McGregor Mountain Blog

Today is the first day that it *really* feels like fall! It was in the 30’s this morning and was cold and windy all day long with the high in the low 60’s. On some recent hikes, some sporadic color is already showing up in the Glacier Gorge area of Rocky Mountain National Park. Before long we will be in the midst of our beautiful fall foliage! There are still some openings in early October, so if you want to see the color and experience the elk rut, there is still time to book!

And as far as wildlife goes, the biggest  thing happening on the property as of the last few days are pine cone bombs! Pine cones have been dropping out of the sky in record numbers as we have a small family of chickarees, or pine squirrels, that now call McGregor home. It was really funny the other day. There was a little boy standing under one of the big trees near the playground. I kept hearing what sounded like rocks hitting the picnic shelter and the picnic tables. I looked outside to see the little boy just standing there looking up in the trees, then heard his mom yell at him to quit throwing things. He’d reply saying that they were just falling out of the trees! His mother just didn’t understand and kept demanding he quit throwing things. He kept proclaiming his innocence until his mother finally made him go inside! Poor little guy! Well, I have proof of his innocence! The chickaree climbs to the highest part of the tree and bites off the pine cones, throwing them to the ground below. These are the dense, new pine cones, still green and not light, brown and dried out, so they really fall fast and sound like a rock when they hit. So the little squirrels make quite the commotion when they start shucking these pine comes from high above. They then scamper down and collect them, one by one. I guess to bring them into their dens for a winter time cache.

Here is the video I managed to capture… Enjoy!

Michael

The past couple of weeks has been pretty standard summer fare! The tourists are enjoy all the park and town have to offer, the thunderstorms make their daily appearance, the flowers are beautiful, and the bears have been making their rounds. This year, however, they seem to be a bit more active. Maybe they have some sixth sense that is telling them to get especially fat this year in preparation for a long hard winter. Or maybe they are just wanting to be annoying and troublesome! Either way, they are fun to have around as long as they don’t get into any trouble!

Out of the few that have been around, the big momma is that one that seems to wreak the most havoc. Here is her latest bit of work:

But she didn’t get into the dumpster! I guess it made her mad!

And, as I have said all summer, the flowers this year are truly spectacular. At the higher elevations, they have already come and gone, and Autumn is actually starting to show through the colors of the tundra, and even in some of the grasses near timberline. But here in the lower elevations, they are still blooming in full force. I’ve made good use of the Lumpy Ridge Trail and some trails in the forest on the east side of town, just to enjoy the wild flowers! We even went out and picked about 5 cups of wild raspberries and made some incredible raspberry jam from our pickings! This is a glorious time to be in Colorado!

And the reason for putting snow in the title; there was actually a light dusting of snow above, what looked like, around 13,000 feet this morning. Fall is on it’s way! Another perfect time to visit the area… elk bugling and the gold of the aspen leaves dotting the mountainsides. If you can, get up here, it is and is going to be spectacular!