Not Just a Boy Scout Motto

We had a young couple staying at the lodge who had an experience that could have ended badly. They headed out after breakfast for their day's adventure and it turned out to be more than they expected. They began hiking the West Baldy trail in the afternoon, got to the top and decided to keep going and descend the East Baldy Trail.  Unfortunately, having started rather late in the day to hike this route and not knowing that the East Baldy Trail has rock formations to cross before picking up the trail again, they wandered off trail as the sun was setting.  They had no cell phone coverage, so attempts to call us or 911 failed.  They ended up spending the night on the mountain huddled together to keep warm.  Thankfully, it only got down to 33 degrees, and at daylight they began searching for the trail and managed to get back to the lodge.
For anyone who is going to hike anywhere you must be prepared for the best outcome:

• Know your route and how long it will take you to complete it
• If you haven't hiked it before, talk to someone who has
• Weather: know the forecast and time of sunset 
• Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back
• Take a day pack with snacks, water, compass/GPS, jacket or sweatshirt, flashlight
• Change your thinking from "we don't want to carry supplies we won't need" to "anything can happen out here and we're going to be prepared"

A dear friend had a great saying he used often in mentoring younger people:
Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
It's worth keeping in mind for pretty much everything.

Cat Lovers Beware

We had a pack of coyotes ravaging the village.  They went after a small dog and 2 cats are missing. We came home one night to hear them howling within 100 yards of our back door.  Our dog was out on her run and we quickly got her and ourselves in the house.  Haven't heard them for about a week, so they must have moved on.

What is that noise???

It's been a busy bugling season so far.  I asked Jim to describe the bull elk's call to gather a harem and announce his territory so I could make sure I knew if I was hearing the right noise.  He described it as someone playing the recorder, badly.  Yes!!! That's what I had been  hearing, wondering what the terrible noise was.  We hiked in a canyon to catch the aspens in full fall color and we could hear bugling on both sides of the canyon around us.  We finally caught a glimpse of a group of females through the trees, but never caught sight of the bull that day.
During the rut, or mating season, bulls are so overloaded with hormones that they become quite aggressive toward anything they see.  We have a friend whose horse was minding it's own business in a pasture near us and was gored by an elk who came out of some willows and apparently thought the horse was competition he needed to get rid of.  The horse is recovering well, but I think that elk needs to get some glasses.
Animal sounds are interesting.  When I look at a huge elk bull and then hear this high, off pitch squeal I wonder if something went wrong in the genetic code along the way.  Or perhaps God just decided to have some fun with this big bully!  The females like it and we'll look forward to new calves next May.