On the drive back, I stopped at a couple of the turnouts with informative signs.
This is apparently called The Fluted Wall.
The Castle
Aawww... they look like kissing camels.
Click for a larger view
Entering back into Fruita
Deer were everywhere!
A marmot debates about crossing the road.
Encouraged by seeing the marmot on the road, I decided to walk back to try to find it (since the campsite was just down the street). It turns out there wasn't just one... the whole area was infested with them!
They covred the cliffs...
... and also the road.
I arrived at the old barn that was built by Calvin Pendleton in 1910. Jorgen Jorenson bought it in 1919 and changed it over the years. George Dewey Gifford was the last owner who used it for over 40 years.
The barn too was filled with marmots!
Aawwwww!
A glimpse back at the barn
Back at the park, the deer were still running, playing and eating.
Clearly all the fences are not a problem!
Apparently they are regular visitors.
This marmot absolutely couldn't contain his curiosity! He kept poking his head up higher and higher to get a look at me. He just HAD to see what was going on!
The yellow-bellied marmot is basically a large ground squirrel. They can weigh over 10 pounds when fully grown. They often dig their burrow under rocks because predators (such as foxes, coyotes, raccoons, eagles, etc) are less likely to see it. Generally they don't stray too far from home and wil spend about 80% of their life in their burrow... 60% of which is spent hibernating. They live in loose colonies and are very vocal.
When a marmot sees a predator, it whistles a warning chirp to other marmots in the area (giving it the nickname "whistle pig").
Listen to a marmot's typical chirp
I then walked back to the campsite along the river trail.
I ended up eating dinner inside my tent instead of the picnic table because there were zillions of tiny gnats.
A robin also has some dinner.
Later in the evening, a ranger came though camp handing out flyers about this evening's star program. So at 9:45 pm, I made my way to the back parking lot of one of the camping areas where we were meeting. It was a lovely warm and mostly clear night. Michael showed us all sorts of amazing objects through the telescope... including Saturn with its rings! It wasn't an organized talk; mostly he just answered questions. Slowly people began to drift away. Eventually it was just the two of us and our conversation expanded way beyond the heavens to include things just as life choices, the ephemeral feeling of security, travel, and many other topics that one could spend a lifetime discussing.
