My first photos of 2017 are from a month-long stay with Randy in Highlands Ranch, Colorado; we hiked 2-8 miles each day that we walked. Rocky Mountain National Park, Waterton Canyon, Bear Creek Canyon, Gem Lake, and Hanging Lake are some of the names.

In April, after a trip with friends to see the astounding water flows as rising temperatures worked on the winter's massive upland snowfall, we camped overnight just outside of Massacre Rocks State Park (not yet open then) and walked into the park, beating an approaching weather system by minutes as we departed.

The following weekend brought three friends to Indian Rocks (a former state park in McCammon, Idaho) and back to Garden Creek Gap, where for once we had both ample time and ample light.

Later in April, I walked in Fossil Butte National Monument en route to rejoin Randy to visit Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes National Parks before returning to Highlands Ranch. We visited Reynolds Park toward the end of that stay.

June 7 featured a friend's birthday outing to Craters of the Moon National Monument, painted magenta with dwarf monkeyflowers.

June 13 through July 21 carried Randy and me through 9 National Park units and a few state parks in 3 states, all adjunct to a month-long 'workation' in California.

July 23-26 was with Sandi in Custer and Butte Counties, Idaho.

July 28 was a photography trip with Tracey to Fall Creek Falls in Bonneville County, Idaho, along the South Fork of the Snake River.

July 29--bubbles!! Our photography club had a picnic and played with huge soap-bubbles til the buckets were empty.

August 4 -- A range fire southwest of town reddened our sunsets for several days.

August 9 -- I stopped en route to Denver to pick off a view across Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

August 12 -- Randy took Oliver and me to the top of Mt. Evans, one of the several 'fourteeneers' he has climbed (the others aren't drive-ups).

August 14 -- Randy and I approached Mt. Evans from another direction, following alongside West Chicago Creek. Randy traveled much farther than I, because not only was the trail straight up, but also it pushed through acres of mushrooms of a dozen different kinds, so I had to bring back photos of those.

August 21 -- A passel of family members from near and far gathered on Randy's front lawn to enjoy the solar eclipse, only partial at our location. We used the special dark-film paper-rimmed glasses to see the sun, but I preferred the results shown on the sidewalk as the light came past the ash tree's leaflets.

August 25 -- After a disappointing assessment of yet another RV and our first night on a Walmart parking lot (we did acknowledge the sign that we saw only in the morning: 'No overnight parking'), we visited part of Chimney Rock National Monument and hiked on the Colorado Trail above Little Molas Lake in the San Juan Mountains. Again Randy went farther than I; it had partly to do with the mushrooms we saw here.

August 26 -- After a camera-less morning ramble (we were eating breakfast, so we had a plate and frying pan in our hands instead) during which we found a choice specimen of cauliflower mushroom, we climbed the road into Mill Creek canyon above the ghost town of Chattanooga, uphill from Silverton, Colorado. Later, we camped at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, where we learned from volunteers about stories behind the 6-mile river-diversion tunnel through the mountains to water agricultural lands around Montrose, the story of camping in America, and the meteor-streaked night sky.

August 27 -- We scrambled to find morning images before joining a geology walk along the rim at Black Canyon. When you camp there, prepare for yellowjackets; Randy quickly--and quite successfully--assumed the role of shoo-er.

August 28 -- On this final day of our 5-day RV investigation outing, we were fascinated by the creative wire-and-stonework of Jim Bishop, who has been building Bishop's Castle for decades as a free roadside attraction (apparently people have parties there, too). Even I managed to climb to precarious heights on one of the towers.

September 9, 10, 11 -- A 1-year-old's birthday gathering in Rocky Mountain National Park brought 11 folks together for hiking and eating.

September 19, 20, 21 -- A quick trip from Denver to Pocatello, originally in order to continue on into Nevada (we didn't go there because it snowed), turned into a blitz of camping and national park photography.

September 27, 28 -- We returned to Denver from Pocatello, via the geological loop drive along Sheep Creek next to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

September 30 -- The reward for a day's driving was a walk up the hill from a friend's housewarming party in Red Feather Lakes, Larimer County, Colorado. It was from this weekend that I began counting myself as being based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado rather than in Pocatello, Idaho.

November 11 -- I walked along the South Platte River southwest of Denver, Colorado.

November 12 and 17 -- We walked in the "backcountry" behind Highlands Ranch, Colorado, on the Wildcat Mountain trails.

November 23 -- Before Thanksgiving feasting, several of us walked along the St. Vrain River near Golden Ponds, fishing, birdwatching, and photographing.

November 24 -- Another several of us hiked up to view the Continental Divide (from considerable distance) from Eldorado State Park west of Golden, Colorado. I fell...but survived.

December 5 -- Walked with Randy on the Longhorn Ledge and Cowboy segments of the Highlands Point Trails System.

December 11 -- Visited Bluffs Lake and Sand Creek with Randy, Jared, Oliver and Max.

December 17 -- Randy and I walked on the Plains to Peaks trail in Clear Creek Canyon Park, Jefferson County, Colorado. Maybe 40's, but luckily little wind.

December 23 -- Randy took me to a wetlands trail in Cherry Creek State Park just east of metropolitan Denver, Colorado; we saw a huge beaver construction project (which probably has been interrupted--some of the work was the same as had been there two years ago) that had given rise to a collection of ice-bangles over a rough part of the stream. Look, too, for the rubber ducky.

December 25 -- After a family get-together, we walked in the cold sunshine at a Douglas County open space park named Gateway Mesa.

December 27 -- Our walk in South Platte Park took us past Eaglewatch and Bufflehead Lakes and a bit of the South Platte River. The most memorable parts were hearing the windchime tinkling of ice pieces washing to shore and watching as a flock of geese, solemnly and in single file, 'skated' over the ice to shore.

December 29 -- While family members skated on a frozen lake, I walked the shoreline trail, finding alders ready to commune.

December 30 -- Randy and I enjoyed another afternoon walk on the Wildcat Mountain Overlook Trail.