crazy mountain woman

Blog Challenge

2011-06-11T16:01:00.000-06:00

I am having a really hard time keeping up with Amanda's blog challenge. I only posted the one blog, and that has been several weeks ago. So, I guess I have to start all over and count this as week one. Today, on my list of things to do, was go and check on my Griz Country letterbox to see how it made it through the winter. It was nice and dry, not wet at all. I'm going to try and check on Bad Hair Day Float tomorrow afternoon. After going to breakfast with several friends, I took Blew and headed down the Box Canyon Trail to check on Griz. What a beautiful day it is! I wore a jacket, but ended up tying it around my waist because it got plenty warm. We saw many drift boats and one raft going down the river, but only ran into two groups of people out hiking. On our way back we stopped at the Box Canyon campground to say hello to the campground host who told me he is lonely when he came in to pick up his mail yesterday. So far, he only has one person camping there. When we got home from the walk, I mowed my lawn, then decided I would mow Dion's lawn too because she had to go to town, and who knows when we will have a clear day again. Then I made my dump run, and now I am ready to get to work on some of the letter boxing things I have yet to complete for the event I am hosting here in Island Park in two weeks. So, for my photo for this blog, I am going to post a picture I took today of Blew on our walk. And one of the waterfall that is near the Griz Country plant.

Blog Challenge

2011-05-06T20:48:00.001-06:00

Okay, Amanda told us that if we accepted her blog challenge to do a quick post telling what we hope to accomplish with the challenge. Like usual, I just jumped right in and posted the first blog of the challenge. So here is my quick post.

I plan to get into the habit of blogging once a week so that my friends and family who are far away can share in my adventures! I know you all wish you could be here in "God's Country" with me...so hopefully through my blog you will be.

View from the top of Angel's Landing

At Angel's Landing

Going back down

Looking down at the easy part!

I am just trying for the twelve weeks to get into the habit. Then I will see if I like it enough to continue. And, I couldn't resist adding some more pictures from my Angel's Landing hike. Look where we are going to take you next year, Amanda!

Birthday Vacation

2011-05-06T20:28:00.000-06:00

Echo, Utah, Cemetery

Carma and I recently returned from our annual birthday vacation. And, because Amanda is getting a little testy about my starting on her blog challenge, here is my recent vacation blog. Happy, Amanda?

Muddy Shoes in Ogden

Any of you who have read Carma's blog know that we went to St. George for our birthday this year. Mostly because neither of us could afford much of a vacation, and we could stay in my time share in St. George for nothing more than what I am already paying. So all it cost us was gas and food.

We letterboxed all along the way. I love this picture at Echo cemetery because I angled it just right to catch the sun coming through a hole in the rock.

We did most of our letterboxing the first two days in the Ogden area. It was wet and rainy, and we hoped for better weather in St. George.

Square Goats

The next four clues are in this picture.

Little Lizard

Dinosaur?

On our first long hike (the clue said 4 miles round trip, but they had changed the trail so it ended up being 7 miles + what we added on looking for the boxes) we only got one box out of the three that were supposed to be there. And, this was not one of my long adds--just for the record. I did misread the clue, so we probably added another mile that we shouldn't have. We spent a lot of time looking for a man with his hands hanging down with a lobster to the left and a 13 above him. There were plenty of men with their hands hanging down. But the clue just before that was to look for square goats. Then we would have been on the right path. On this same hike, we saw a rock that someone had stuck smaller rocks in that made it look like a dinosaur head. And, I managed to catch a couple of shots of a cute little lizard. One of the many we saw.

Angel's Landing towers above Carma

Walter's Wiggles

Angel's Landing from Scout's Landing

Before we left, I made a goal to climb Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. Two years ago I would never have attempted this. I am afraid of heights, but not extremely terrified. I did make it to the top, but I can tell you that coming back down was the hard part. When you are climbing up, you don't constantly see how far it is to the bottom of the canyon. On the way down, however, it is always in front of you. I made it by concentrating on where I was going to put my foot next. I will admit that even though the top of Angel's Landing is relatively flat, every time I put my camera up to my eye to take a picture I was overcome by vertigo. My knees would start shaking and I got sick to my stomach. I put my camera into my backpack to go down. I carried it on my neck strap on the way up, but I didn't want to have to worry about it on the way down. It was a good decision, but I wished I had turned around and taken 360 degree visuals on the way up because I really missed some awesome photos.


