Critters and such.......

This guy is sitting on top of a "Ranch Driveway Arch". There are lots of them from Texas on up here and west. Folks think they should have an arch over their driveways. Personally, I agree with them. If I get another driveway, I'm gonna put an arch over it. Not sure what I'll put on top of it yet though. Might put a skunk. Haven't seen one of them yet.....

This sucker was/is way cool though. Amazing work in metal!



So then we are getting REAL close to Logan pass and here's a herd of these. I have one of a goat butt, but (no pun) I didn't post it cuz you would have thought Karen took it, but it was me. Every now and then I slip and shoot an ass too.....

Cute buggers. Way up in the high mountain and stuffing themselves before they have to move down slope in a couple more months. It was obvious that their entire focus was food. Really beautiful animals though.

We pull into the parking lot at the welcome center at Logan Pass and Karen says, big horns on the slope. I could not find them until she stuck my nose in their direction. I was able to walk over and climb up pretty close to them. More beautiful animals!





Mack daddy. Watchin' over the herd.......








Like I said in the previous post, we took the Going To the Sun road up and over Logan Pass and down the east side today. This road was built in 1932 which, in my mind, was a feat in and of itself. If you ever drive you will understand. The drive is well worth the trip. The park itself is very different than Yellowstone and I would guess all the other National Parks. This park does not have the many roads and infrastructure that Yellowstone has. What they do have are many hiking trails that lead to glacier made high mountain lakes and glacial streams. Many of these trails are serious back country trails that require much thought and planning to hike. Others are easy day hikes that get a lot of wear and tear.

Fishing is not that great up here. The waters are all from the glacial and snow melt and are cold fast streams and rivers that are pretty much sterile waters. The water has to get a good ways south or downstream of here before it warms up enough to start growing algae and warms up enough for the bugs to plant eggs in it to support large numbers of fish. The two pics I posted yesterday of the clear water give an indication of how clean this water is.

There are trout in the area, in particular in the Flathead river which is far enough down slope to start producing food for them.

All of the hiking literature around here also says to make sure you have bear spray with you on the trails. We have not seen any bears here. Karen overheard some folks talking today that went up to the Canadian side of the park that saw many bears though. Apparently they move further north during the summer. There are no buffalo here and we have not seen any elk, moose, or caribou here. The forests though are all old growth Spruce, Pine and Douglas Fir. Very thick and dense on the West side. The East side has been either burned or logged depending on where you are. The old growth dense stuff on the West is beautiful! The floor is covered in ferns and other low growth stuff while the trees are up in the 60 to 80' range.

Bottom line, another of our national treasures here. Put it on your list to come see before we, as humans, totally screw it up......