Good call, we are camping in that area. The train passes by the campground. One amazing revelation I had was that this was once a flat coastal plain, and the mountains are just a remnant of what’s left after time eroded all the rock between the mountains away leaving a few high spots.
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Looks like hopeful juxtaposition there.
Found a velvet ant and a bumble bee! Both of which may sting. I’m very glad that I didn’t pick up that velvet ant or else I probably wouldn’t be posting right now 
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I understand they have one of the most painful stings around. Saw a couple this spring.
We saw a lot of fire damaged areas in Yellowstone last fall, and have seem a fair amount of pine bark beetle damage, which leaves an area more vulnerable to fire. As your photo illustrates, life springs anew from the ashes and will be more vibrant and diverse as in grows after a fire, as a pine forest sort of a empty place not supporting a lot of life.
I am sure we can make a spiritual connection as our old life must be extinguished before we can welcome new life and beauty.
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Not too dramatic yet thankfully but we have a lot of smoke high above ground level, making the sunlight less intense and more red. Took this photo this morning looking through some of my own trees toward sun up.
For those of you on the east coast who’ve been choking on this stuff for weeks I must apologize for not keeping our forests raked better. Climate change is a bear. I do hope we find a way to calm this mess down.
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In the middle of the country, we’ve had quite a bit of smoke from western Canada. 
Sorry to hear that, Dale. I hate it when it gets so bad I can’t even give my active dog the exercise he needs without worrying about the health effects. I know they’ve made good progress on some of the fires in Oregon and California. I hadn’t even heard about western Canada. It is all becoming routine where 5 - 10 years ago it would be surprising.
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I didn’t know where this belongs, so I’m posting it here and in humor 
:
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Smoke moved into southern Colorado from the Northwest. You can see the haze in the background here at Chimney Rock National Monument compared to the blue sky on the pic from yesterday.
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With luck it will stay high and out of your lungs.
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A horned lizard on our hike to the top. Looks like a different species than the “horny toads” back home and TCU’s mascot.
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Some photos from our family holiday in Devon, Uk.
First a gorgeous fritillary butterfly. Need to check when I get home but probably a silver wash.
Next the view from the dam at Meldon reservoir:
Some kind of shrew that we found climbing the steps on the other side of the dam.
the Devon hills as seen from Meldon viaduct.
Some kind of bird egg.
Becky’s falls ancient woodland. It was very wet that day!
The rolling farmland that backs on to where we are staying.
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Juvenile helmeted squash bug in my garden on a potato leaf,; a calm, morning view of round hay bales with fog on the way to work; and a long bodied cellar spider (in my cellar!)
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Some shots of early early morning dew on petals. A spider web. Waiting to see if another actually shows up this morning. Until then it’s peaceful listening to all the early morning insects and amphibians.
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So the dude decided to not show. Which is fine. I got there at 630 and ran 4 miles and then hiked until 930 and just got back. It’s close by. Lots of neat wildlife though.
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Those boggy pitcher plants (?) are fun to see in their natural setting. But your activity level makes me simultaneously jealous and sore all over.
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Yeah it’s a pitcher plant bog. But it also faded into a lowland forest and then swamps and lastly wetlands.
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