Hahnstead Getaway and Discovery

I spent the weekend with my husband and my father in the peaceful serenity of my family's mountain property.  The weather was beautiful, the scenery breathtaking, and the stillness just what we needed.

We were trying to hunt turkeys.  No luck this time, but it's still early in the season and we are going to try again.

There was only one sign of turkey that we found in the dried mud on the road.  No other sign was present, so Dad concluded that we were too early.

While hiking around together, we stumbled upon an amazing collection of fossils in the shale.  These fossilized leaf imprints appear like no native species I have ever seen in Colorado.

In this 10 - 15 square foot area, we could see a leaf, a branch, or a twig impression on just about every surface rock.

And we also found parts of a couple of critters.  Here is what looks to be an elbow of a small rodent or bird, and what appears to be the fin of a fish-like creature.

What we see today in the foothills of the Spanish Peaks: the dry climate of piñon-juniper woodlands, mountain-mahogany, scrub oak, and sagebrush, was once a very wet and marshy area, perhaps a lake at one time, a very different climate.  I can't wait to discover more information about the previous climates of my family's land.

Dusty and I hiked 5 miles yesterday, and thanks to my $120 hiking shoes I received no blisters and no rocks stabbed me from underneath the sole of the shoe, AND my falling arches did not once start to hurt.  I feel bad about spending so much on a pair of shoes for myself, but my feet have problems and I've come to the conclusion that cheap shoes do not make my walking situation any better.  I love my $120 shoes, and I know I will walk in them for many years.  (this is the Targhee II hiking shoe from KEEN Footwear)