We did see a fair bit of wildlife on our hike (Nora took all the wildlife photos). We called these critters “pygmy marmots” but I think they’re actually ground squirrels:
This chicken-like thing (pheasant?) was surprisingly amenable to having its portrait taken:
On day three we camped in a water-free meadow above the Ashnola River. We could still see Cathedral Peak almost ten miles away. Here’s a picture I took at sunrise:
Next we began the long descent of the Ashnola valley.
We could see exactly where we were headed — 2,000 vertical feet down to the bottom, then up along the creek that ascended the other side — 2,000 vertical feet up.
There was an immense amount of fallen timber on this hillside, we think the victims of earlier forest fires.
Finally, the crossing of the Ashnola River, which seemed more like an overgrown creek to me. This bridge was a little wobbly, but it did have a thin, shaky, wire railing.
The ascent up the other side included some lovely meadows;
And here’s another classification dispute. Nora says this is a moth because its wings are open, but I say it’s a butterfly. Whatever you say, you have to agree it’s a lovely specimen….
That night, we bedded down along a somewhat less buggy creek in McCall Gulch, about halfway finished with our trip. Here’s a wonderful shot Nora took of some flowers near the campsite.
More to come.
A lot of these pictures would be great wallpaper if they were in hi-res.
P.S. I sent an error report about the commenting form to your email.
re: Wallpaper — Nora is actually decorating her room with some of the flower pictures. If there’s any picture you want in hi-res just let me know which one in the comments and I’ll post the original full-size file.
How about the last picture in this post? You can just send it to my email.
Thanks, Dave.
I’ve actually uploaded it to the server so anyone can use it — if you click on the image, you’ll be linked to a 2000 x 1500 version, which should work for most desktops.
Thank you.
I looked up your bird–it’s a ruffled grouse.