Shhh! It's a Cecret

Yep, that's the way they spell it. Cecret Lake at Alta. It felt weird but Diane and I found ourselves with no landscaping projects to do on Sunday. The yard has taken up so much of our summer that we did not get to the mountains for our usual amount of hiking. We decided to hike to Cecret Lake. It was not a long hike but it had a payoff at the end, a serene alpine lake. There was more than a hint of fall in the air so we were prepared for any sudden weather change. It turns out that it was sunny or partly sunny for the entire hike. When we got to the last set of switchbacks before we got to the lake we experienced breathlessness that came from our limited summer hiking. We got to the lake and rested and hydrated and enjoyed the view. It was an outstanding outing on beautiful fall day.

More House Photos

Click on Jim's Flickr Photos to see the latest photos of the house. It has been a long summer in the yard!

Border Collies with an Attitude

Today we went to Soldier Hollow. It was the site of the cross country skiing and biathalon competition at the 2002 Olympics. Today, however it was the site of the National Sheep Dog Competition. Most of the dogs were border collies. They would travel about 1/4 mile up a hill and gather up 5 sheep and bring them back down. There were several gates set up for the dogs to navigate the sheep through. When the dog got the sheep down, he then had to separate them into groups of 2 and 3. Finally he had to send them into a pen. These animals were amazing. Their handler would whistle and they would know what to do. Wait, wait, that's not all. If you act right away......Sorry, got carried away. They also had splash dog competition where the dogs would get a running start on an elevated platform and their handler would throw something they obviously wanted very badly out in front of them and the dog would leap as far as he could. The one that leaped the farthest was the winner. Lastly, they had duck herding where a gaggle of ducks(can you have a gaggle of ducks and not geese?). The dog would run them through a round pipe and then back into their cages. A fun day. Wait, wait, we also saw kite surfers on Deer Creek reservoir and got to stop at Cabelas on the way home. Now, that was a great day. Did I tell you about the pancakes Diane made for breakfast? Now that was a perfect day.

99% Done

It has been a long, hard summer in this yard business. I am going to say we are about done. The grass went in last week and it really put a finishing touch on everything. Now we are just trying to keep everything alive. Next week the sprinkler guy will come out and we will go over the final adjustment of the sprinklers. Now for a long, pleasant fall to enjoy it.