Baree Creek Basin

Baree Creek Basin photographed from USFS trail 63 as it nears the Cabinet Divide trail (USFS trail 630) in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness of western Montana.

A stream that hides

There is a small stream not far from where I live that flows through a deep wooded canyon for about seven miles before it briefly enters a larger one which then flows into the Clark Fork River. In early spring the water flow is continuous but after about mid-summer the stream bed for about a mile at the lower end of the canyon is completely dry. The following photos (in no particular order other than just as I ascended the trail) were taken the other day on a short hike up into the canyon and they show a little of what is hidden above the dry stream bed (in the first photo) near the start of the trail. I’m sure that after seeing the dry stream bed many people do not venture up the trail.

Fall colors are beginning to show.

Kinnikinnik

Devil’s Club

Devil’s Club

Lemon Meringue Shark

And another fun guy:

(This one looks to me like some kind of confectionery concoction.)

Summer evening clouds

What a beautiful end to a summer day.

Two of his three worlds

A very pleasant surprise

Last week on very pleasant hike with a new friend I had just commented that there was practically no animal life on the rocky top of the mountain because of the deep winter snow there (at 7,400 feet) when his sharp eyes spotted this little fellow.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, Callospermophilus lateralis

This fairly large ground squirrel gets up to 12 inches in length and weighs as much as 13 ounces. It is an omnivore and can reside on that rocky mountain top because it will hibernate from some time between August and November (depending on altitude) until it again emerges any time from late March to May. (That’s a long sleep!)

It’s geographical range is from southeast British Colombia and southwest Alberta in Canada, south into the western United States as far east as western Colorado and as far south as northwestern New Mexico and southern California at elevations from 3,900 feet to 13,000 feet and it is very common in that range. Its life span is about 7 years. I can’t believe that I had never before encountered one!

For those who are interested, there is a wealth of information on them available at Encyclopedia of Life.