I invite you to walk with me as we hike in the quiet splendor of a winter's afternoon in Summerhawk Valley. 

an Intimate Portrait of Summerhawk Deep in Winter's Rest

  

 

   

 

 

 

 

 
 


Divide Creek flows North on its peaceful journey to the Colorado River. Beneath the sandy cliff, the beaver family relaxes in its sturdy hooch, nibbling cottonwood saplings and coyote willow collected over summer and stored underwater nearby.

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

An oak leaf clings to a branch - a hardened flag twirling in the breeze, tenaciously pronouncing last summer's glory.
 

  

Cottonwood saplings interlace along a bank, their slender brown buds shiny in winter's lean sunlight.

  

 

 

           
   
The quiet breath of winter's chill yields only to light on this clear afternoon. Summerhawk valley provides a secluded respite for elk and deer, sleeping bears, cliff-walking lions, owls and others. Something of this peace makes me think of burrowing into the oak forest and drifting into the intoxicating lull of this season's long rest. It is a spell of magnificent welcoming.
 		    
           

 

     
  The oak forest canopy arches it's crinkly fingers shielding the warming rays of the afternoon from the sleeping earth below.  
Long shadows stretch aground striping and dappling a quilt of snow. Inches below, rest the seeds of succulent grass, vine and herb - the stuff that fills the dreams of field mice as they slumber in their toasty burrows. 		 

 

 

   

 
         
 

It's leaves, radiating the warmth of the sun, reveal the crown of a sage three feet tall. For now, it remains free of ever deepening snows.
 

  

A bobcat leaves a light impression on the crust of a snow-deep meadow - signs of this day's hunt soon to be swept away and layered under by the next storm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The edge of soft snow yields to warm stone beneath.

Offering a trickle of melt water to collect in pools along shallow depressions, the mountain shrinks and heaves in the near-constant sway of winter's dynamic rhythm, revealing wakefulness where we are inclined to see. 

Tracks around this spot show this coveted flow high on the mountain, away from the creek, entices and offers a quenching sip to birds, deer and small mammals.

 

 

 

 

  

 

     
 

The deep waters of Turkey Point, drawn in by gently sloping banks.


 

  


A heady mix of rotting wood, damp leaf litter and moldering needles offers a sweet blend of nutrient for these pine cones waiting for a chance to establish a root-hold come Spring.  To inhale the scent from beneath a tree on a warm mid-winter afternoon, is to experience a preview of May and fill one with the very essence of our resting Earth.

  

 

 

         
   


A place of wild reflection, Summerhawk valley offers a clear perspective of our selves apart from that which we may quickly  recognize. Like the animals and their footprints in the snow, our tracks reveal our direction, which reveals our interests, which reveals our need, which reveals our value, which reveals again and forever... our direction.
 

    
         

 

 

   

 

 

Whimsical and sun-softened tracks of a cottontail

 

 

 

     

New life rests in quiet vibrancy against the contrast of ancient cedars dashed and decaying beneath the weight of many winters. Acting as wicks, the moisture in these and the trunks of other trees will contribute to a plethora of micro biota thriving within their pithy sanctuary.

  

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

         
   


The creek persists beneath encroaching ice dams that make convenient crossing points for deer, elk, bobcat and other inhabitants of Summerhawk. Soon, this placid, frigid scene will yield to the wild coursing currents of Spring as Divide Creek swells bank to bank and ushers in the season of rebirth and promise.
 

    
         

 

 

View a panorama of  Summerhawk Valley in the autumn

  

 

 

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