WALKING CLEAR CREEK

New Year's Day on Clear Creek

After breakfast, consisting of an Omlette topped with mild Hatch green chiles and swiss cheese, dusted with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, onion and garlic powder -and- homemade hash browns made from grated Yukon Gold taters and fine chopped onions dusted with kosher salt, fresh ground paper and Chimayo chile powder, we took a walk along Clear Creek.

Although the high temp was to be in the mid-fifties, a nasty north-west wind raked down along the creek bed....making the hike a brisk one.

Two months ago, we hiked the same path in the midst of full Autumn color. While crossing the pre-stressed open-span steel bridge, I took a nice pic looking Northeast, downstream.

I stopped and took a similar picture today.....not at all the same scene. It is very cold and forlorn.

Canadian geese and winter ducks were nestled in pools and feeding quietly. Leftover snow and ice shelves dotted the shadows where the sun never touched the North facing slopes.

With all or most of the Prairie pothole ponds, lakes and reservoirs locked in ice, the waterfowl find ways to settle into the riparian habitat along the South Platte drainage. It provides a great opportunity for bird watching.....And, shooting a few birds, once we are outside the city limits!!!!

This pair of Mallards were settled in a shallow pool under a man-made rip-rap retaining wall.