See the chains?

Sister's Landing

One of the tough parts

The top is in sight!

That hike, and the hike in Red Canyon, were highlights of our vacation. But, we letterboxed every day, also. I loved the box that was placed in a major bookstore. The most amazing thing about letterboxing is the places you see. We never would have hiked Red Canyon if there hadn't been three letterboxes placed there. Even everyday places become exciting when you are looking for treasure. I do agree with Carma that the Farmington letterboxes were amazing. Not only were they excellent carves, but the clues were great. We even met the letterboxer who placed the first box we found on our trip to Tennessee last year. CW Sunseeker was out with her niece, Flowergirl, checking on one of her plants and picking up a few others. We actually met twice, and had been to three of the same places that day.

Looking as straight down as I could get.

Youngest niece and youngest nephew

After we returned to Idaho City, we had an Easter dinner at my parent's house in Boise. Most of the family was able to attend. I'll be back for G's first birthday party on May 21, 2011.

Waiting for the sky to fall...okay, the roof, actually.

2011-03-19T11:42:00.000-06:00

Look, Mom! I'm Queen of Dion's hill, too!

Is today going to be the day? I really wish my garage roof would slide soon. I have been locking Blew up in the garage so that she (or her chain) won't get buried, but it is taking its own sweet time. Blew probably wishes it would happen, too. She hates being locked up. If it doesn't slide by the time I leave for Idaho Falls around noon today, I will take her with me. She won't have much fun, waiting in the car for me to do my shopping and then a temple visit, but I wouldn't feel right about locking her up in the garage for over eight hours, either. At least this way I will be able to take her on a couple of short walks. Slide, roof, slide!

Free Snow...Come and Get Yours Today!

2011-03-15T21:37:00.000-06:00

When I came home for lunch today, there was no sign of Blew, just her chain stretching up over the snow by the side of the house and out of sight. I went inside and put on my snow boots, snow pants and gloves, because I knew she was probably tangled up out back somewhere. I did look out the sliding glass doors (which I haven't used since at least December) to see if I could get to her easier that way. I can't figure out how to rotate the picture in blogger, so you will have to turn your head sideways to see why I couldn't go out the sliding glass door to rescue her! (I rotated the picture on the disc, but it didn't load that way.) So, I climbed the hill and set off out back. Sure enough, she had gone around the post holding the bird feeder and not just once! Evidently she found out she was stuck and kept trying to untangle herself. She just doesn't understand that you have to go the opposite way around to get undone.

After I got back from having my teeth cleaned, I got my camera and went back out to take pictures. Blew thought we were playing and she romped around and rolled in the snow. I tried to get a picture of how long the hair is on the bottoms of her front feet, but it didn't turn out too well. You can tell she is having fun, though. It is nice to be able to see the 5 foot marker on my snow pole. The snow has melted a little bit--and yes, that is snow falling as I am taking pictures.

Anybody want some snow? Come and get it, I won't object!

The Countdown Begins!

2011-03-09T19:34:00.002-07:00

I AM TIRED OF THE SNOW!!! This is a picture I had my carrier take of me last week standing by the snow pile in the back of our parking lot. She didn't quite get the top of the pile in, but you can tell we have a little bit of snow. Mormon Hill in the church parking lot is pretty amazing, also. Two years ago it was still quite high for Memorial Day Weekend. I'm hoping it will melt a little faster this year.
Okay, so I know that I have at least two and half more months of seeing the white stuff, but I am so ready for some green.
This year our birthday vacation is St. George, Utah, and the countdown has begun. Only 37 more days! Are you ready Carma?

2011-02-13T18:34:00.003-07:00

Today celebrates two years of my successful weight loss journey. And yes, I still have a ways to go until I am down to where I want to be, but this is the first time a diet has worked for me continuously. :) So, I decided to be brave and post before and now pictures. I combined them so that they are side by side to more readily see the change I have made for the better. Here is to continued success!

2011-01-30T17:51:00.003-07:00

Island Park lost an earthbound angel to the heavens yesterday. Kari Dalton lost her fight with cancer. She will be greatly missed by the entire community.

