Late Winter / Early Spring!

I used to play, and still do sometimes, this lovely guitar instrumental by John Denver called Late Winter / Early Spring. I ought to get my guitar out and play it, because Pueblo Mountain Park is most certainly experiencing the weather typical of this time of year, as winter begins to lose its hold on the land. Not that snow is not a part of that typical weather - in fact, wet, heavy snows, or what are often called spring snows, are the norm around here these days. We just reached the 97" mark for the winter for snow totals so far, and I am confident we will be getting more - soon, I believe. All the moisture in these wet snows has another sure sign of late winter / early spring in plentiful supply in the park - mud! My camera decided it doesn't like all this mud, or something, because it refuses to work - so, no photos in this blog. In spite of the mud, it's quite lovely out there as the days warm. Come up and see us, take a hike, enjoy the signs of spring - just where your mud shoes! Happy trails, Dave

Winter Continues to Unfold!

This past weekend's 11" of snow brings February's snowfall to 17" and the winter total to 79" - so far. Last winter's total was only 4.5" more for the entire winter (83.5") than where we are at right now, and we still have our statistically snowiest month of March ahead. It's looking better that we'll get closer to an average 115", but, as we all know, anything is possible when it comes to the weather. Here's what the landscape looked like on my walk to the office this morning!

A Frosty Day at the Mountain Park!

A foggy, frosty day greeted last evening's 3" of new snow that fell on Pueblo Mountain Park. I was fascinated by how the temps in the twenties and fog combined to dress everything in icy crystals that looked like white spiky thorns. Here are a few of the photos I took on a delightful afternoon hike along the Mace Trail.

A Bit More Snow!

We were hoping for more, but we'll take whatever we get. This last storm brought only 4.3" of snow. Added to January's meager 3.8", December's 16.3", November's 11.8" and October's generous 30. 3", we are up to 66.8" for the season. Another 50" will bring us to an average winter's snowfall. Here are a few photos I took this morning of the lovely winter wonderland that Pueblo Mountain Park is right now. Lots of fox tracks, with a set walking across the very frozen pond - and people tracks along a trail. By the way, a blooming spring beauty was found on Feb 2, so the tug of war between winter and spring is officially underway.

As January Ends at Pueblo Mountain Park!

It's the middle of winter, and right on schedule, Claytonia rosea is not too far away from presenting its first blooms. Underneath a clump of naked Gambel oak along the Tower Trail, I've been watching several plants of spring beauty the last couple of weeks - I've found leaves but no buds or blossoms (I have found spring beauty blooming as early as January 18 a few years ago). This morning, I took this photo - conditions allowing, it won't be too long to this year's first blooming wildflower in the park, a sure sign that winter will not last forever. Speaking of winter, the prolific snows of the early part of winter have given way to several dry weeks. January's sparse 4" of new snow was a big shift compared to the nearly 60" we received through the end of December. But, there's still plenty of winter left.

Art meets Fire Circle at MPEC!

Maya Avina and several local artists and art students from CSU-Pueblo teamed up to make a beautiful series of Nature tiles. These tiles will soon adorn the rock work at MPEC's new fire circle benches in front of Horseshoe Lodge. This past Friday, Maya delivered the tiles...here are photos of some of them. As soon as we get a stretch of milder weather and schedules allow, we will get these added to the circle benches.

Students Return to MPEC's Outdoor Classroom!

Today MPEC resumed the Earth Studies program when our 2 buses with about 70 5th graders from Hellbeck and Morton Elementary Schools arrived at the park. Today's lesson included basic orienteering, where students learn about using a compass, and then navigate their way through one of several courses we have set up in the park. The photo with the card illustrates one of the activities they do as they reach a point along the course, in this case reinforcing the tree identification lesson from the fall. It feels so good to see and hear these young people happily and actively learning while spending the day out in Nature and these big beautiful ponderosa pines.