Raya and Mama hike to Morgan's house

Raya is not really napping enough. Mama had a blessed unscheduled day on Thursday. Determined to help Raya have a long nap, she packed up Raya, her carrier, a few Lara bars, and some water. We hiked from Pinebrook Hills to the top of Sanitas, and then down Sanitas to Morgan's house in town.  It took a very leisurely three hours.  Daddy picked us up at Morgan's.  On the trail, mama saw way off trail what first looked like a large piece of charred wood. She decided to check it out, and was amazed to see what it was--a beautiful wild turkey, intact but very much dead. How did you get here, dear turkey? How did you die?  Here's the charred wood appearance:

And feathers so beautiful, it was just hike-stopping.

And Mama and Raya at the top of Sanitas (she's asleep on back):

  

 

The crown glory of the day was that in the late afternoon I became part-witch and drove and then ran back to the site of the dead turkey.  With gloves, dust mask and trash bags, I gathered up that turkey, named it Pavo, ran with it up the hill, and plunked it in the back of my car. It's now living in a freezer at an unnamed location, ready to be dissected for wings and feathers to keep.  Turns out wild turkeys are plentiful in Colorado, but I sure have never seen one.