Goat Ridge

We hiked on a trail that winds above Moon Lake.

As we climbed along the trail, we scanned across a valley to a rocky ridge, which we now call Goat Ridge because of what we saw there:

We watched the goat for awhile as he moved around looking for a sunny spot.  A 10X zoom isn't good enough for a clear photo, but it's not bad considering the distance.

After a walk through shaded woods,

and along clear mountain creeks,

we reached a meadow full of yellow flowers, buttercups and cinquefoil.

Back in the Saddle

We're riding again!  We've been out 3 times this week. 

The first ride was an easy 6-miler starting from Moon Lake trailhead, going up toward Brown Duck Lake. 

I was thrilled.  Mischief, not so much.  He'd been pretty happy to just hang around the pasture.

He did like eating some fresh, wet sedge on his lunchtime break.

Steve is back to his old tricks, taking photos from Boss's back:

Since I was taking this photo from Mischief's back, it's a little fuzzy, as was the one Steve took of the yellow monkeyflowers.

A woodpecker fussed at us as we passed through the woods:

He may have been protecting a nest.  I think he's a hairy woodpecker because of his long beak.  Here he is in upside down mode:

We took this photo on a hike a week ago.  I'm pretty sure this is a downy woodpecker (smaller with shorter beak):

Guard Dog

Well, if the human's going to nap, somebody's got to be in charge of trail security. 

For more cute critters, click here.

Many thanks to Everyday Goddess for choosing this post for this week's Goddess Award!