I was privileged to work with her for a few months in the Young Women's organization. She taught me so much. She established the after school program to give the children in this community opportunities that they would never have enjoyed if not for her unfailing determination.

The greatest thing she taught me was to look for the promise that God gives to us for each of His laws we obey. Every day as I read my scriptures, I look for His promises. Thank you Kari for giving me that insight.

I took this family portrait (with the two children still living at home) just over a year ago, near the end of Kari's first round of chemo. During her entire battle, she always showed us a positive outlook and absolutely glowed with the spirit of God that dwelt within her.

Although I am glad she will no longer suffer the pains of this world, I sorrow for those she left behind. May her memory always be in our hearts.

I Learn to Snowshoe, Thanks to Blew

2011-01-23T13:22:00.009-07:00

I thought I had before and after pictures of the house. Before the roof got shoveled, and after. Evidently I have managed to lose them somewhere on my computer. I took this picture yesterday after my adventure with Blew.
We started out the day with nary a care in the world. When I opened up the garage door I knew that I would have to snow blow the driveway, but decided to take Blew on her walk first. She was excited because I didn't put the leash on her. I noticed some moose tracks as we went by Bart's house, but she didn't even take an interest in them. Too glad to be running free and bouncing all over the place, I guess. We went around the sheds and she obeyed me every time I told her to come,
amazing in itself. Don't let that innocent look she is giving the camera fool you. Notice she is on her chain....

I began to snow blow the driveway and Blew took off again around the neighborhood. I wasn't worried, because she always runs around while I am cleaning the driveway. I finished, and turned the snow blower over to my next door neighbor. I started my usual walk to pick up the kid (she usually comes running to go on another walk). No Blew. As I circle around to Bart's house I hear barking off in the distance. I know what that means. Blew is trying to play with a moose. I can tell she is over near the bone yard (description given by the forest service employees to the place where they keep stuff that can be used somewhere, sometime). It is only about 1/4 of a mile away across the pasture...an impossible distance because I have no snowshoes and I really can't cross country ski worth beans. I call, knowing that she will NOT obey me this time, her adrenaline is up and running. While I'm calling, I'm wondering if there is any possibility that I can get to her by following the trail the guys have made with their sleds out to the groomed trail. I head over to the sheds, calling off and on, hoping she might listen...but she is too excited to have a playmate. I start up the trail from the sheds and make it past the first two fire crew cabins. Then I have to venture off into the snow to get to the bone yard. The snow is only five feet deep on the level, but it is way too warm of a day. I call some more, then head back...trying to figure out how I am going to get the silly dog before she gets stomped.

I went home and drank my vitamins and minerals because I knew I was going to need something to fortify me as I tromped through all that snow. I walked back over to Bart's and climbed this mountain of snow on the east side of his garage--following the tracks of Blew and the moose. They went into his backyard, and I looked over to the bone yard and could make out Blew running around in the trees. I climbed back down, wondering what I was going to do. As luck would have it, Jim had decided to plow the roads. As I came down the mountain of snow, he was stopped on the other side of the duplex. So I asked him what he would suggest. He said to climb in the truck and we could go over to the warehouse and get the extra snowshoes that were hanging on a wall that he knew about. We went and got the snowshoes (he had to show me how to lace them up), then I went home and got my cross country ski poles to help with my balance. These shoes were a cross between the old wide type and the newer, skinnier snow shoes.
As you can see from the picture above (all of these pictures were taken after the fact), I managed to traipse across the pasture, following the moose and Blew's tracks. That little greenish oblong in the left of the picture is part of the weather station. Blew finally came when I called her, she just had to tell me all about her fun playmate. Simple enough to catch her in that deep snow.
Instead of following our trail back to Bart's house, I headed over to the warehouse. That showed me what snowshoeing across an untracked area is like. Even with the shoes on, I would sink clear up to my knees.

It doesn't look very far, when looking at this picture. But, the distance from that trailer up to where I am standing took three stops to catch my breath. It didn't help that I only had a four foot leash for Blew. When she followed behind me, she would step on the shoes and when she tried to break trail in front of me, she couldn't get very far ahead. When we got to the warehouse, I took off the snowshoes and walked them out to Jim (who was plowing the front parking lot). Then we continued on home, where I hooked Blew up to her chain and went inside to get my camera. By this time it was only 9:45 a.m. I was exhausted, but, needless to say, I had a blast! Snowshoes are now on my wish list...along with that kayak. Sigh.

