One of our visitors hanging out for an afternoon snack.

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Sure, these birds look innocent enough.

Every year, a family of birds builds a nest right above the flood lights at the peak of the carport.  If the hu-dad is not careful to back the Jeep in quite far enough, the nose of the Jeep can be, errrr, “decorated” by said birds.  And, those baby birds learning to fly can sometimes be a quick snack if the hu-dad is not paying attention as we walk past (because we ALWAYS notice if one of them is on the ground testing his wings).  Once the birds have left the nest, the hu-dad is careful to take it down and try to prevent the birds from coming back the next spring.  All of his efforts have failed and, once again, we have birds in the nest.

Tonight, the hu-dad looked up and saw the birds in their nest.  He was surprised they were here this late in the year, but he wanted to get a close up picture. He pulled the Jeep out of the car port, carefully climbed on the hood, balanced himself a few feet away and began taking pictures.  And, then, . . . the birds all flew away at the same moment.

For some reason, a group of birds all taking flight at the same time can be surprising.  When the hu-dad is zoomed in on them, it is even more surprising as viewed through the camera.  When he assumed they were too young to fly, it is enough to throw one off balance.  Especially if said human is balanced on the hood of the Jeep and is startled backwards because of the sudden flight.

We are just sorry he did not have the camera on video, because that video would have been something to post on this blog.  Sort of like the Road Runner winning again and Wile E. Coyote falling into the canyon – from Wile’s perspective.  Instead, we just have pictures of birds that the hu-dad swears tried to attack him.

Don't they look vicious?

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Do you see what we see?

No, no, no, not the Snow Grooming Machine.  Though we do think that is very cool and would like to have our own personal Snow Grooming Machine.  Can’t you see Rusty driving it?  No look closer.  We spotted a couple of Easter Bunnies.

Uh, why are those dogs staring at us?

We invited them over to “play”, but they refused.  Can you imagine?

Our two favorite sports, dog sledding and hiking, both have courtesy rules around sharing the trail.  Essentially, if someone “calls trail,” the other party should yield the trail.  A simple courtesy.

The rules of who yields to who are actually simple – whoever has the best ability to yield the trail should.  The person at the wide spot steps aside.  The person coming downhill steps aside for someone coming uphill (uphill is harder work and you do not want to break momentum – but the uphill hiker may also use this as a great opportunity to take a rest).  Singles step aside for large groups.  Humans step aside for horses.  Bikes and ATV’s should yield to humans.  And so on.  A great list of hiking etiquette can be found here.

But in the end, it is always smarter to yield the trail if you have the ability to do so, particularly if the other party has the ability to inflict harm – intentionally or unintentionally.  Thus, yesterday, when we rounded the bend of the trail and saw this, what do you think we did?

Hello, fellow hiker!

Oh, are you calling trail?

All yours. We yield trail.

Bear safety is paramount if you are hiking. In this area, we have black bears. They are relatively docile animals so the threat level is fairly low as long as you have respect for them. Make noise while you hike (The Herd wears bear bells) and odds are you will never see a bear in the first place. Never approach a bear. Never get between a bear and its cub (the one sure way to get attacked is to be perceived as a threat to a cub). Never run from a bear (they can outrun you and might perceive your flight as an invitation). And keep your dog on a leash while out hiking as a single dog can provoke any bear and then come running to you for help with the bear in pursuit.

And never, never, never feed a bear. You might think it is cute, but you are teaching that bear that approaching humans is acceptable behavior. Sooner or later, the Park Service will have to euthanize a bear with no fear of humans because it will become a problem.

In this case, we simply backed up until we were around the curve of the trail and out of sight. Then, we just backtracked. The bear did notice us, but was mostly uninterested.