Yesterday, we went to Murphy Lake near Fortine. It's also a wildlife viewing area. The main thing you will see there are loons. We couldn't get to them but we could here them calling. If you've never heard a loon you've missed something. It's a very special sound.
After walking around Murphy we decided to see if we could find Martin Lake. We took off down FS 7006 on foot. Mom likes to walk places as much as possible cuz we see and experience more. The first thing we saw and experienced was a tree nearly falling on us. The wind came up, we heard this big crack and an old tree came tumbling down not 20 ft. from us. Mom is not crazy about hiking in the forest in the wind and this is why.
Shortly after that an 8 pt. whitetail buck came crashing down the hill above us, flew across the road and into the forest below. It was a sight to see but happened a little too fast to capture. I pointed out several bear scats (poops). I really have a nose for this. It wasn't fresh, maybe a day or two old. I could also tell there were bears around by the torn up logs and stumps. Bears love to eat the ants and grubs that live in them.
We finally came to a concrete barrier and a little way from that, a trail. It had a sign that just said "trail". Not real helpful. We could see it was a trail. We would have liked to have known to where. We took it up the mountain a mile or so but it was getting late in the day and mom decided we'd better head back. Turned out to be a good idea too because as we walked along in the warm, summer sun the wind kicked up again and before we knew it, the skies turned dark and the temperature dropped like a rock. Those old trees were really rocking and rolling. The thunder was also rolling. We turned up our speed and made it back to the truck just as the rain came down in sheets!
Note to hikers & bikers: I'm sure you've heard it before but it bears repeating; always be prepared for weather changes in the Rockies. It can happen so fast it'll make your head spin. We've seen the temperature drop 40 degrees in less than 5 minutes. If you don't have the right gear you'll be mighty uncomfortable or worse.
Until next time.....
1 comment:
Wow, glad you missed the tree, or the tree missed you guys! I bet that was a neat sight....I've seen a tree fall before too and it's a neat sight to behold. Sounds like you guys are having some neat weather too, those dark clouds make good pictures too!
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