Colorado Camp 9,033' cam August 11 - SMOKE from nearby forest fires and cool temps at dawn today. Nice weather otherwise. I remain locked inside our camper grinding away with my little project. The boss is gone for two weeks and I have to be done by the time she returns. Wilson and Mia are of NO help - all they want to do is either RUN and chase chippers, or sleep all dasy - and they expect ME to be with them either way! HAPPY MONDAY TO YOU!

08/04/25 MIA is doing much better - I'd say she is back to probably 90% of herself, enjoying the tick-free high country, bossing Wilson around, and generally being Mia. She's lost a lot of weight and I've been giving her an extra spoolful off peanut butter and more protein each day. The top photo is of her waiting for some grouse to return to their spot in the woods - she had just spend about five minutes chasing a dozen or more of them around. There are a LOT of grouse here this year, much to Mia's delight (she is a bird dog after all). Wilson has been in good spirits as he is able to run arounnd spend much time rolling in the meadow and generally patrolling our little bit of heavenly woods here.

Saturday I worked long into the night - but spent more than an hour on a single map that was throwing an error in the software (I started out with more than 40 errors). Each of our maps have 25-30 layers or more, and any one tiny element can cause an error. I ended up having to deconstruct this particular map one element and layer at a time - and of course it was the next-to-last layer that contained a rouge letter that was throwing up the error.

Sunday I woke up at 3:30am wide awake, and this time it wasn't Mia growling at me to let her out. In fact I got up and roamed around outside in the dark while the pups both slept. Once I'm awake I usually can't get back to sleep so I just made a cup of coffee and got to work. Other than two dog-walking cycles, and about an hour break to make and bake a small pizza for dinner, I worked at the computer on maps and a few waterfall photos without interupption until about 9pm - and got a lot done, and was happy to shut down the computer with not a single error showing - YIPPIE!

I slept in until 5 today, and after taking the pups to the top of the mountain to clear out all grouse, I'm back at the computer ready for another fruitful day of work. Hum, tht reminds me - there are a handful of special Colorado Palisade peaches in the fridge - think I'll take a couple out to come to room temperature for a morning snack. HAPPY MONDAY TO YOU!!!

08/02/25 Nice rich color at dawn today looking towards the Sangre de Cristo mountains 50 miles to the northeast. JULY has come and gone in a hurry, but I WELCOME the month of August with open arms. Contrary to popular opinion most of our time spent in Colorado this year has been work. With the exception of a lovely two-week visit by our friends Ray and Susan, Pam and I have been locked in the shed putting in some long days and nights at computers crafting what will become the new waterfall guidebook. I'm still neck-deep in elephant to chew on, but the end is getting much closer. We are still holding our breath though to get final pricing from the print shop in Chicago - we've printed everything in the USA for many years now, and while the material costs of books and calendars are not subject to the tarrifs, everyone's prices are going sky high - 'tis the nature of the beast right now.

One funny note from a mental meeting last night with my lovely bride before she left me for a couple of weeks - I was able to sit back and name from memory more than 190 new waterfalls that will be in the updated guidebook - all of them in the order they will appear in the book! I'm thinking my brain is getting a little saturated with WATERFALLS - but why not!?

TODAY I have moved all editing operations from our small, windowless shed into our much larger camper. It is a more comfortable working environment for both me and the pups. AND I'll be able to work even more hours each day, gulping down as much of that elephant in the room as my eyes will tolerate.

Low temps at night here are now dipping into the upper 30's with highs in the 70's. I hope wherever you are is cool and pleasant and August brings you many happy sunrises!