Some old friends recently came to visit from Portland, Oregon. I showed them my 'must-see' sites for this part of the country, which includes the Lakes trail in the Snowies and the T. Rex statue on the University campus. And pronghorn, of course.
We then spent one afternoon up at Vedauwoo, where the rock formations never fail to impress. Every time I hike there, I feel compelled to take a picture of this particular stair-step block. I find it so interesting to look at in all the different lights, depending on season and time of day, and I like how the middle area resembles the profile of a man wearing a nightcap.
While walking the Turtle Rock trail, we decided to take a short spur to a beaver pond. I've never seen any beaver, but there are certainly enough dams, ponds and lodges to indicate their presence. One time, when I was hiking in the Zirkels, the busy rodents had completely flooded part of the trail, but I still didn't catch any sight of them. I guess they're usually asleep during the day.
We then spent one afternoon up at Vedauwoo, where the rock formations never fail to impress. Every time I hike there, I feel compelled to take a picture of this particular stair-step block. I find it so interesting to look at in all the different lights, depending on season and time of day, and I like how the middle area resembles the profile of a man wearing a nightcap.
While walking the Turtle Rock trail, we decided to take a short spur to a beaver pond. I've never seen any beaver, but there are certainly enough dams, ponds and lodges to indicate their presence. One time, when I was hiking in the Zirkels, the busy rodents had completely flooded part of the trail, but I still didn't catch any sight of them. I guess they're usually asleep during the day.There didn't seem to be any freshly-chewed trees nearby, but it was still worth a look. The pond was quiet. I gave up on seeing any beaver, and looked down at the water near my feet. I saw a green frog, lounging in the water. Then I saw three more, then five. The little guys were all over the place!
My friends and I found a big rock and crouched down to get a better look, while Johnny Bamamfa tried to sneak up on some to get some close-up photos. He also took pictures of us frog-watching. Some frogs were floating in the pond, some were sitting in the mud; they were all green with spots.
I even saw a few frogs that still had tadpole tails! These are apparently called metamorph frogs while they are in and that in-between stage, but I can't remember ever seeing ones like that before. I thought it was pretty neat.
A few other people came by the pond, perhaps to see what we were looking at, and one lady called these critters Northern Leopard Frogs. I looked them up, and they do seem to match the photos and description. The website said they used to be a common frog in high school dissections, but thankfully, I never had to dissect a frog. Just a fetal pig. Which still kinda bothers me.
But anyway, the frogs were very cool to see, and were a part of nature that could be easily overlooked if you just hurried through a place. I've found that the more I slow down and look at the flowers and take pictures and examine my surroundings, the more I can appreciate.
But anyway, the frogs were very cool to see, and were a part of nature that could be easily overlooked if you just hurried through a place. I've found that the more I slow down and look at the flowers and take pictures and examine my surroundings, the more I can appreciate.
So from frogs, I moved on to take pictures of my friends climbing on the rocks. I snapped some more August wildflowers. I got some butterflies enjoying the thistle. It was a warm, sunny day and we saw pronghorn on the drive home.
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