Glen Lake in the Bitterroots
On Sunday, I undertook a “short” hike up to Glen Lake in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. I was told that the hike was 2.5 miles, but it is closer to 3.25 miles and bit more uphill than I had anticipated. Almost the entirety of the trail takes you through the post-fire environment left by the massive conflagration of 2000. Tens of thousands of acre of lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, and Douglas-fir were left a charred spires. The soil was left almost inert, but the forest is re-vitalizing. The understory is covered with beargrass, willows, and other re-colonizing plants....
Read MoreThe “First” Day of Spring
This morning felt like the first day of spring. The sun was bright and warm, and the birds were very active. I went to the Triple Tree trail for a little birding hike with the Wunder-Mutt, Olivia. Right in the middle of this wealthy neighborhood, a herd of ~100 elk were bedding down and chewing their cuds. The herd was mostly cows with a sparkling of spikes and rag-horn bulls. I remember this area when it was the Meyers’ Ranch, seemed like there were a lot of elk in those days. Now this place is a series of Mac-mansions of 10 acre parcels. Along trail, there were American...
Read MoreWarm day along South Cottonwood Creek
Today we (Olivia and I) went for a little hike along South Cottonwood Creek. The weather was overcast and warm, and the trail was a little muddy. It took 3 changes of water to get Olivia clean when we return home. These kind of days bring that unique quiet where you only hear what you choose to concentrate on. The running of the water over the worn rocks. The unique dampened squish from the thin layer of mud under my boots. The rolling calls of Clark’s Nutcrackers in the forest. The bird count was slow and low with Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers and Mountain Chickadees making...
Read MoreMore Than Birds
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