Merry Christmas, Furrends!
Click here to view our Christmas morning video opening our stockings!
Lots of licks,
Roxie and Rosie
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Friday, November 25, 2016
Great Sand Dunes #OptOutside
This past weekend, I discovered that I love sand! For #OptOutside Friday, my pawrents took me to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. What a stunning surprise! You'd never expect to see North America's tallest sand dunes sandwiched between the Rocky Mountains and the high-mountain deserts. The landscape here is so diverse - too much for my little flat nose to take in! This park highlights thirty square miles of tall, gray sand dunes, as well as grasslands, wetlands, conifer and aspen forests, alpine lakes and tundra. And it's dog-friendly!
We also picked a great day to explore the dunes. The sky was crystal-clear blue, the weather was cool, and the wind was still. I had so much fun sprinting through the sand, rolling down the dunes, and playing in the sand. The sand acts as if it is alive, dancing and rolling with the wind, avalanching and slipping through your paws with every step. I was in heaven!
We also picked a great day to explore the dunes. The sky was crystal-clear blue, the weather was cool, and the wind was still. I had so much fun sprinting through the sand, rolling down the dunes, and playing in the sand. The sand acts as if it is alive, dancing and rolling with the wind, avalanching and slipping through your paws with every step. I was in heaven!
But where do these sand dunes come from? The story of the dune's origins is constantly changing as geologists continue to unravel the many geologic mysteries of the dunes. In a nutshell, the Great Sand Dunes have been formed over thousands of years as sand deposits from mountain streams and lakes in the San Luis Valley floor are carried by forceful, northwesterly winds. The sands are caught by the low curve of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Rocky Mountain range and create the sand dunes in the valley below. An amazing geological feat in the southwest!
Some of the dunes are super steep! I kept running in place trying to climb to the ridge of a massive dune and dug myself into a hole. My pawrents had to come rescue me and carry me to the top!
What a wonderful day for exploring and being outside this thanksgiving weekend. It is adventures like this with my pack that make me grateful. Hope all my furrends were able to #optoutside this weekend!
-Rosie
Sunday, November 13, 2016
An Afternoon on Atalaya
Atalaya Mountain is like old faithful for me. It's a great hike that offers the greatest bang for your buck in terms of views, workout, and forest terrain for a distance of only about seven miles round trip. This is also a great year-round trail and fun to hike after deep snows. Atalaya Mountain is just over 9,000 feet in elevation and has many trails to choose from. Since today is little sis's first time hiking Atalaya, we hiked our standard Atalaya Trail that begins at St. John's College.
Atalaya is Spanish for watchtower, as people would use the grand vistas from the top of the mountain to watch out for fires in the valley below. From the top, you have a stunning full view of Santa Fe and the surrounding valleys.
The beginning of the hike is one of my favorites. You feel like you are in Narnia! The trail is mostly shaded by pinon and juniper trees, as the trail winds its way up the mountainside. The forest smells so fresh and so clean! My nose was in heaven.
We always choose the steeper route -- it cuts off about a mile round trip -- and the climb gives you a great workout. The trail here is steep and rocky, but you still feel cozy with the surroundings of the forest canopy. As we climbed higher, the forest fauna begins to change to introduce more Douglas fir and ponderosa pine trees.
Near the top, the trail opens up to reveal breathtaking views of the Santa Fe valley. After a few switchbacks, the trail leads to the ridge along the top of the mountain, where you can walk along the ridge, enjoying the beautiful views, and scout for the ideal picnic spot for lunch.
View looking back towards St. John's College as we begin our ascent.
Lil sis is up for the challenge!
Atalaya is Spanish for watchtower, as people would use the grand vistas from the top of the mountain to watch out for fires in the valley below. From the top, you have a stunning full view of Santa Fe and the surrounding valleys.
We had wonderful, but not typical, November weather. The sky was so blue!
The beginning of the hike is one of my favorites. You feel like you are in Narnia! The trail is mostly shaded by pinon and juniper trees, as the trail winds its way up the mountainside. The forest smells so fresh and so clean! My nose was in heaven.
We always choose the steeper route -- it cuts off about a mile round trip -- and the climb gives you a great workout. The trail here is steep and rocky, but you still feel cozy with the surroundings of the forest canopy. As we climbed higher, the forest fauna begins to change to introduce more Douglas fir and ponderosa pine trees.
Near the top, the trail opens up to reveal breathtaking views of the Santa Fe valley. After a few switchbacks, the trail leads to the ridge along the top of the mountain, where you can walk along the ridge, enjoying the beautiful views, and scout for the ideal picnic spot for lunch.
And it's a great spot for snuggles, of course!
This has always been one of my favorite hikes!
-Roxie
Sunday, October 9, 2016
It's fall, y'all!
