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 :)