Thanks, Blew Girl, for giving me a fun new experience!

2009-10-24T20:36:00.010-06:00

A few highlights from my day in Yellowstone with Pamela. I drove us up through Bozeman, over to Livingston, and down to Gardiner to go into the park. As we entered the park, there were two antelope right near the road. I like this first picture even though the antelope's face seems slightly out of focus, it gives the antelope a softer look, I think. I had flipped a "u" turn so that we could take pictures, and flipped another one so that the antelope were on my side of the car and took another couple of shots of them.

We rounded a couple of corners along the Gardiner River, and saw a lady with a long lense pointing up the steep hill across the road. Wow! A large herd of bighorn sheep. I continued up the road until I found a place to turn around, then drove back down the road to pull into a turnout a little down the road from the group of sheep. Pamela said she counted at least 16, and some were probably not visible as she counted.

When I took this shot, I noticed that there was a sheep on a rock beyond the bunch closest to me. The wind was blowing so hard, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get a sharp picture. I was glad I put my coat on before walking up the road to take pictures!

This little one was with the bunch closer to the road. What an adorable little sheep!

This shot catches a little bit of the acrobatics as the sheep climb up the hill. They are much braver than I am. I find that I get more afraid of heights as I age...probably due to the fact that I am more aware of my mortality!

The white fuzz in this pictures is just snow. It was cold here again today, but not as cold as it was two weeks ago. Brrr...I get cold just looking at this picture.

Yellowstone October 10, 2009

2009-10-12T19:53:00.010-06:00

On Saturday, I needed to run to Bozeman to pick up some things from Costco. It was cold here
in Island Park (7 degrees), but the sun was shining. As I drove across the flats, I thought it might be nice to run over to Livingston and down to Gardiner and go through the park. So, that is what I did. It was freezing cold in the park, also, but I still managed to get out of the car and take some pictures.

My first stop was at Mammoth. Because it was so cold, the steam rose off the Mammoth Terrace and combined with the clouds in the sky. As I was going back to my car after taking a few pictures, a man got out of his truck. He'd been parked in the turnout when I pulled in. He asked me if I had binoculars (which, of course, I didn't) and pointed out where he was watching two black wolves. I looked through my camera lens, and sure enough, I could make out a black wolf. I snapped a picture, even though I knew the wolf would not be clear. It was too far away. In the next picture, the wolf is circled in red.

I got a surprise when I reached the Canyon area. They had changed the way you drive the north rim. It is now exactly opposite. I stopped at the path down to the lower falls and found out that you can now view the upper falls from this stop. The third picture is the upper falls from the brink of the lower falls path. My fingers really froze here, as I stopped a couple of times to look down into the canyon. I didn't bother to grab my coat, which was really stupid of me, but I didn't expect to be out of the car that long. I have no idea what the temperature was, but the wind was icy cold and froze me the minute I stepped out of the car.

Just south of the upper falls, in the deceptively calm water, I spotted two swans. There was not a good place to stop, and the park was suprisingly crowded for how cold it was, so I just grabbed a quick shot of one of the swans before moving on.

When I first entered the park, the ranger at the gate told me that I might not be able to get through to Old Faithful because there was a bad wreck between Fishing Bridge and West Thumb. Sure enough, they were still cleaning up the wreck. I hit the area just right, though, as I only had to slow down to a crawl. I never had to stop completely. BAD wreck. I took this picture of Stephenson Island before coming up on the backed up traffic.

When I got to the Madison I finally saw more elk. I only saw three at Mammoth. Plenty of buffalo along the Hayden Valley, but no elk. This spike was with about seven cows on one side of the river. Not 100 feet away, on the other side of the river was a big bull. He sure was a beauty. I hit the Madison at about 5:30, so the light was fading fast. I actually made it home before dark, so that was pretty good timing. I wanted to see how long it would take because Pamela and I are supposed to be going through the park on the 24th. I hope it warms up a little before then.

