WEST KOOTENAI-AMISH COUNTRY

Things were pretty tranquil around the ranch this week. The usual visits by the whitetail. I have seen a couple of mule deer and that is a sure sign that fall is in the air.

WHITETAIL BUCK


WHITETAIL BUCK

SUNSET

The Tobacco Valley is divided by Lake Koocanusa. On the west side is what is called the West Kootenai. It's mostly Kootenai National Forest but there is an Amish settlement there. We decided to take a drive over in that direction to see what we might find.

SULLIVAN CREEK

On the way we stopped at Sullivan Creek which is still running good despite the lateness of the season.

AMISH BARN


AMISH BARN

The area is quite picturesque sporting bucolic and pastoral (that's redundant) scenes. Unfortunately, this day was pretty much cloudless and uninteresting from a photographic pint of view. I really am not a fan of summer when it comes to photography. Photography is all about light and summertime offers the least interesting light in my opinion. Although, I'm sure plenty would argue that point.


MONTANA WOODWORKS


MONTANA WOODWORKS

For quite some time I have been wanting to replace the stool I use in my mudroom to put my boots on. The one I have been using is over forty years old and about to collapse. I have looked everywhere for a replacement but all I could find were bar stools.

I figured since I was in the neighborhood I would stop in at Montana Woodworks and have them just make me one. It's quite handy to have them close by. They make really lovely log furniture and you may have seen it at Costco. They ship all over the country.

FUNGI


FUNGI

After leaving the village we took a hike up the Lower Sullivan Creek Trail. I was hoping it would take us along the creek but it took us straight up the mountain. There was very little to shoot. There were lots of signs of Fall though. Won't be long now.

KOTY BEAR

©KINSEY BARNARD PHOTOGRAPHY

The West Kootenai & the Ten Lakes Area

This week we made a couple of junkets to the West Kootenai and one to the Ten Lakes Scenic Area. The picture above is of Sullivan Creek in the West Kootenai. The creeks and rivers are really rising as the snow begins it's melt in earnest. Anyway, mom went a little water crazy.


Next we tooled over to Tooley Lake. We were hoping to site a moose to photograph. Moose often hang out here but not this day. Speaking of moose, if I had a nickel for all the moose poop I walked over this week I would be a millionaire! And, we didn't see one darned moose! Mom took this picture of the lake. Cool in an eerie sort of way.


Around the middle of the week we headed over to the Ten Lakes Scenic Area. We thought we might make it to Weasel Lake and look for moose but we couldn't make it. There was still too much snow on the road. We hiked up the Blue Sky trail a couple of miles. Tons of moose poop but no moose! The photo is of Graves Creek. Lotsa water flowing down that baby!


Friday we headed back to the West Kootenai. We thought maybe a photo of Little North Fork Falls would be good with all the water coming out of the high country. Well, as it turned out there was too much water. The volume was so big it was like squeezing a toothpaste tube. The net result made for a very uninteresting picture. Or so mom said. As it turned out the photo of the day was of this regal eagle perched high above the Kookanusa.


That pretty much sums up our week. Hope yours was a great one!

©Kinsey Barnard Nature & Wildlife Photography

THE WEST KOOTENAI & LITTLE NORTH FORK FALLS

Ha! Ha! Mom couldn't make it another day without getting out for some hiking and photography. We were out doing some watering in preparation for departure to Canada when Scott, our neighbor, came down the road. He said he was off to the West Kootenai with a pal. He also mentioned they were going to stop by and take a look at some waterfalls.

After Scott hiked off I could see the wheels turning. No sooner were we done with the watering than mom says, "We're outta here!" To which I replied, "Yippee!" We piled our gear in the pickup and were off in a flash. Mom knew exactly what waterfalls Scott was referring to. She'd been meaning for us to take a trip over there and this chance encounter pushed her over the edge. :)

I have mentioned the Kootenai Forest several times. In fact we live smack dab in it. It's a really big forest. If your interested you can find out more about it here Kootenai National Forest .

We live on the east side so we had to take the bridge to get across the Koocanusa. On the drive down we saw a beautiful osprey gliding around. We also saw an eagle but he didn't care to have his picture taken.

When we arrived at the trailhead to the falls who do we see coming down the path but our friend Scott and his friend James! Humans have no idea how like us dogs they are. They met like they hadn't seen each other in a coon's age. I have no idea how long a coon's age actually is but I gather it's a long time. It had been about and hour and a half seen we'd seen Scott!

Mom had been a little concerned that there wouldn't be much water coming over the falls as it was so late in the season and it has been so dry. But the guys said there was still quite a bit. They took off for their hiking trail and we took off for the falls.

It's isn't much of a hike, like less than a half mile. As short a hike as it is it's very pretty. You hike in the shade along the creek, cross a bridge and there, in like a grotto, is Little North Fork Falls . It was nice and cool in there. I like cool!

Since the walk up to the falls wasn't much of a hike we drove back down the road about a quarter of a mile to a trail we had seen on the way up. We hiked up this trail for about an hour until the wind fall got so bad we couldn't go any further. This is grizzly country but we saw no sign. We did see beautiful, old growth ponderosa. While we were walking along I nearly jumped out of my coat when one of those old beauties must have given up the ghost. There was this crack that sounded like a gunshot (I don't like guns!) and then this whomp as it hit the ground. It was no where near to us but boy it sure sounded like it.

All in all it was a great day!

Until next time ....

©Kinsey Barnard