In spite of our long first day on the river, John was up early the next morning when he heard something crossing the river; it turned out to be a young elk which decided our camp was not the best place to be.
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| Elk
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Starting this year, floaters are required to have bear-resistant food storage. We had one bear-resistant cooler but no bear-resistant dry-boxes, so we rented an electric fence and corralled our food at night.
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| Bear Fence |
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One of our crew, who shall remain anonymous, got pushed over next to a wall while rowing; the cliff bumped an oar out and into the water it went. The oar was supposed to float, but it disappeared into the depths and we never saw it again. The water was pretty muddy and visibility was only about a foot. The river was pretty shallow in most places, so I took one of the kayaks over to the cliff and tried to probe around with a paddle. I couldn't feel anything stuck on the bottom, but I was pretty limited in where I could effectively probe. We tested the other oars we had of the same type and only the blade end floated. Bummer. A good reason to have oars where the shaft floats also!
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| Gary Fishing For Lost Oar
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Elizabeth and John had a sunshade umbrella on their raft. Pretty spiffy...
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| Elizabeth and John | ||
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| Elizabeth in Carol's Kayak | Bill in Bill's Kayak |
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| Bill and John
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We found a bald eagle on a nest with a young bird still in the nest.
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| Bald Eagle | |
Some of the ranches graze cattle down to the riverbanks, and we found some overrunning one of the campsites. I think you call all aspects of that a management problem...
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| Cows In Camp
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| Wild Iris | Crested Beardtongue | Xxx Penstemon | Rose |
Our second night was at Sunset Cliffs. Carol and Elizabeth and I hiked up towards the top of "Old Baldy". The weather was overcast / partly cloudy, and it was a bit hazy. But the views were still pretty good. The top of Old Baldy is not particularly bald.
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| Looking to the Big Belts | Sunset Cliffs in the Canyon |
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| Looking To Top of Old Baldy |
Apparently we did not go to the actual top, which was a few hundred yards further into the trees and a few feet higher. But it did not look like the view was any better from there.
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| Carol and Elizabeth | Surrounded by Arrowleaf Balsamroot | Near the Top |
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| Near Top of Old Baldy
Elizabeth, Gary and Carol |
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We spotted a fire burning to the west of us.
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| Fire |
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| Canyon from Old Baldy Trail #331 | Looking West from Old Baldy Trail #331 |
Elizabeth found a fossilized worm trail. Or at least that's what she said it was. It looked like a worm trail, and she's the geologist...
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| Fossilized Worm Trail |
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| Looking West From Old Baldy Trail #331 | |
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| Carol and Elizabeth | Arrowleaf Balsamroot |
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| Old Cabin | Sign for Trail #331 |
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| Sunset Cliffs |
After another great dinner we hit the sack.
This page last updated on 2016-04-10.