Even with how cold it was, the park was still plenty beautiful. I didn't have any problems on the icy patches, even without my snow tires. I'll be getting my snow tires put on this week. Of course, any day is beautiful in the park. I am so lucky to live this close where I can go and enjoy the beauty on a whim. : )

Last Fall Fling (October 3, 2009)

2009-10-05T07:01:00.008-06:00

I am so blessed! On Saturday, I decided that instead of staying home and listening to conference I was going to take one last drive to see the fall colors. It was supposed to snow 4 to 6 inches

Saturday night, so I knew the Ashton Flagg Ranch Road would not be accessible for the rest of the winter. So, I packed the car, gathered up my trash, and loaded up Blew. We stopped at Elk Creek gas station, where I put some air in my front tires, then headed on over to the dump. After leaving the dump, I decided to take a picture of Sawtelle with its little skiff of snow on top. Then, I needed to pick up a few groceries, so we went down to Rexburg. I stopped at the bottom of the Ashton hill to take a couple of pictures of the fall colors. They are more vivid than seen here, but wow! they are splendid. Upon leaving Rexburg, I was annoyed by a little shimmy in my front end. I couldn't figure out what it was. That should have been my first clue! We turned out the Ashton Flagg Ranch Road, and I stopped to take a picture of the Tetons about a half mile after we hit the dirt road. What a spectacular view!

Our next stop was at Indian Lake. There were some aspen leaves right where I parked that have my favorite tint. An orange/peach color. The ones across the road were just as pretty, and with the dark green of the pine trees surrounding them, they looked especially luminous. Again, not captured very well with the camera.

After leaving Indian Lake, we drove for quite a ways, Blew hanging out the window to catch every scent. When we crossed South Boone Creek, I caught a glimpse of the Grand in the distance. So, I pulled over and walked with Blew back to take a picture. When we got back to the car I noticed that my left front tire was very low.

That scotched the idea of going clear to Flagg Ranch and then back home through Yellowstone Park. I turned around, started driving, then decided I had better put on my donut. I got everything out of the trunk--no lug wrench. I searched under the seats of my car, but couldn't find it. Saying a prayer, I drove the fourteen miles of dirt road back out on a low tire, plus twelve more miles of pavement before we reached the Shell station in Ashton where I could put more air in my tire. I then prayed all the way up the hill that I would be able to make it home. As I drove, I wondered why the Lord would bless me when I purposely set out on this trip, knowing I wouldn't be able to listen to conference. I asked myself the same question three times, and then the answer came to me. I am blessed because my Heavenly Father loves me. Even when I am doing something He wishes I wouldn't, He loves me. I made it home, although the tire was really low by the time I got there. After three searches, I found my lug wrench (under my seat) and changed the tire after the afternoon session of conference. I then watched the morning session (thank heavens for the internet) after going for a short drive with Dion that evening. I am truly blessed.

Cliff Lake Pictures from August 22, 2009

2009-08-29T19:41:00.016-06:00

The two mature bald eagles Amanda and I saw on our trip in the canoe at Cliff Lake.
One of the many ducks we saw.

The island in Cliff Lake is the rounded mound of land at the left and going into the center of the picture. Amanda and I went all the way around it to make sure it was really an island. :)

This cliff with its clinging trees is to the east of the island, and a cove goes back behind it. Next time I go up there with the canoe, I am going to explore! (This Wednesday, hopefully.)

Look at the color of this water. It is deeper than it looks.

I loved this rock with the fleabane growing on it.

Still trying to get a good picture of the color of the water. These trees add a little bit of interst with their scraggly branches and reflections.

Looking out to the first bend in the lake, and watching Amanda come ashore.

The view from the road going up to Hilltop Campground. I'll definitely be going back!

Cliff and Wade Lake Campout

2009-08-29T18:27:00.008-06:00

The truck is loaded and we are ready to head for our campout. It has been so long since we've taken the canoe anywhere, that we forgot the end with the two ropes goes in front. We did fine until we were somewhere near Wild Rose Ranch when a wind gust blew the canoe to the side. What's a campout without a little excitement? Amanda got out of the truck and shoved the canoe back, and I drove a little slower up the road. Yes, those are the dog kennels you see in the back. We took them for the dogs to sleep in at night. They are pretty handy for putting equipment in, also, on the drive up. We didn't have to worry about anything blowing out of the truck!

We had to camp at Hilltop Campground because neither Cliff Lake nor Wade Lake campgrounds had any openings. There were quite a few up at the top, though, so we got to chose which one we wanted.

