Caution: Don't Read if you are Squeamish about an Eagle's Sushi Lunch

We are happy to report that Denisa is still fever-free! It looks like whatever caused Mark's fever was not too contagious, because she would have surely gotten it by now. Prayers have been answered! Since Mark is still recovering from his bout with fever, we are looking for activities that are less intense than our usual long hikes into the mountains. Kayaking is a less rigorous exercise, and we found a nice lake at Beaver Creek.

As you can tell from the surface of the water, it was a little breezy when we started our first lap around the lake. But the beautiful skies convinced us that this was a good activity for today.

We headed to the far side of the lake, where we spotted an iconic white-headed bird high up in a giant pine tree.

We love watching bald eagles, and we could tell that this was a mature bird. His head was completely white, and his bill was completely yellow--two things that don't happen to a bald eagle until they reach maturity.

He didn't seem to mind that we circled under his tree near the water, taking pictures from different angles.

But he definitely knew that we were there, as he stared right down his beak at us many times.

After taking way too many eagle pictures, we started back on our trip around the lake. We hadn't noticed that the wind had subsided, and Beaver Creek Reservoir was now as smooth as glass.

We love exploring all the edges, as we rowed from the dam all the way to the point where the creek comes into the lake.

It was at this creek-side of the reservoir that we looked up into the tall trees, and spotted our eagle again. This time he was starting to eat his lunch. We don't know if you like sushi made of raw fish, but it looks like this eagle does.

As the title of this blog warned, don't look further is you are squeamish about eagles eating sushi!

We were a bit sad to know that we had missed the successful fishing dive. We've witnessed it several times, and seeing a large eagle diving into the water and coming up with a fish in his talons is such fun!

Speaking of talons, we got a good picture of those long, powerful talons still holding tightly to the flopping fish.

Sorry for all the graphic pictures, but we sat in the kayak right below that tree watching as he devoured every bit of that fish.

We have to say that he was a rather messy eater, and several times we could see pieces of fish fall from his perch on the tall branch. That got the attention of a group of crows, who were delighted to pick up the scraps he was dropping as they sat on the branch right below.

We're guessing that it is a little unnerving for that crow to have such a big and powerful bird looking down at him.

Now perfectly satisfied, our majestic friend is content to survey the world around him. 

Now that the sushi show is over, we are also content to finish up our kayaking. Besides, it looks like it could rain any time. We end the blog with a picture of Beaver Creek Reservoir taken when we first arrived with its ripply water and puffy white clouds dotting a blue sky.

At the end of our trip, we pointed the kayak in the same direction. We see now that the water is completely still, and the sky is completely clouded. These mountain lakes can certainly change their temperament quickly! In just the amount of time that it takes for an eagle to finish a sushi lunch, they can look completely different.

Over Wolf Creek Pass to South Fork, Colorado

By the time we left Pagosa Springs, Mark was feeling stronger. With his high fever came some digestive issues, so he still must be careful about what he eats. The pounds have melted off him this summer with our busy hiking schedule, and he didn't need to lose more weight now. But he did. Denisa hikes the same trails and eats the same meals, and she usually doesn't eat the nightly ice cream that Mark enjoys. But she isn't seeing the pounds melt off her. It just doesn't seem fair!

We are continuing our trek to the east, and traveling back into the tall mountains when we leave Pagosa Springs.

That means we're taking the motor home over Wolf Creek Pass, with all its twists and turns. Once again we will cross the Continental Divide at the top. As we approached the pass we were humming the old C.W. McCall song that was released in 1975, and then belting out the chorus, "Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the great divide, Truckin' on down the other side."

Denisa took a picture of the Garmin screen as we drove over the summit of the pass at an elevation just over 10,800 feet. Our little diesel motor is working hard to drive up all that elevation gain, and it shows our speed is down to 32 miles per hour by the time we hit the top.

