…I am working my way through a new photography book on exposure…
Dogs in the sand (from the archives)
Karl and his friend Bella, a 1/2 Karelian-1/2 Yellow Lab – April 2003 on Flathead Lake while the lake was at its pre-runoff low. We got to the sand from Somers. The dogs ran in the sand, seemingly just for the joy of running.
It was one of those idyllic mornings – still, beautiful, serene.
Back in the woods
Several weeks ago it was reported through the neighborly grape vine that a female grizzly and twin cubs were in the area. I started avoiding the 40 acres of state land that is part of our walking loop – it is brushy without any real paths, contoured enough that it is hard to see over and around … it just seemed prudent to avoid that area for a bit. It is/was unlikely that she would stick around – there is no food source and too much (relatively) people activity to be comfortable. At any rate, it has been weeks and no more sightings and more importantly no scat to be found…and believe me, Karl would find it if it was there. Bear scat is his most favorite doggie cologne – it is incredibly rank…
The “maps” above show the lay of the land here. On the plat – the yellow block is my 8 acres. The loop to the “right” (east) goes across subdivision land that is 5-10 acre parcels. There is only one house and no sign of any other activity – I hope for some time. The home that is there is only occupied occasionally. The homeowners also own several of the other parcels and ok’d my walking there when they are not in residence. That is the part of the walk with the spectacular mountain views and meadows as the original developer went a bit crazy with tree clearing.
The loop to the north (top of the map) is on the 40 acre state land. That parcel is landlocked and so only adjacent owners and people granted access by owners are out there. I have seen another person(s) twice in nearly two years and never any tracks but my own in the winter. The state selectively logged this land several years ago – nicely, leaving good, healthy trees. The land has retained its natural look. The selective cut made the area more fire-safe as well as healthier.
Karl and I are back to walking the full loop. The “neighbors” have gone to their full time home, the bears to their summer home.
…somebody lives there, but we did not stop to visit or inquire…
…somebody slept there – actually several somebodies as there was a group of spots…probably the deer as some very small spots and there are a number of does with fawns around.
It is nice to be back in the woods.
Almost back to Spring
Yesterday morning started out about 35 and drippy with a lot of snow still on the ground. But the sun came out, the temperature rose to nearly 60 and by 8:30 at night, the snow was finally gone!
The midday walk was a lot different yesterday than the day before.
Night before last, Karl, Bob and I were on the front porch when I heard what I thought was a gunshot. Karl barked instead of heading for the house. Gunshots send Karl for his closet hidey-hole. There were 2 more “shots”/cracks… Today I found 3 broken trees from the direction of the sound.
This tree fell and/or broke at the root.
This poor tree just broke…you can see the part that stayed in the ground to the right – it is about 5 feet high.
This is the very sad part of a June snow storm. I’m sure my damage was minimal compared to parts of town that have oak and other old deciduous trees. I lost the coleus that I planted in the tree root, but the alysum and lobelia seem to be ok.
The brief Winter wonderland is almost back to Spring.
Snow Day 2
The evening of June 10…night before last – after the snow event…nearly mid-June, nearly the summer solstice – within 11 days of the longest day of the year – sunset is shortly after 9:30 p.m. The photo below was taken shortly after 9:00 p.m.
Maybe hard to believe, but the temperatures did not go below freezing. Yesterday morning at 5:00 a.m. it was nearly 33 and stayed there until late afternoon when it was almost 40. The snow is still around but melting and slushy and just a damp mess – not a snow that is fun to play in. Still, a dog needs to be walked and so we went…
Sad Lupins… (that’s NOT a lupin below…I realized Thursday afternoon when I walked that I was calling these wrong – they are actually a noxious weed and I’m not sure of the name. Those are lupins in the grass under the tree….)
Above – in the grass – is how they should look now.
the walk path – see the stump to the right?
see how much snow is on the stump???
Towards the end of the walk – the top of the mountains are fogged in, but still – the most of them we have seen in two days.