Mean while back on the ranch

While I was off on a seed collecting and sight seeing trip to south central and southwestern Colorado my dad and cousin put up this year's hay crop. I arrived back a day too late to help.

This view from the hay pasture shows the western face of the Park Range (Better known as the Mt Zirkle wilderness area). Beside its breath taking beauty, this area is known for a massive blowndown of old age forest that occurred in 1997. In late Oct of that years winds out of the east in excess of 100 miles per hour leaved a patch work of forest in excess of 20,000 acres. According to several reports this is the largest such blowdown to have occurred in the Rocky Mountain Region.

In 2002 during a particular hot and dry year much of the blowdown and surrounding areas burned. Just a reminder that forest are forever changing ecosystems.

If you look close the remnants of the burned trees can be seen on the high ridges above the lake and low green "hills"