Chicory Bears on the Big Bluestem
Because of the heat lately, Francoise and I headed out on a 6 am hike this morning. Just our luck—we get up early but have cloud cover and cooler weather, but we still appreciated the early morning start. And it turned out to be a spectacular hike. As you can see from the photo, there were literally seas of chicory flowers shimmering on lower Big Bluestem this morning—making it clear how the trail gets its name. As it turns out, Chicory are day-bloomers—they rarely last into the heat of the afternoon, but hopefully the cloud cover will persist long enough for the build-up-a-thirst hike we have planned for tonight. In any case, they will probably be there the next few mornings, and are well worth the effort.
Early morning also proved to be the right time to see abundant wildlife. In addition to sundry deer and rabbits, we spotted a faun. But the wildlife highlight of the morning came a bit later when, near the junction of the Mesa trail and the northernmost Shadow Canyon cutoff, we almost walked straight into a large black bear (see photo). 
He was placidly feeding on berries in the bottom of the draw, about twenty-five feet off the trail. He perked up his head, looked at us a moment, noted the absence of dogs, and resumed feeding. We stayed still long enough to get a few photos of him, and then as we approached closer he showed what he thought of us by turning around and taking a crap. And in the woods, no less…
Photos courtesy of FEC.
Finally the mystery is solved.
Comment by RjZ | July 25, 2007