But if you're familiar with the Wolf Creek Pass song, you know the harder part is going down the pass. We didn't lose any chickens like Earl and his brother in the song, but we can relate to the lyrics, "It was hairpin town, and switchback city, One of 'em looked like a can full'a worms, another looked like malaria germs." We kept humming the song, even though we were sad to see the views from the top that include all the pine-beetle-killed trees. At the summit there are definitely more dead trees than live ones.

It was a 52-mile drive today from our campground at Pagosa Springs to our new site at Alpine Trails RV Park in South Fork, Colorado. We're looking forward to cool temperatures in this little mountain town at an elevation of over 8,200 feet. To go along with those cool temperatures, we also got rain. We found out that this town hasn't seen any moisture for a month, but our first three days were all rainy. So of course, we take credit for bringing the rain with us. But it has curtailed some of our plans, like cancelling some planned kayak paddling.

In between raindrops, we did manage to take the one-mile hike to see the biggest tree in the Rio Grande National Forest.

The old sign said that this big tree is 66 inches inches around, and we think it has grown since then. That's more than Mark can wrap his arms around.

On Sunday afternoon, we thought it was fitting to take a short hike up the Church Creek Trail.  The first section was rather steep . . .

and we had just popped out of the forest when we started hearing the thunder. Above tree-line is not a good place to be when there is lightning, so we had to head back down the mountain prematurely.

But this area needs the moisture so badly, that we are glad they are getting some rain. Besides, we were treated to a nice rainbow view more than once this week.

So after our successful trip over Wolf Creek Pass, we are enjoying the cool temperatures of South Fork and wandering God's rainbow wonders!

Seeing Pagosa Springs on Lockdown

Even though we have been social-distancing all summer, somehow Mark managed to get sick. So we went into lockdown mode for the rest of our stay at Lake Vallecito Resort. He was still very tired when we left, but at least he was fever-free. He said he felt good enough to make the hour-long drive to our next stop in Pagosa Springs. Or perhaps he thought that he might get sick again if he had to watch Denisa drive the motor home down the narrow little road the first 13 miles of the trip. Anyway, he made the drive to Happy Camper RV Park outside of Pagosa Springs, and then spent the rest of the day in bed. We are still on lockdown!

Denisa has been sleeping on the couch and trying to stay as far away as a 35-foot motor home will allow. But she feels like a ticking time bomb, just waiting to start that awful fever. We are taking temperatures throughout the day, but there is no sign of fever from either of us for now. But we are on lockdown while we wait for Mark to recover more fully. We did get some drive-by pictures of the town of Pagosa Springs, which includes the Mother Spring in downtown.

Sulfur-laden hot water is coming out of the ground under the Mother Spring, and many other holes around Pagosa Springs. The yellow sulfur has left its rotten-egg smell and color in this most elite part of town. We could drive by to see the spa guests enjoying the hot water baths. Like other facilities this summer, we assume the number of guests is strictly controlled.

The main spas are right on the San Juan River that flows through town. We read that tubing is a popular sport in early summer, but by now the low water and the high rocks would make tubing very painful.

For those that can't get a spa appointment, or can't afford an appointment, there is a cheaper option. On the other side of the river, we saw the handmade little pools of water, surrounded by circles of river rock. If it's like natural hot springs that we have been to, the pools get cooler the closer they are to the river water.

This area has another tourist attraction that we also only saw from the road. We are big fans of national parks and monuments, so we would have normally visited Chimney Rock National Monument just a few miles from our campground. Even from a distance, we could see that it has been a landmark that native Americans and pioneers have used for centuries.

In our drive-by touring mode, as we got closer we could see that Chimney Rock is just one of the rock formations high on that lone mountain. Between the two are Indian ruins, and we were surprised to find that they charge $12 per person to walk around them. A week ago, we spent two days touring all the Indian ruins in Mesa Verde National Park and the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument for free with our national park pass. So we wouldn't have spent the money for Chimney Rock National Monument even if we weren't on lockdown.