It is officially fall here in New Mexico - my favorite time of year! As is tradition, we headed up to the Santa Fe Ski basin to admire the aspen trees in their full golden glory. The best trail for stunning views of the aspen groves in full color is the Aspen Vista trail. It's super busy this time of year, no surprise, so we headed up early on a cool, misty fall morning. Seeing the golden aspens framed by the mountain mist was sure a beautiful sight!
At the beginning of the hike, we got caught in a bit of rain and brief hail, but my humans were prepared and packed my little pink jacket to keep me warm on the trail. As long as we kept trucking up the trail, I was warm enough to enjoy the beautiful scenery!
My human mama explained to me why the aspen leaves turn yellow in the fall. Aspen leaves are vibrant green in the summer because the leaves are dominated by chlorophyll. When the weather starts to cool, the leaves begin to become dormant for the upcoming winter, and the chlorophyll leaves the leaf, leaving behind carotenoids which cause the yellow, and sometimes orange, color. The carotenoids will color the leaf until it falls off for the winter, causing this beautiful display of yellow and orange during autumn.
Roxie admiring the view.
At the beginning of the hike, we got caught in a bit of rain and brief hail, but my humans were prepared and packed my little pink jacket to keep me warm on the trail. As long as we kept trucking up the trail, I was warm enough to enjoy the beautiful scenery!
My human mama explained to me why the aspen leaves turn yellow in the fall. Aspen leaves are vibrant green in the summer because the leaves are dominated by chlorophyll. When the weather starts to cool, the leaves begin to become dormant for the upcoming winter, and the chlorophyll leaves the leaf, leaving behind carotenoids which cause the yellow, and sometimes orange, color. The carotenoids will color the leaf until it falls off for the winter, causing this beautiful display of yellow and orange during autumn.
Some of the aspens were so golden they appeared to be made of light!
Roxie was having way too much fun running through the trees!
What a wonderful, misty autumn morning in the mountains! I sure love fall!
-Rosie
Sunday, September 18, 2016
So many waterfalls!
Today we headed out to the Rio en Medio trail in Tesuque. Talk about lush! The trail followed a mountain creek with thick green thickets of willow, birch, and maple providing shade for our outing. We got an early morning start, so the hike was cool and moist - my favorite hiking weather! The trail follows the narrow valley of a mountain canyon and continues all the way up to the Winsor Trail in the Santa Fe Ski basin.
Saving best for last, we crossed through the canyon chasm to see the first waterfall up close. We had to walk through the creek, over and under rocks and tree logs, but the wet paws and scrambling was totally worth the view of the waterfall from below. Our human mama had to carry lil sis through the creek - she's a bit afraid of the water. You should have seen her air-paddling through with wide eyes as mama carried her across the creek! She's a trooper!
Little Rosie was loving the fresh, mountain stream water!
The first waterfall we came across was the Little Chasm Falls, presenting around a 25-foot drop - that's a big waterfall by New Mexico standards. Our first view of the waterfall was from above. We could barely see the waterfall through the trees and with canyon walls blocking our view, but the roar of the waterfall was an absolute give away! We decided to continue hiking up the trail before getting our paws wet to see this waterfall up close. Besides, isn't it better to save the best for last? Arfie, Arfie!
Can you spot my human? He's taking a peak at the waterfall through the trees.
We continued up a steep rock face and followed the trail for a few more miles, admiring the many waterfalls along the way. The waterfalls came in all different shapes and sizes, with each creating its own roar and music through the canyon. The mountain flora gradually changed to introduce more ponderosa pine and large oak trees as we climbed through the canyon.
Little Rosie was not a fan of the loud waterfalls - she kept crawling into our human mama's lap!
I, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of the water!
This was one of my favorite waterfalls on this trip, flowing for 30 feet along this large rock face. The soft, musical sound of this waterfall was tranquil and peaceful. What a wonderful place!
We climbed up one last ascent for a view looking toward Chupadero, before heading back down. We stopped for a wee rest - mostly for little sis to rest her little legs at the top and admired the beautiful scenery and gorgeous day for our adventure.
Then, the most glorious thing happened! I got a whiff of one of my favorite smells: skunk! Ooooh, the perfume in the air was wonderful!
Even lil sis was loving the skunk perfume - just look at her face! Complete bliss.
We headed back down the slot canyon, admiring the tall aspen trees towering beside the granite rock face of the canyon. The trail down was a bit challenging for little Rosie to climb over the rocks, but she traveled on like a champ.
Saving best for last, we crossed through the canyon chasm to see the first waterfall up close. We had to walk through the creek, over and under rocks and tree logs, but the wet paws and scrambling was totally worth the view of the waterfall from below. Our human mama had to carry lil sis through the creek - she's a bit afraid of the water. You should have seen her air-paddling through with wide eyes as mama carried her across the creek! She's a trooper!
But then we made it! Isn't it beautiful!
This is my kind of adventure! Woof, woof!
-Roxie
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