Balsamroot Bloom

[Guy Miner]

Dog and I got out for a 3.5 mile hike this morning. Well, he probably ran twice that distance! :grin:

We usually see a nice balsamroot bloom in the spring, but it's exceptional this year:

Guy

 

[DrMike]

A veritable flood of colour. Lovely photo essay.

 

[mjcmichigan]

Dog looks very happy. Beautiful pictures!


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[6mm Remington]

Nice pictures Guy!!

 

[Cleveland48]

That sure is some pretty country you live around Guy. Great pictures!


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[Guy Miner]

That sure is some pretty country you live around Guy. Great pictures!


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Thanks. What amazes me is how many people here in our little town never venture into the hills, or down along the river to enjoy this beautiful place. Leaves me shaking my head.

Folks from Seattle and surrounding areas are moving here in droves. Driving up property values, and sadly they're bringing their politics with them. But they do appreciate the natural beauty of the area, I have to admit that.

Guy

 

[Cleveland48]

That sure is some pretty country you live around Guy. Great pictures!


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Thanks. What amazes me is how many people here in our little town never venture into the hills, or down along the river to enjoy this beautiful place. Leaves me shaking my head.

Folks from Seattle and surrounding areas are moving here in droves. Driving up property values, and sadly they're bringing their politics with them. But they do appreciate the natural beauty of the area, I have to admit that.

Guy

U can bet I would be enjoying it. I might get eat by a bear or mt lion on my first walk though [emoji23]. Y’all folks got bigger carnivores up there than us Mississippi folks do hahaha.


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[BruceP]

Very nice. I love the first one.

Bruce

 

[JD338]

Gorgeous country Guy. Your pictures capture the beauty.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

U can bet I would be enjoying it. I might get eat by a bear or mt lion on my first walk though [emoji23]. Y’all folks got bigger carnivores up there than us Mississippi folks do hahaha.


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I was snowshoe hiking with a visitor from Texas, at night, and had way too much fun telling him stories about wolves, cougars & bears... LOL!

He asked about predator animals where we were night hiking - and I answered... May have embellished the answers a bit.

:mrgreen:

 

[DrMike]

U can bet I would be enjoying it. I might get eat by a bear or mt lion on my first walk though [emoji23]. Y’all folks got bigger carnivores up there than us Mississippi folks do hahaha.


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I was snowshoe hiking with a visitor from Texas, at night, and had way too much fun telling him stories about wolves, cougars & bears... LOL!

He asked about predator animals where we were night hiking - and I answered... May have embellished the answers a bit.

:mrgreen:

Very funny, Guy. It can be a delight to tell such tall tales. I remember a Chinese intern that begged me to take him fishing. He didn't tell me that he was terrified of water and of bears. It was great fun. The next time we went fishing (it took him several weeks to get up the courage to ask), I cautioned him about Bigfoot. For some reason he had grown more hesitant about accepting my word about things. The young man who married one of my granddaughters came up to this area to meet us. I had no idea that those who lived in the Lower Mainland were unaware of "ice snakes." We still laugh about that. He's a good fellow and a good sport.

 

[Guy Miner]

Laughing here! This thread has taken a fun twist. :grin:

One of the gals who hikes with our group of "active seniors" is maybe 5-03 & 105 pounds...

I've been spinning stories of the little known Giant Cascadian Golden Eagle... It's a subspecies of the golden eagle, and quite rare, a leftover from the ice age, and it's been known to prey on small, quick moving bipeds... :wink:

I had her going for a while. She doesn't believe much of anything I say, or what my Army veteran buddy says either... LOL!

Guy

 

[DrMike]

I will definitely be on the lookout for the Giant Cascadian Golden Eagle! Sounds like knowledge of this rare avian species could be of especial interest.

Well, if I out of line relating stories of the terror imposed on gullible city folk, then be gentle as you correct me, Guy.

My story on my intern was that he knew I enjoyed fishing the Skagit River and asked if I would take him fishing. I was more than pleased to take him for a fishing trip one Saturday. This young man had been raised in Hong Kong, though he was educated in Canada and the USA. My intern was, as he admitted later, independently wealthy. When he arrived, he was with his private broker and they were driving a new Jaguar. I must say, I've never gone into the back country in such luxury. Four of us managed to get into the vehicle--my intern and his broker, a fishing buddy that normally accompanied me and myself.

Unbeknownst to me, this man was terrified of water, and quickly enrolled in a series of swimming lessons lest he should fall into the river and drown. Of course, most of my fishing at that time was wading the stream and fishing likely looking runs and deep holes that we encountered.

