Wild and Sweet

 

We didn't realize that when we started up the Trout Creek Road near Pack River Flats that we were entering bear country.  

The sign told us so, as did other signs along the roadside.  

For once in my life, I did not run in fear at the sight of a bear AND I felt equally brave when we saw a moose drinking from one of Bill's favorite fishing holes up that road. 

The bottom line:  someone up Trout Creek has a great sense of humor along with access to some pretty cute stuffed bears. 

Bill always likes to check out his fishing areas to see how the water's running.  His overall conclusion from yesterday's trip:  it's running low pretty much everywhere. 

There's rain coming tomorrow, in abundance, and that will help the unseasonable and excessively dry conditions we've seen during this August-like April. 

We drove up the road as far as a big gate which means if you want to go further, you'll be walking or maybe riding a horse. 

Bill and I walked for a ways past the gate on the road which eventually ties into the Rapid Lightning Creek drainage.  

While on our brief hike, I noted that, though it was pretty, the area didn't offer a lot of photographic opportunities.  

"I wish something would walk across the road," I added. 

Well,  as we headed back down the road in the pickup, a moose satisfied my wish.  The animal didn't seem too concerned about us, and I could snap pictures with confidence that I could jump back into the pickup.  

So, both parties (moose and photographer) were okay with the situation, except it was obvious the animal wanted us to leave so it could get back to sipping up some of that pond water. 

Finally, deciding we weren't going to leave and that we hadn't posed a threat, the moose walked back over to the pond and, while taking drinks, provided me some fun photographic moments.

By moose standards in the springtime, this creature looked like it had experienced a pretty easy winter. 

Usually, their bodies are really moth-eaten with patches of missing hair.  This one, though, appeared relatively well-groomed and healthy for a moose in the wild.  

I couldn't help but think of all the moose pictures we see from downtown Sandpoint yards and feel a bit proud that my moose was actually hanging out where one would expect a moose to live. 

So please appreciate that this is a moose that has actually sustained itself in the wilderness rather than from feeding on town shrubs. 

Now for the bears.  They probably did not hibernate this winter, but they do look like they've wintered well. 

And, since we're talking about the wild, I was feeling a bit wild this morning while sitting here at the computer, reaching back to my neck, felt a little something extra.  

Wasting no time, I jumped up and yelled downstairs to Bill, "Would you please look at my neck and see if there's a tick there?

He met me in the bathroom where I immediately pulled out some tweezers.  He looked and said, "yes."  

It took him two pinches to pull the tick out of the back of my neck just above my hairline. 

I have no idea how long it had been living there rather than in the woods where it belongs, but I'm thinking just briefly. 

I washed my hair last night and had no clue of its presence while combing my hair this morning. 

Who knows!  

It's been washed down the sink drain, and I'm hoping it's the last tick I host for a while.  

I told Bill that years ago, my mother pulled another tick from the back of my head, just above the hairline, only on the other side.  

That's enough for a lifetime, I think. 

The tick story has a moral:  lots of folks say they're bad this year, and I've passed along that claim.

Now, I have valid proof.  

Check yourself and your animals thoroughly any time you go to the woods. 

They're out there, they're hungry for blood and happy to come home with you!

On our way down from the mountain, we met three dogs and their owners.  Of course, we're suckers for Border Collies.  

Turns out there's some Bernese Mountain Dog in the mix with two of these. 

In short, our trip up the Trout Creek Road yesterday turned out to be wild and sweet and packed with a bit of delayed extra horror, thanks to an iddy, biddy blood-sucking bug. 

Happy Friday. Check for ticks.