of winter. I checked a week ago, and found some C. rosea leaves, nothing more. The last few days of very warm weather had me thinking the time may have arrived, and sure enough, there were 2 little flowers, smiling like it's the middle of May. We certainly need lots more winter (snow) so the spring offers a wide variety of flowery blooms, but seeing these little plants in bloom serve as a reminder that the planet is steadily marching towards the spring equinox and beyond.

October color in Pueblo Mountain Park!

October arrives with lots of color - from many flowers still in bloom and leaves as colorful as flowers in their autumn look. I finally have another camera (thank you, Helene) and have stolen a few moments to try it out. Here is some of what Pueblo Mountain Park has to offer these soft autumn days: Lots of members of the Sunflower Family, and, yes, that is poison ivy (the Sumac Family). The deer are very plentiful - I saw this one walking home from the office yesterday evening around 6pm right at the entrance to the park.

Backpacking, hiking, and Horseshoe Lodge!

June has been a busy month at MPEC! Here are some photos showing a bit of what's been happening: backpack camp in the Greenhorn Wilderness for middle school age kids (after a dayhike to the peak, they were treated to a lovely sunset over the Sangre de Cristos back at camp) and a guided hike from Hwy 165 back into Pueblo Mountain Park along the South Creek Trail (in collaboration with Wild Connections and the local Sierra Club chapter). The wildflowers were terrific, including several columbines. The Lodge photo shows that the insulation is in, hanging drywall is about complete for the upstairs (taping begins this week, as does downstairs drywall hanging), and the project is in full swing. We are looking for volunteers who would like to help out with painting, which we will be getting to in the next couple of weeks. If you're interested, please call me at 485-4444. Thanks, Ranger Dave

Mountain Park Alive with Nature!

This past Saturday, I was out along the park's trails doing some trail maintenance, and couldn't help but notice that the flowers are probably at their peak for the park, easily 3 or 4 weeks later than usual. Pictured in this blog are senecio, yucca, stonecrop, dwarf penstemon (p. virens), and mountain harebell, a few of the many wildflowers blooming right now. And at yesterday's birding hike, we saw several western bluebirds and at least a couple of western tanagers, two of the more colorful avian species found in the park at this time. It's a great time to take a leisurely hike in Pueblo Mountain Park to enjoy Nature's loveliness.

April storm brings a foot of snow to the park!

The mud was gone, the snow was just about all melted, the land was beginning to green up, and now an April storm changes all that. About a foot of wet snow blankets the land. Some melting and settling of the new snow brings a bit of estimation to the actual depth, but I have an accurate moisture content of 1.30". Total snowfall for the season is now up to 130" (a foot above average). Yesterday, before the storm hit later in the afternoon, a grey fox was hanging around MPEC and allowed Ranger Jeff a few good photos (here's one of them). I just returned from the pond with this photo of the slushy water and snowy landscape. All this moisture should mean an excellent wildflower season. We have 3 wildflower hikes coming up so we can enjoy them: Sunday, April 27, 11am; Saturday, May 10, 9am; and Sunday, June 1, 9am - call (719) 485-4444 to register.

As March Becomes April in Pueblo Mountain Park!

The month of March brought 34.5" of snow, bringing the season's total to 113.5" - just a few inches shy of a full winter's average snowfall. The frequent moisture has the park's wildflowers poised for a good season, as least as it looks right now. I took a pleasant hike a few days ago along the Tower / Mace Trails loop and shot some photos of a few plants along the way. Pictured are a couple of small flowers already in bloom, kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ssp. adenotricha) and spring beauty (Claytonia rosea). Also pictured are what dwarf daisy (Erigeron pumilus) and some member of the mustard family look like a few days before their first flowers open. A careful eye will find these and other plants putting the park's spring wardrobe on.