post deleted – I guess I need to re-learn how to post photos.
Bob
Thanks to the ability to access other people’s freight sheds, here ya go…
Beautiful!
Living in N Idaho in the mountains, I have to say fall is my favorite season. We have some aspens, in pockets, and we have alder, but its the Western Larch that I love.
Really pretty there Bob. I was up in Montana and Ida. area long time ago in the fall seasons. Only thing that was bad was so many Bears. Thanks for the photo.
Bears don’t hurt anything. I wouldn’t want to rub up to a grizzly but a black bear is just an over grown dog, and skittish one at that. The average black bear will run faster than the wind in the opposite direction. I have seen plenty of bears in my time and been very close (mere feet) from them on several occasions. Only once did I have an issue where I accidentally came between a sow and a cub and she hissed and snarled and stomped her feet and bluff charged and clacked her teeth (thats the strangest sound you will ever hear and they can do it loud) but she was just trying to get my attention on her and off her cub. Once I got past her she bolted for the cub and off they went. Like all wildlife you have to respect them and what they are capable of. A cow moose with a calf is a far scarier animal.
and if worse comes to worse they make excellent sausage and jerky.
Did anyone see the video that was posted on facebbok of the person sitting on a lawnchair when a black bear comes ambling up and pretty muchalmost lays its head on their lap, sniffing and looking as the person holds their camera ?
Nope missed that. Black bears are fun to watch. They seem to be almost pointless in their existence. They just wander and amble along like they have no place to be and that is just OK with them. They really do remind me of dogs. They sniff everything (they can’t see to good) and roll rocks logs over and scratch at the dirt looking for bugs and just seem to have an overall lazy lifestyle. It somewhat lulls you into forgetting that they are fast as hell and have teeth and claws that can shred you. They just seem to not have much concern. They are one of my favorite animals to watch.
You know your having fun when you and a bear are sitting in a huckleberry patch about 50 yards apart both sitting on your butts picking berries and neither is concerned about the other. Thats a fun afternoon. We both kept an ey out for the other but the berries were more important than either of our safety.
Speaking of bears …
Two foreign exchange students, one from Czechoslovakia and the other from Poland, were recently killed and eaten by a pair of grizzlies while trekking through these mountains. Rangers tracked down and killed the pair of renegade bears. One was a male and the other was a female. When they opened the female, they found the remains of the Polish student. One ranger said to the others, “I guess you know what this means – the Czech is in the male.”
(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
On a serious note, I took the photo on Monday from the window of the C&TSRR parlor car as we approached the Toltec Gorge. It sure was pretty up there. And no – I didn’t see any bears.
Bob
Bob Hyman said:
post deleted – I guess I need to re-learn how to post photos.
Bob
Bob, where is this at? They don’t have mountains like that in Oklahoma do they? I have only been there once and was around Lawton area and the only mountains I saw were big piles of what looked like misplaced boulders. The rest of the area was as flat as a pool table. I would have guessed NM or Colorado.
Edited to say you posted before me and answered my question. Colorado.
“I guess you know what this means – the Czech is in the male.”
Ah, that’s bad.
Beautiful.
A special time of year. In addition to the golden aspens, gambel oak (scrub oak) turn shades of red.