After we set up the tent, we took the dogs on a walk. There is a nature trail that goes from the Hilltop campground down to Wade Lake, so we decided to walk down. The 2nd photo shows a glimpse of Wade Lake when we were about half way down the mountain.

The third photo is Wade Lake at an overlook on the nature trail. It is looking further north, so it actually looks more of a distance to the lake than the last picture.

It is also a deeper part of the lake, so it is more blue than the green of the 2nd picture. The last part of the hike down to the lake was pretty steep.

The fourth picture is of Amanda and Carma hiking down the steep path in front of me.

Look at the color of the lake in the 5th picture. What an amazing color for a mountain lake! My next blog will have pictures from Cliff Lake.

Moose in the Morning

2009-08-06T20:48:00.001-06:00

What's that? Something is over there...Blew seems to be saying. She loves seeing moose in the morning. Of course, a scurrying mole is just as fun!

The first time we saw this bull moose was on the 4th of July. He was in the river cooling off, obvious to the gathering crowd that was watching him. Last week, he and another smaller bull, met up with the two cows that have wandered through the complex. The larger pair seem to be sticking around. I've seen them almost every morning. I didn't expect to see them today, after doing our round and not spotting them. But, we were only two houses from home when Blew indicated that there was a moose somewhere nearby. Mr. Moose was between Robert's house and garage. That was close enough to go home and get my camera! Poor Blew was upset because I didn't take her back with me. That is the most I have ever heard her bark in her entire life!
As I walked back, I caught a glimpse of the cow behind Robert's garage. I would not have seen her if I had't decided to go and take the bull's picture. When I went into the house to get my camera, it was about seven in the morning. Hopefully these two will stick around and not wander too close to the highway.

Blair Lake Trailhead

2009-08-03T21:27:00.000-06:00

Tonight was another example of listening to the spirit. ChaRee (my clerk at work) had told me that she and her family hiked in to Blair Lake last week and that the flowers were spectacular. I've always wanted to do that hike, but haven't had time. Gary (ChaRee's husband) called me after she had left for the day and told me that I needed to take my camera and go up the Blair Lake trailhead road and take pictures of the flowers. He told me that if I didn't want to take my car I could borrow his truck. Of course, last week, Anne Marie Miller had come in and told me the flowers up there were absolutely gorgeous and that she managed to drive up the road in her little car. I wanted to drive up there this evening, but I had done some extra things for work and it was getting late. At about 7:15 I decided I would go up anyway. It was cloudy and I knew it wouldn't be great for taking pictures, especially since I had gotten started so late. As I was driving up the road I watched the multitude of flowers blowing in the wind, and knew I would never be able to get a good picture. There were fields of indian paintbrush, from light orange to bright crimson. The segoe lilies were still in bloom and tons of other flowers that I don't know the names of. The road was rough (that is putting it mildly). I was heading down this really steep part and scraped bottom. My first thought was that I should just turn around and head back home. Impossible on that slope, so I just kept going. I stopped a couple of times, wondering just how far it was to the trailhead. For some reason I headed on, even when I passed two or three good places to turn around. I finally saw the trailhead about 1/4 mile ahead. I drove down to a good place to turn around and got Blew out so that she could run around a bit. I took several pictures (none turned out very good) and walked to where the signs were planted that tell you vehicles can go no further. As I turned around, I saw people walking down the hill. Now, I hadn't passed anyone on the drive in, so my heart accelerated a little bit. When I got closer, I saw it was a couple of hikers. They looked dirty and tired. They told me that there was supposed to be water there and that it was at a galvanized cistern. I hadn't seen anything, but was sure wishing I had thrown some water in the car so that I could give it to them. They started searching the area for the cistern, and Blew and I headed back to the car and started back up the hill. About an 1/8th of a mile away from the trailhead, I looked out across the valley at Island Park Reservoir. As my eyes traveled back to the flowers alongside the car, I noticed a pipe sticking up out of some grass. I stopped the car, pulled on the parking break and took Blew over to explore. Sure enough, it was the galvanized cistern. I tried calling to the couple, but the wind just blew my words away. I backed down the hill and walked to where the girl was setting up their tent. The guy was off down the hill, still searching for the water. I showed the girl where the cistern was located and talked to her a little more. She said the last water they had was 11 miles back. That made me feel doubly bad about not throwing any water in my car, but I am so glad that I listened to the spirit and continued on up to the trailhead even when I thought I should turn back. If I hadn't, who knows if that couple would have found the water before dark.

