The Enchanted Forest

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. ~ Robert Frost

If you ask people who have lived in or visited Michigan about their favorite place there, most will mention one of the many lakefronts. Some might point out the historical sites or the great small towns. But my very favorite spot in ALL of Michigan is a place called Wildwood. No trip home is complete without a stop there. 

My beautiful momma in her natural habitat - harvesting something!

My love affair with Wildwood started before I was even born, when my dad and mom got their Pontiac convertible stuck in a sandy spot in the road. (Did I mention that none of these roads are paved?) Yes, I was along for the ride! As I grew older and gained siblings, many family outings took place in Wildwood. Part of the allure of the place was the traces left by early settlers. Old houses were scattered here and there, and foundations were plenteous. The best thing that the settlers left, though, continues to flourish, and that is their orchards. In any season except winter, there was always something to harvest, and it was free for the taking. We picked mushrooms in the spring, berries in the summer, and apples, pears, and nuts in the fall. The beautiful mix of oak, elm, maple, birch, fruit and nut trees put on a show of color that I still miss. 

Once in a while, after an evening church service, my dad would slow down as he rounded the corner just before pulling into our driveway, then go right on by the house. Yay!! a night-time drive through Wildwood "shining" for deer. My dad lived to hunt, and many of our forays were thinly-veiled scouting trips. He harvested many pounds of meat from Wildwood over the years. This was also the place where I got my first taste of hunting, sitting in a blind with my daddy. (All I really remember was being SO cold!)

I could ramble on much longer... about the nest of baby field mice, about the sandy hole in the side of the hill that Daddy said was home to fox kits, and about climbing the trees. And of course, Dan and I did much of our dating driving around Wildwood in his big, green Chevy pickup (much more suited for two-tracking than a sports car, Dad & Mom, haha)! Who needs a lakeshore? A day spent in Wildwood is, to me, a day of heaven on earth!

Worth the Hassle

Well, then... 
It's Friday, and the sun is shining. Where shall we go today? Having planned to go to the East Rosebud drainage last weekend (see Six Eagles and a 3-Mile Hike), and being thwarted, we figured that that was a good place to start. We saw some eagles along the way, but only one close enough to photograph.

We drove almost to the campground at the end of the road before we hit snow that was a little too deep. At that point, we backed up and turned around. 

Since we have seen moose in this area before, I was closely watching the hillsides around us. Suddenly, I spotted a frozen waterfall. Dan stopped and backed up to where we could see it again (he drives as well in reverse as he does in drive), but there were trees blocking a really good shot of the falls. What to do? Hike up to it, of course! The many, many young pine trees and fallen logs left by a fire about 10 years ago made for tough going, but it was worth it! We were able to get right to the base of the ice flow. Dan has "King of the Hill" syndrome, so we worked our way up further. Unfortunately, what goes up must come down. On the descent, Dan slipped and nearly skewered himself on a cool set of whitetail antlers (skull still attached). We otherwise probably never would have seen them in the dense underbrush. But now he had to make it the rest of the way down carrying his prize. But make it down we did. I think that we will both be feeling this one tomorrow. 

My King of the Mountain :)

Eagles and Bison and Sheep, Oh My!

AKA Same weekend, Part 2

Having been told on Friday about big horn sheep wintering outside of Cody, Saturday's agenda became "go find sheep"! 

We took the road out of Cody past the Buffalo Bill Dam toward the east entrance of Yellowstone Park. Sure enough, we found the sheep -- like 100 of them-- plus a few other willing subjects. 

Mission accomplished! 

Six Eagles and a Three-mile Hike

Due to technical difficulties, this is a week old, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. 

When we left the house Friday morning, we were going to go down to the East Rosebud drainage, looking for eagles and moose. But a dysfunctional gas pump changed all that. We planned to fill up the truck in Fishtail, but now we were going to have to go into Red Lodge to get fuel before going back to East Rosebud.

Cattails on Greenough Lake

If the ice held me...

Since we were already in Red Lodge, I suggested that we drive as far as we could up the Beartooth Highway and see if we could spot an elk or a moose. (We had already seen four eagles.) We detoured off the highway into the Rock Creek Campground for a few pictures of the creek and the mountains. We met a young man coming out who said that he had hiked to Greenough Lake and seen a couple of foxes and possibly some mountain lion tracks. Obviously, Dan was intrigued, so we set out on foot. We didn't see either the foxes or the cat, but we did hear a coyote yip and howl. At one point, the trail that we were on and the road to the Glacier Lake Trailhead were separated by scarcely more than the creek, so Dan decided that we should go back to the truck by way of the road, rather than backtracking the way we came. We therefore crossed the frozen creek (he more confidently than me!), and returned to the truck.

The trip home offered photo opportunities for two more bald eagles, a golden eagle (I think), and a beautiful sunset.

To be continued...