July 3
My son and his wife are visiting, and we tried to climb nearby Chilco
mountain, but turned back after a drizzle turned towards lightning,
including the first bolt going off very close to us... This
flower was a new one, I thought, although the word coral bell popped
into mind, and it seems to be a likely species of that plant...
Here's a wood duck family on the Mill pond... The mother duck has
a distinctive eye ring, which, if black instead of white, would give
her an Egyptian look...
July 4
The 4th of July parades in Spirit Lake have always been low key
anyone-can-march events. But with growth in our area, our small
town celebration has gained a much bigger following...
My son Forrest and his wife Susa got dressed up for the parade and
decided to march this year. They're standing at the starting
point, with the old school Woolen Brown Center (slowly being
refurbished) in the background...
Our historical society also decided to be in the parade at the last
hour, using our truck and a banner and a few pieces of history...
Through friends Jim and Jo Foss, a crowd of fiddlers came to entertain after the parade. This is one half
Here's the other
I'll be making a page with more photos and videos of their performance,
which included this year's national fiddle champ (on left in the photo)
July 5
The whole family and Butters went on a 8 mile 3800 ft elevation hike to
the top (mostly) of Scotchman Peak. We all went hoping to see
mountain goats, and none were disappointed.
This is an orange form of paint brush...
This was the view towards Lake Pend O'Reille, the largest natural lake
in Idaho. The S shape in the water is where the Clark Fork river
empties into the lake...
At a point where the top seemed too far for me to desire to make it, I
stopped for a rest. Immediately two mountain goats approached
within 10 feet... They are totally acclimated to humans.
Butters did not react to them---they were too foreign to his
experience, I'm guessing...
Here is one on the trail. You can see their winter coat is in practice of shedding, helped along by their horns...
I later walked up to the final approach, which was working your way up this talus slope 3/4 mile. I passed on that...
The way down was less work, but harder on the knees and feet, and water
was in short supply, so we were happy to reach the car and swim in the
big lake... It was an all day hike... On the way up,
mosquitoes kept us from taking long breaks....
July 9
After church on Sunday we headed up the east side of Priest Lake with
our sons and daughter-in-law. First stop was Hunt Creek Falls:
We were the only people there, and there are no guard rails or
restrictions so we clambered around a bit (son Forrest on rock that I
also went onto )
Then we drove to the upper east side of the lake, and drove 5 miles up
the Lion's Head road, named after the mountain whose top resembles a
lion roaring... This photo was interesting for showing the smooth
bedrock sides of the mountains and the dark streaks of water leaking
from snow melt and springs...
Most people heading up there are there to slide the natural waterslide
between two waterfalls. Here's Forrest, but still photos
don't do it justice... So here's a video of Birrion
This was the upper falls, with some of our crew standing at the base.
My camera was running out of battery, so I only took one picture of the
lower falls, also sliding over bedrock. It was a lovely and fun
experience, broadening our appreciation of the Priest Lake area...
July 12
I've put together a page of music from the 4th of July, local fiddlers at our park...
Pots are selling fast and I'm working long hours in the heating up days to try to keep items in stock...
