After his 'big adventure', Ben tended to stay right in camp for the duration of our stay. He followed me around pretty well in our short forays to take pictures of flowers and what not.
He looks real pretty in this photo, but trust me, he was full of pitch and tree moss and pine needles. A veritable wilderness dust mop.
Ben has an abiding, inexplicable hatered of squirrels. He found a squirrel hole on the trail to the lower lake and obsessed over it for quite some time. I didn't get a picture of his face, but it was covered in dust. He looked pretty funny. Mr. Squirrel wisely stayed deep in his burrow, because trust me, Ben would dispatch him if given even half a chance. He may have a lousy sense of direction, but he knows what to do with squirrels.
This is Flax.
This flower I have never seen before in the mountains, so I don't know the name of it. But I adore the color.
Don't know the name of this one either. But it's sweet eh?
The first night, at sundown, which we couldn't really see that well at our campsite, we noticed the deep red reflections of light on the trees around us in a little corridor.
My neice and I decided we needed to see this sight. So the next night we tromped up the hill a ways where we could get a good view of the horizon.
As we fought off the mosquitos, we took a BUNCH of pictures while the sun was going down.
This is the pick of the litter:
It was a fitting end to a long day in the mountains.
We packed up early in the morning and hiked out. A mostly downhill endurance test. Going downhill has its own challenges. One's toes get jammed up in the tips of your boots. Owwie! But it was much less grueling.
I am very grateful to discover that I can still do this kind of thing. It boosts my confidence. And I was very happy to know that even though I have been living as a "Flatlander" for many years, I'm still a mountain girl.
For real.
Ben has an abiding, inexplicable hatered of squirrels. He found a squirrel hole on the trail to the lower lake and obsessed over it for quite some time. I didn't get a picture of his face, but it was covered in dust. He looked pretty funny. Mr. Squirrel wisely stayed deep in his burrow, because trust me, Ben would dispatch him if given even half a chance. He may have a lousy sense of direction, but he knows what to do with squirrels.
This is Flax.
This flower I have never seen before in the mountains, so I don't know the name of it. But I adore the color.
Don't know the name of this one either. But it's sweet eh?
The first night, at sundown, which we couldn't really see that well at our campsite, we noticed the deep red reflections of light on the trees around us in a little corridor.
My neice and I decided we needed to see this sight. So the next night we tromped up the hill a ways where we could get a good view of the horizon.
As we fought off the mosquitos, we took a BUNCH of pictures while the sun was going down.
This is the pick of the litter:
It was a fitting end to a long day in the mountains.
We packed up early in the morning and hiked out. A mostly downhill endurance test. Going downhill has its own challenges. One's toes get jammed up in the tips of your boots. Owwie! But it was much less grueling.
I am very grateful to discover that I can still do this kind of thing. It boosts my confidence. And I was very happy to know that even though I have been living as a "Flatlander" for many years, I'm still a mountain girl.
For real.