2009-08-01T20:59:00.000-06:00

This guy looks like he had a bad hair day. What a cutie! I took this on the float with Becca, Mike, Sienna, and Kathey. They had never done the float from the Big Springs boat launch on the Henry's Fork of the Snake down to Macks Inn. It was a beautiful day. I have never seen so many king fishers and herons as we saw today. Plus, this is only the second time I've actually seen a black crowned heron. Becca said she and Mike looked like lobsters when they got home, but honestly, Becca, you only looked barely pink when we climbed out of the boat! It was a nice float although we missed seeing a momma moose and her calf by just minutes. Some people in a canoe told us to watch for her, but she had faded back into the willows.

Blew is missing her playmates (Mike and Sienna).

I didn't get a picture of Kathey because she was sitting right in front of me. I didn't get a picture of the bald eagle we saw, either. Mike took the one of Sienna and I, and Becca cropped it to make it more pleasing to the eye.

Blew and I saw a bull moose on our walk this morning. Dion (my neighbor) just got back with some of her relatives from an evening walk and said he was over in the boneyards this evening. I wonder if Blew and I will see him tomorrow. Maybe I should take my camera...not...I couldn't hold on to Blew and try to take a picture of a moose at the same time. : )

2009-07-18T19:03:00.001-06:00

Blew let me sleep in this morning, well kind of, so I took her for a longer walk in a new area. I took her up to the road that leads to the headwaters of the Buffalo River, and we walked down the road to the river. Once at the headwaters, and seeing there were no moose for her to get excited over, I let her off her leash. She joyously bounced into the river and ran all over the place. She was so pooped by the time we got back home, that she slept all afternoon. I'll still have to take her for another walk this evening, but she was one happy puppy all day.

2009-07-14T18:19:00.000-06:00

Got back too late last night to write. The Island Park single FHE group (all five of us active members) went on a hike. We started out at Upper Coffee Pot Campground and walked down to Coffee Pot Rapids. I got some good shots of a night heron and a momma duck with babies on her back. It made me want to get out and explore Island Park more. I have a whole list of places that I want to find, but haven't done any yet. Coffe Pot Rapids was one of my spots, so I can cross it off my list. I was going to take Blew out tonight and find another place, but we just had a bad rain storm come through. It has been raining on and off all day. Maybe tomorrow evening. Tonight I will just work on my Animalku game.

2009-07-11T20:23:00.000-06:00

I'm being lazy this evening. ChaRee had an archery tournament in Grangeville, so I worked the Saturday shift. Came home and did not much of anything. I should take Blew for a drive, but have been working on loading all my pictures onto my external drive so that I can pull from them whenever I want. Speaking of pulling pictures, I'm going to post a few of my favorites taken by Amanda. Doesn't Blew look out of it, in this photo taken when she was on morphine after her surgery. And I love this one of Tess, Chaffie, Carma and I. You can see Mistidawn's nose under Chaffie's neck.

2009-07-06T19:27:00.000-06:00

We went for a drive last night and I caught this heron in flight at one of the ponds along Old Chick Creek Road (FR117). Blew got overexcited when she saw some cows. She jumped out of the truck and when she hit the ground, the clasp on her collar somehow came undone and she was off to chase the cows. If she were a horse, I'd say she went right brained because she doesn't listen at all when adrenaline hits her bloodstream.

Fourth of July Weekend

2009-07-05T21:38:00.001-06:00

Carma, Amanda, and I did the Box Canyon float for our fun outing this weekend. It only takes about an hour. We actually took pictures of ourselves, to prove that we were on the float...not that it really proves anything!

After taking the first few pictures, I let Carma have my old Kodak point and shoot (only 2 megapixels) and she took the rest of the pictures. I didn't know if the river would be worse since it is earlier in the year than the last time I did this float with the Island Park Single Adults. We could have taken our cameras and shot some better pictures, but better safe than sorry. We saw an osprey, a bald eagle, a heron, a king fisher, and plenty of ducks. We hit the water at about 10 a.m., and it was a perfect time. We did get stuck on a few rocks, but that gave us our laugh quota for the day. :)