I've found the Prairie Dogs...

…up near the bottom of Mt Carbon.  I wasn’t sure what their fate had been following the floods at Bear Creek Lake Park, but I was very happy to see them.  The last time I ran through this area, I didn’t see any evidence of prairie dogs - only their old holes, vacant and barren, but no chirp and whistle of the previous inhabitants.  This time, I was able to run a bit further down the trail due to the water level receding, and as I was running up the base of Mt Carbon I heard it – a warning whistle from a prairie dog!  I have a fondness for these guys and I was SO happy to know that at least some of them survived.  They have dug new burrows out of the hard earth and are happily running around once again, whistling to give warning of hikers and bikers, just as before.

 

The landscape has been very much changed by this flood.  The cottonwood and aspen hold a stark reminder of the water level – brown and dead below, bright yellow fall color leaves above.  The fields where the prairie dogs used to live resemble the surface of the moon and smell like rotted vegetation.  But, the trails are slowly opening to the bikers, hikers and runners.  The water level has receded to normal levels, but the devastation is everywhere – I wonder what plants and trees will survive next year.  Spring will be a telling time in Bear Creek.

The moonlike landscape. 

The visible water line from the flood. 50 feet higher than normal. 

The prairie dogs...hooray!

Beautiful fall cottonwoods elsewhere in the park. 

Being a tourist.

I love traveling, and even though there is sometimes a certain stereotype associated with a tourist, when you find yourself outside of home turf, that's exactly what you are. Maybe not the one wearing the big camera around their neck and a look of being lost written on their face, but a tourist nonetheless. 

So, in true tourist style, I walked a good portion (probably 5-6 miles) of Boston a couple of nights ago and did the Ghosts & Gravestones tour of the city. It was a somewhat dramatic tour with guides that thoroughly enjoyed and exaggerated the spookiness of the surroundings, but it was really quite good!

Some pictures of my rambles:

Triple gravesite. 

Needs no explanation. 

Paul Revere's home. 

Paul Revere's grave. 

The North End, the Italian area of Boston

Boston Commons fountain

Boston

I'm in Boston this week for a conference. As a marathoner, one of the places I wanted to see was the site of the marathon bombing earlier this year. How horrible it must've been for the spectators and the runners near the explosion.  When you're within that last mile of a marathon, you're focused on finishing and, no matter how your race has unfolded, you are ecstatic to see that finish line. That euphoric feeling was ripped away from many, many runners that day. People cheering on their friends and loved ones were suddenly thrust into a horrible situation.  Needlessly. 

The site was surreal. To have seen this only on television, seeing the horror remotely was sad enough, but standing in the spot made it even more real. I'm not sure what expected, or if I had any expectations at all...but that stretch of city street could've been anywhere, in any city in the US.  It's a trendy area - shops, restaurants, bars with plenty of people walking around at night, things to do, great architecture and historical sites. A beautiful part of the city. 

Now it's surrounded by chain link fence, and signs of construction are everywhere. It commands a moment of silence for everyone whose lives were impacted in those few terrible seconds. 

I'm happy to see it being restored, a new sidewalk and rebuilt storefronts.  I snapped a few pictures and walked back to my hotel. But that odd, quiet feeling lingers with me...

Slacker.

I'm a blog slacker, what can I say?!  We've been enjoying the warm weather while it's still around. Picture is from Bear Creek on my Saturday trail run. The park was so flooded, but things are slowly returning to normal. Smelly & muddy in areas, but the water level is receding as they let it flow downstream. They'll have lots of work to do on the trails. 

It was a gorgeous weekend. Tom scored on free firewood off craigslist yesterday too!  Bonus!!