A Surprise Visitor At The Lake!....

Breakfast!

 

 

 

     We woke up to a gorgeous day of blue skies! Yay!  The horses were also enjoying the beautiful weather this morning along with their meal...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       On our way to close the gate to the lake to turn off the hydro so the lake could fill up while we went hiking, we noticed an animal in the distance near the inlet.  So, we headed over that way to investigate what it was...

 

 

 

 

      ...The River Otter!  :)  We saw him the other day, but he dove down into the water and we were unable to catch another glimpse.  This time, we were lucky enough to snap a picture before he scurried his bashful, cute self back into the water!  He was basking along the edge of the melting ice, sifting through some lake plants he had brought up from the surface and probably lounging around and enjoying the sun like we were!

 

 

 

 

    On our way up the mountain to take the Deer Creek loop hike...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Three hour hike...we were ready for a snack!  Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

 

 

 

 

Wolf Tracks Up Trail Creek...

A sign greeting us shortly after the hayfield past the Ranch property...I especially enjoy the "hang glider" portion!

 

 

 

     Mild winter day today, so we decided to take a hike up the Trail Creek area past the hayfield to look for wildlife and take in the scenery!

 

 



In the hayfield, headed towards Trail Creek.

 

 

Wolf tracks just outside of the hayfield (which we found later, trekked through the hayfield, too) on our hiking trail.

 

 

A light snow swirling around us as we head up Trail Creek...

 

 

Calf elk track...Cow's (Momma's) tracks nearby but hard to see with the camera...we saw them earlier today above the hayfield, heading in the direction their tracks here were showing.

 

 

 

 

Wolf track (heading towards the Ranch).  My boot print, women's size 9.  From this impression, this wolf could be around 150lbs in size. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Packer's Gulch.

 

 

 

 

Heading home... 

 

Somewhat difficult to see and emphasize because of the lighting today and the snow, but the tracks below me are the wolf tracks we followed that were headed towards the Ranch, cutting across the hayfield.  You can see, from boot length to boot length, how long it's stride was as it travelled!

 

 

The wolf tracks heading into the hayfield.

 

 

A group of elk above the Ranch, opposite side, above the pastures.

 

 

Some blue sky trying to peek out behind the clouds this afternoon!

A Little Snow...

 

 

 

    A good storm decided to entertain us today, so we turned off the power to fill the lake for the hydro plant and went for a hike around the Ranch while surrounded by quiet, slow falling snow.

 



 

 

 

     Circling around the lake, we managed to spot a white marmot (or what we think was a white marmot) and an otter, who was perched on an ice shelf in the lake inlet, probably catching fish.  Unfortunately, in both instances the animals moved too fast to be captured per camera, but they were fun to see!

 





 

 

Entering the Hayfield..

 

 

 

 

 Maggie, she is smelling Coyote tracks (we saw two yesterday running through the hayfields, probably looking for gophers)

 

 We fixed a little fence along the way...  ;)

 

 The Ranch below...

 

 

 

The horses like to "play" with all sorts of weird things...here Mr. Jack Daniel's (my horse!) is playing a little basketball...  ;)

 

 

 

 

Here, Baby Miles (almost 2 years old) decided to pull out the fire house by the corral/barn!?..Silly Ponies!

 

 

 

 

The horses enjoying a salt lick during the light snow storm!...The Baby Dillon (palamino colt) wedged between the hitching posts for safety, enjoying the salt as well!

Riding into the Storm...

Willy & Spud.

 

 

    We received a little snowfall last night, and managed to have a decent morning, temperature-wise, so we decided to saddle up a few ponies that were lingering around the corral and go for a ride down Loon Creek before the next storm arrived!