The young man did quite well for the first couple of hours. I suggested that we moved to another stretch of river which would require a trek of about three-quarters of a mile through some rather dense woods. We were forced to walk single file--the broker in the lead, my intern, myself and my fishing partner bringing up the rear.

I had not been apprised of the abject fear that my intern had of encountering a bear, but I was about to be made aware in novel fashion. As we walked, my buddy, Larry, absent-mindedly picked up a small stone and tossed it into the bush aside the trail. My intern screamed and jumped. He didn't catch the tree branch on his way up, but I believe he did manage to catch it on his way down. I was able to make out that his terror was that a bear was stalking us and had kicked a stone beside us. The broker was almost as frightened as was my intern. It was a rather interesting reaction to what I considered a common sound in the forest.

The reaction was sufficiently interesting that I thought I should test the reaction and also toss a stone to the side of the trail. When I did toss the stone, my intern screamed that there were two bears and they were travelling in tandem on either side of us. Now, things were getting interesting.

Larry was somewhat of a prankster, and as you might expect, he was prepared to toss more stones, each of which as it landed precipitated another terrified reaction accompanied by shouts and screams from the two individuals in the lead.

It was about this time that my intern turned to me and said, "Dr. Stark, what should I do. I don't want to be eaten by a bear!"

I had given this young man a new fishing rod in preparation for this trip. It was a bright yellow rod and he was carrying it in his right hand. With a serious mien, I suggested that bears like honey, and they might mistake the rod for honey, so he wouldn't want to hold it too close to his person. Before the sounds of my voice had stilled, his right arm was fully extended, holding that bright yellow rod as far from his body as he could manage.

Do you remember that I told you he was frightened of drowning, which had resulted in taking swimming lessons? Swimming lessons alone were not enough for him. He had purchased a new life jacket--bright yellow with brilliant red trim. I casually mentioned that it was good to hold the rod at some distance from his body, but he still had that life jacket about his body and a bear just might be confused that there was a big gob of honey just beyond that slender honey-coloured rod. I honestly don't know how he managed, but in one movement, my intern had removed that life jacket without dropping his rod and now he had the rod held in his right hand at some distance from his body and the life jacket held in his extended left arm.

"Excellent," I commented. "That should keep the bears away for perhaps a fraction of a second." Somehow, my assurance didn't comfort the young man.

"What will I do if a bear comes after me?" he asked.

I did want to be helpful, so I suggested, "Repeat after me. 'Our Father Who art in Heaven..."

"No," he fairly shouted, "tell me what to do." Then, he got serious. "Dr. Stark," he spoke with a pathetic quiver in his voice, "what can I do. I don't want to be eaten by a bear."

"Well," I offered as seriously as I was able to do, "you need to make some noise." Now, terrified as he was, it didn't register that he had been making a lot of noise with his screams and breaking branches on the way up and again on the way down.

"What king of noise?" he asked.

"Tell a funny story," I suggested.

Almost weeping, he confessed, "I don't know any funny stories!"

"Well, try singing a song."

And that is how we came to the spectacle of four grown men, walking in single-file down a forest path, with the young man near the centre walking carefully while holding a fishing rod in his right hand and a life jack in the left hand, singing at the top of his voice, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound."

By this point, we were near our destination. Larry and I could no longer contain ourselves, and our laughter should have given us away. I confessed that we had been teasing him and there were no bears stalking us. Looking at me with a serious look, the young man said, "No, Dr. Stark, you're a pastor and you wouldn't do that. There were bears trying to attack us."

My wife suggested that I should be ashamed, and I admit that I did feel a twinge of chagrin for a moment.

The young man had a good time, good enough that he asked if I would take him fishing a couple of weeks later. However, his conditions this time was that I couldn't bring any of my fishing buddies but he would bring a friend of his. We make the trip this time up to the Birkenhead River. As he got out of the car, my intern said, "No bear stories, Dr. Stark."

"No bear stories," I promised. Then, after a brief pause, I commented, "Of course, we are in Sasquatch country, you know." But that is a story for another time.

 

[Cleveland48]

I will definitely be on the lookout for the Giant Cascadian Golden Eagle! Sounds like knowledge of this rare avian species could be of especial interest.

Well, if I out of line relating stories of the terror imposed on gullible city folk, then be gentle as you correct me, Guy.

My story on my intern was that he knew I enjoyed fishing the Skagit River and asked if I would take him fishing. I was more than pleased to take him for a fishing trip one Saturday. This young man had been raised in Hong Kong, though he was educated in Canada and the USA. My intern was, as he admitted later, independently wealthy. When he arrived, he was with his private broker and they were driving a new Jaguar. I must say, I've never gone into the back country in such luxury. Four of us managed to get into the vehicle--my intern and his broker, a fishing buddy that normally accompanied me and myself.