When trying to book a campground for this area, we found Pagosa Springs is an expensive place to visit. We are staying at the cheapest option in town, and we can't say that we would recommend the Happy Camper RV Park. So we're a little sad that we didn't get to really experience this area during this stop. We saw some great roads that head north out of Pagosa Springs into the mountains. We read about some good hikes and lakes to kayak in this area. But Mark isn't ready for activities like that, and we're still on lockdown. So we'll have to return another time to really get a feel for this area. For now we're just getting a feel for the inside of the motor home, as we saw Pagosa Springs from a distance while we're on lockdown.

Why is Mark so tired on such an easy trail?

We are enjoying the cool temperatures here at Vallecito Resort, at an elevation of 7,500 feet. But we're going to hike even higher today, on the Vallecito Trail.

After driving the car further up into the mountains to the trail head, we started on the hike that took us up into the Weminuche wilderness.

This was an unusual trail, in that a couple times it split into two trails. Horses were supposed to go one way, while hikers went another.

We're pretty sure that's because much of the hiker trail is out on rocky ledges with sheer drop offs. We're not sure if a horse and rider could even fit on some of these narrow ledges. During this high ledge part of the trail, the Vallecito River is running beside us, but so far below that we can't even see it.

In other parts of the trail, the river ran right beside us. Then it was easy to take great pictures of the clear  water and the big boulders that Mark usually loves to climb. Denisa convinced him to sit on one of those boulders for the picture below. 

A few flowers are still blooming along the trail, including these tiny white straw flowers.

We also found a few purple asters still blooming here. These flowers are everywhere, and normally Denisa wouldn't stop to picture such a common flower. But she was recently on a Colorado wildflower web site, trying to learn more of the names of the flowers we see. 

She found several purple asters, but it was particularly interesting to find that one of them was named the Engelmann aster. Just like we have found very common Engelmann spruce on the mountains tops and Engelmann cactus in the desert, the botanist in the family has also named an aster.

The second half of the hike was a nice walk along a babbling brook. With little elevation gain, this is one of the easiest hikes we've done in a while.

Even though the trail actually goes on for many miles, we decided to stop after four miles at this bridge.

Mark went to the other side of the river to enjoy the views of the clear water of the Vallecito River. It is that Coca-cola-glass-pop-bottle-green that we've seen on another hike this summer. 

Before long, Denisa snapped this picture of Mark, napping on that comfy boulder.

While Mark is napping, Denisa is finding all kinds of wonders on her side of the river. She is busy taking butterfly pictures.

For some reason, the butterflies were drawn to this rock in the shade. There are no flowers in sight, but they are congregating here.

It's mostly the black and white butterflies, but some more colorful examples also like this particular rock.

It was time for a snack, so we went further upstream for a different view while we ate our picnic.

After we ate, Denisa went exploring again and took this picture from the bridge.

Mark had found another cozy boulder and was taking another nap!?! This is certainly unusual!

It was time to head back for the four-mile hike back to the car. We were hiking pretty quickly now, as the sky has clouded and we got an occasional sprinkling of rain. We heard thunder that echoed through the canyon, and we were sure hoping to get to the car before we got caught in a lightning-laced down pour on these rock ledges.

Denisa did stop to take more butterfly pictures, but Mark was really struggling as we hurried home. This is just an 8-mile hike, and we've certainly done more. Why is he so tired?

We got the answer to that question after we got home. He was feeling bad enough that he took his temperature. It was already well over 100. That fever didn't respond to acetaminophen, and it would continue to climb for the next 36 hours. He was one sick puppy by the next day when we saw thermometer readings of 103.6 and 103.9. It's nice to have medical advice over the phone from our son, who coached us through the worst of the fever. We were so glad when it finally came down! We were in lockdown mode, which we continued until we left Vallecito Resort. The fever really zapped Mark's stamina and we want to make sure that no one else gets this! But this certainly explains why Mark was so tired on such an easy trail!