The Sandias mountains

I am in love with the mountains here.

I was brought up in the French Alps, which are fierce, aggressive mountains, full of cutting rocky edges and sharp shapes.

And I love these mountains where I have skied a lot, rode horses, and walk for hours. Once, walking early in the morning with my first dog , a chow chow (and no, I did not know Georgia O Kieffe then, and it was a real surprise to see her with dogs of this rare breed!) we fell nose to nose with a chamois,

We were hidden by large rocks, and when we took a turn on the path, we literally bumped into the chamois who was going down - he probably still had not had his coffee, for he had not heard us, and looked absolute stunned to meet us. My best souvenir is that precious moment where my dog and the chamois stayed face to face (hum, nuzzle to nuzzle ?) and had to gather their ideas... And suddenly both if them took a desperate u turn, and each ran away wildly. I had a good laugh at my lion-like dog who had run away like a rabbit in front of an unknown animal !

Here, the Sandias are so different. They are soft mountains, rounded by the years of wind and snow. The earth is soft and red, feel like sand, and the flowers are purple, looking strangely similar to flowers I photographed in Mongolia. 

It s not fierce and aggressive mountains. It is soft and round like a cat, and they purr under the soft sun of April.

My dogs and my cat are in love too, they wander around and run like wild animals, probably a bit dizzy with the 7400 feet  (I still am !).

My cat is such a great explorer. Yesterday evening, when I took the two dogs for a walk outside the rv park where we stayed, I had the surprise to find him with us. He took the whole walk with us, walking like a tiger (yes, I have told him about the dangers here, and since he had a little fright recently, he does n t set a paw outside after dark anymore)

And when I laughed of pleasure and told him to be careful, he answered very clearly that I was totally mistaken.

He was there to be my guardian, I did not have to take care for him, he was doing his job protecting me.

And he has spent the half hour we walked just before dusk checking all odors, and even scratching trees.

I think I have been given not a "Sacre de Brimanie", but a cougar instead (and knowing that he comes from one of the best breeder in Belgium, specialized in Pet Exhibit prizes, this is really a surprise !)

I am in the calm and in the wild in the rv park I have found, full of trees. 

I enjoy the peace...