J and I got up around our normal time, and we felt more comfortable going about our business in the front of the RV because GA (grandson A, age 8.5) had slept in the back in our office last night. I had the last of the LavAzza Qualita Rossa Coffee and ground some LavAzza Gran Filtro Dark Roast coffee to add to it. J and I hung out in the front of the RV for a while until GA got out of bed. After he got up, I processed three images for the blog then started to work up a blog entry. J and GA left around 10:40 to go gold panning, and I stayed in the RV to finish the blog entry and get other work done. After I finished most of the blog entry, I looked at replacement keyboards for my Palm Treo 755p because the "a" and "option" keys aren't working very well anymore. I have to be careful to push them all the way down instead of just far enough so that the key clicks. J and GA returned around 11:45 and DilK (J's Daughter-in-law K), GJ (grandson J, age 4.5), and GS (granddaughter S, age 3) arrived around 11:47 for a picnic and to pick up GA. We all left around 12:05 and GJ rode with me and J in the Jeep.

We went to Echo Lake Park and had a picnic. It was really windy and cool at the picnic table by the lake, so we ate quickly and then hung out down in the parking lot where the wind wasn't as strong and it was warmer. GA and GJ had fun playing on the rocks and GS had fun digging in the dirt. She had brought her pail and shovel with her, so she was all set.

We returned to the RV around 1:15 and said goodbye to DilK, et al. I finished the blog entry, then we took a nap. It was nice to get caught up on some sleep! After I got up, I processed some images for a stock submission.

We had dinner around 5:05 of Bertolli Shrimp Scampi & Linguini and a Greek-like salad.

We left in the Jeep around 5:45 and headed up Mt. Evans.

We stopped at the Mt. Goliath Natural Area because J noticed that she had some AT&T reception. J checked her voice-mail and I also had good enough Verizon Wireless reception for my phone so I called my mother. She received the iPad today as scheduled, and she sounded euphoric! P&H were there helping her with it, and they were having some trouble. P&H are basic Windows users and they weren't familiar with some standard Apple user-interface items. I didn't have time to do much tech support right then, so I told her I'd call her tomorrow when we went into Idaho Springs for lunch. While we were there, two other Ford Focus test cars, painted in a black with silver-splotch camouflage pattern, drove by heading up the mountain.

We left and continued heading up Mt. Evans. We went by many more Yellow-Bellied Marmots than we usually see, but none were in a photographically-excellent location, so we kept going.

We reached the top of Mt. Evans around 6:40. There was just one adult Mountain Goat up there, and it was in the shade so we left to go in search of some kids.

On the way down the mountain, we pulled over to see what a photographer was shooting up against the bank just downhill of the road. It was a Short-Tailed Weasel! We parked down the road a bit, quickly set up our cameras, and then rushed back to photograph the weasel. I was quite happy to get some nice portraits of it (below left) — the first weasel images I've ever captured. I was thrilled to get a nice image of it carrying the American Pika that it had captured (below right)! The weasel was carrying its prey up the mountain, and after a while I got too tired to follow it anymore — the air's pretty thin around 14,000 ft (4270m) above sea level!


As we were heading back to the Jeep, J spotted a group of Mountain Goats near the two small ponds a bit further down the mountain, so we went down to photograph them. There were two kids of the year, and we had a great time following the group for the rest of the evening. At one point, the nanny laid down in some loose dirt to take a dust bath, and her kid climbed up on her back and started chewing on her horns (left).

We left shortly after the sun had set on the goats and headed back down the mountain.

We stopped at the Mt. Goliath Natural Area so J could check her voice-mail, then we continued heading down the mountain.

We returned to the RV around 9:05. I downloaded the images I took, then downselected them in iView then Capture One (C1) before going to bed.