Unbeknownst to me, this man was terrified of water, and quickly enrolled in a series of swimming lessons lest he should fall into the river and drown. Of course, most of my fishing at that time was wading the stream and fishing likely looking runs and deep holes that we encountered.

The young man did quite well for the first couple of hours. I suggested that we moved to another stretch of river which would require a trek of about three-quarters of a mile through some rather dense woods. We were forced to walk single file--the broker in the lead, my intern, myself and my fishing partner bringing up the rear.

I had not been apprised of the abject fear that my intern had of encountering a bear, but I was about to be made aware in novel fashion. As we walked, my buddy, Larry, absent-mindedly picked up a small stone and tossed it into the bush aside the trail. My intern screamed and jumped. He didn't catch the tree branch on his way up, but I believe he did manage to catch it on his way down. I was able to make out that his terror was that a bear was stalking us and had kicked a stone beside us. The broker was almost as frightened as was my intern. It was a rather interesting reaction to what I considered a common sound in the forest.

The reaction was sufficiently interesting that I thought I should test the reaction and also toss a stone to the side of the trail. When I did toss the stone, my intern screamed that there were two bears and they were travelling in tandem on either side of us. Now, things were getting interesting.

Larry was somewhat of a prankster, and as you might expect, he was prepared to toss more stones, each of which as it landed precipitated another terrified reaction accompanied by shouts and screams from the two individuals in the lead.

It was about this time that my intern turned to me and said, "Dr. Stark, what should I do. I don't want to be eaten by a bear!"

I had given this young man a new fishing rod in preparation for this trip. It was a bright yellow rod and he was carrying it in his right hand. With a serious mien, I suggested that bears like honey, and they might mistake the rod for honey, so he wouldn't want to hold it too close to his person. Before the sounds of my voice had stilled, his right arm was fully extended, holding that bright yellow rod as far from his body as he could manage.

Do you remember that I told you he was frightened of drowning, which had resulted in taking swimming lessons? Swimming lessons alone were not enough for him. He had purchased a new life jacket--bright yellow with brilliant red trim. I casually mentioned that it was good to hold the rod at some distance from his body, but he still had that life jacket about his body and a bear just might be confused that there was a big gob of honey just beyond that slender honey-coloured rod. I honestly don't know how he managed, but in one movement, my intern had removed that life jacket without dropping his rod and now he had the rod held in his right hand at some distance from his body and the life jacket held in his extended left arm.

"Excellent," I commented. "That should keep the bears away for perhaps a fraction of a second." Somehow, my assurance didn't comfort the young man.

"What will I do if a bear comes after me?" he asked.

I did want to be helpful, so I suggested, "Repeat after me. 'Our Father Who art in Heaven..."

"No," he fairly shouted, "tell me what to do." Then, he got serious. "Dr. Stark," he spoke with a pathetic quiver in his voice, "what can I do. I don't want to be eaten by a bear."

"Well," I offered as seriously as I was able to do, "you need to make some noise." Now, terrified as he was, it didn't register that he had been making a lot of noise with his screams and breaking branches on the way up and again on the way down.

"What king of noise?" he asked.

"Tell a funny story," I suggested.

Almost weeping, he confessed, "I don't know any funny stories!"

"Well, try singing a song."

And that is how we came to the spectacle of four grown men, walking in single-file down a forest path, with the young man near the centre walking carefully while holding a fishing rod in his right hand and a life jack in the left hand, singing at the top of his voice, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound."

By this point, we were near our destination. Larry and I could no longer contain ourselves, and our laughter should have given us away. I confessed that we had been teasing him and there were no bears stalking us. Looking at me with a serious look, the young man said, "No, Dr. Stark, you're a pastor and you wouldn't do that. There were bears trying to attack us."

My wife suggested that I should be ashamed, and I admit that I did feel a twinge of chagrin for a moment.

The young man had a good time, good enough that he asked if I would take him fishing a couple of weeks later. However, his conditions this time was that I couldn't bring any of my fishing buddies but he would bring a friend of his. We make the trip this time up to the Birkenhead River. As he got out of the car, my intern said, "No bear stories, Dr. Stark."

"No bear stories," I promised. Then, after a brief pause, I commented, "Of course, we are in Sasquatch country, you know." But that is a story for another time.

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]


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[wvbuckbuster]

Thank you Guy for the beautiful pictures and Dr. Mike for the great story. I needed both . Made my day. Dan.