Lots of pretty red cliffs and mahvelous single track.
There's still a ton of snow on the Continental Divide. The mountains got slammed with snow this year and I never once made the trip up to enjoy it. Oh well, I couldn't be bothered with the driving was the biggest reason but also it was so mild down here I chose not to go up there.
We had a little adventure too. Say hello to my leetle friend.
Awww, wook at da wee baby woogums.
It's hard to tell from the photo because there's nothing for scale and I was not going to put my foot next to it but it's a baby. And it's a rattlesnake in case you didn't notice. The babies are oftentimes more dangerous than the adults because they don't control their venom, they hit you with a full shot. It was frozen in the middle of the trail so we had to go around in the grass which was a bit nerve wracking because maybe there was a whole nest of them lurking in there or maybe this one would decide to lunge at our calves but thankfully we got out of the ordeal unscathed.
I think they might want to put this sign at the trail head rather than at the end of the trail.
On the way home we decided to try a new to us vegetarian Venezuelan restaurant called Zudaka. I can't believe this place is less than a mile away and has been there maybe a year or more and we haven't tried it. I also can't believe how quickly we snarfed everything down. SO amazing. We shared orders of the hallaquitas and pabellon and don't even ask me to explain what they were, you should come to Boulder and try them yourselves. The nice lady that owns the place will explain how to eat them. Plus you can stop at the Med Shed two doors down for all your medical marijuana needs.
Tired legs, sore hip, maybe this wasn't the best idea the day before and agility trial but it was totally worth it.
OMG, I hate snakes. I dont think I could go thur that area. I would have a heart attack if I ran into a rattle snake. Yuk!
ReplyDeletePretty much all the trails on the front range of Colorado have rattlesnakes so I don't have much choice but deal with them if I want to hike, bike, etc. I'm careful not to let the dogs off leash during snake season on the really bad trails but usually I only see a rattlesnake once or twice a year if at all. Hopefully I got my encounter out of the way for the year.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice snake photo! Have you ever done aversion training with your dogs? I did with Tika--it's pretty harsh but seemed to work at least for that day. They say you have to repeat every year or two, but I'm thinkin' Tika won't ever forget. Hope not, anyway.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile--gorgeous scenery you have there as uusal!
I'm skeptical that the aversion training will work in a real life setting and there's no way to test/proof the training. I've yet to see any evidence that it works, either studies or even anecdotal. I really really don't like shock collars, especially for dogs with fear issues, so I don't want to put them through it without some evidence that it works. Easier to manage the situation and train a good recall/leave it. I've called Cody off of a coyote at close range before so it is possible to train dogs to call off of wildlife though it's not an easy undertaking.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, hard to know in a real life situation. At the end of the training, they'd release the dog and she was supposed to come to you. Tika started to come to me, then veered off in another direction, started to come in again, veered off in another direction, and finally I had to go get her on the far side of the yard. Someone else figured it out--the containers in which they had transported the snakes were sitting around in the areas where Tika had tried to come towards me, and she wouldn't go anywhere near them even though there were no snakes in them at the time. So at least for that time, she was highly sensitized to the scent.
ReplyDelete