Category: Colorado Mileposts
-
Hadrian’s Wall Day 3: Once Brewed to Gilsland
After giving it our all yesterday, my husband and I decided that we could hike the Wall, or we could see some of the sites along the Wall. Given the time we had, we couldn’t do both. Sore and tired as we were, we decided to take a day to see Vindolanda and Housesteads forts,…
-
Hadrian’s Wall Day 2: Chollerford to Once Brewed
This was the longest segment of our Wall Walk — 12 miles. And it had more ups and downs. The good news was that because the landscape is more rugged, fewer stones were taken for other building projects, and the wall is in better shape. The bad news was that because this section also held…
-
Hadrian’s Wall Day 1: Corbridge to Chollerford
The first day was supposed to be reasonably easy, from Corbridge to Chollerford. Corbridge started as a Roman town that predates the Wall. At first, the Romans figured they’d steamroll over the local population of Britain just as they had pretty much everywhere else up to that point. And they did a fairly good job…
-
Hadrian’s Wall: Getting There
I’ve always wanted to walk Hadrian’s Wall, on the border between England and Scotland. The idea of hiking along a 2000-year-old artifact for miles on end, and finishing the day at a pub just really appeals to me. The Wall cut all the way across northern England. It still does, in fact, although in the…
-
Hadrian’s Wall: A Little History
I have always wanted to hike Hadrian’s Wall — no idea why. This summer, I finally badgered my husband into going. I figured if we didn’t do it soon, our legs wouldn’t handle it. A Little Background The Romans toyed with the idea of invading the island of Britain for a long time. Julius Caesar…
-
Life in the mountain shrub community
Another hike, a bunch more fun photos. One of the big reasons I like walking is because I go slow enough to see interesting things. If I’d know blotchiness on the side of the lizard would be diagnostic, I would have tried to get a shot. The slit on the lizard’s head is not a…
-
Correction: Tachinid flies
In a recent post (Butterflies Galore), I showed a picture that I said showed native bees with a skipper butterfly. But I was curious about the bees — I’d never seen anything like them before. I couldn’t find anything on the internet, so I emailed the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. According to…
-
Butterflies Galore
I’m not really an expert on butterflies. But while hiking recently in the Front Range foothills , I saw so many of such varied species that I had to check into them a bit more. All these different butterflies are from just one hike. Females lay single eggs near violets. Caterpillars do not feed, but…
-
Goldfinches at lunch
Much of Apex trail follows Apex Creek, and so it has lots of stream side plants growing along it. But as I was going back down the trail, I came to an open area. I looked up slope and saw a family of Lesser Goldfinches perched on top of some Canada thistle seed heads. While…
-
Hummingbird wants that flower…
Some days everything, including my camera, just clicks. Yesterday was one of those days. This female Broad-tailed Hummingbird tries to get nectar from American vetch. But she can’t quite get her beak into the drooping flowers. Animals don’t usually sit still and work this hard to get something. It just makes them too much…
Amy Law, Science Geek 