We were able to ski during the first three days of the vacation, before the lack of new snow and the unseasonably warm weather played havoc with the ski conditions. After that we went snow shoeing for four days. Finally on our last day we got to ski on a few inches of new snow which fell the night before.
On Thursday, we signed up for a nature walk tour run jointly by Aspen Ski Company and ACES, the Aspen Center for Environmental Services.
Here's a typical view of the trail we were walking on for more than 90 minutes on the nature walk. Almost all of the walk was through forested areas near the Elk Camp lift at Snowmass, which is at an elevation of about 10,000 feet. Because the ground is protected from the Sun by the forest, there was still a lot of snow on the trail even though the weather was warm.
Looking closely, you can see some wispy strands hanging from the twigs of this tree. These are popularly called "old man's beard" because of their appearance. Old man's beard is a lichen, a symbiotic pairing of algae and moss. You should enlarge this picture by clicking on it to see it clearly.
ski trails, on south-facing slopes where they could find plants to eat. Other animals were below the snow, where they found warmth and prey. Potography was difficult. Animals moved quickly. The group was always moving on, and there was little time to set up a picture. Auto focus was a problem because the camera frequently focused on a twig between the camera and the subject.
Snowmass is criscrossed by numerous trails used for hiking, biking, snowshoeing, dog sledding and nature study.
We learned during our nature walk that one grove of aspen trees is a single organism. The roots of one tree spread out, and new trees grow from the same roots.
This house sits at the bottom of the Campground ski arera of Snowmass in a valley with steep mountains an all sides.
We ended our snowshoe walk at Krabloonik, a restaurant just off the ski slope and about halfway up the mountain. Krabloonik is an Indian word meaning "kennel." The owners of the restaurant also own a kennel which adjacent to the restaurant. There are roughly 200 dogs there that are trained to pull sleds. Just a few are shown here. Rides and meals can be purchased together.
These beautiful trees are just down the hall from our room. The next picture shows a close-up of all the pine cones you see here. The two pictures after that show how the dearth of new snow during February 2009 and the warm weather during the first week in March have depleted the snow on the ground.
These hills face south and get more direct sun than the north-facing ski trails a hundred yards away. In the fifteen years we've gone to ski at Snowmass, we've never seen these hills so bare.
The ski slope is white, but the roadsides and property just beyond illustrate how little snow is left in the real world.
We came into town to shop, have lunch and to hike on the Rio Grande trail. Here's a typical street scene in Aspen -- beautiful buildings surrounded by the mountains.
Looking for a quick and easy lunch, we were sorry to see that Sabra's was closed in the middle of the day. But it was cool to see that the staff was catering a Purim party. Wait! A Jewish deli in Aspen? A Purim party in Aspen?
Okay, so finding a Jewish deli in Aspen was a small surprise, but the menu contained a couple of others too. The menu was largely Mid-eastern rather than kosher meat New York style, and it was decidedly non-kosher, mixing meat and dairy. We had great cold sandwiches. I'd recommend this restaurant to anyone.
Our nature guide, Nick, told us about the ACES Center which is located in downtown Aspen. It's 25 acres of unspoiled land which is home to many birds and many other small animals and plants.
While we were exploring the ACES preserve, we say this young woman carrying this large eagle.
ACES has a 26 year old female eagle who was found at the age of one year with a broken wing. The wing had never healed properly, so this eagle cannot fly or hunt. She is fed each day and is taken outside to a perching area near the visitors center where these pictures were taken.
