Kayaking on the Bitterroot River
It was a hot day, and to escape the heat, we took the kayaks down to the Bitterroot River for a 8 mile float. I brought along the GoPro Hero4 for a little scene capture. The sun shined above us, and below many trouts, whitefish, and other fish scattered from the shadow of the boats. […]
Hiking to the Two Sisters
[sgpx gpx=”/wp-content/uploads/gpx/Two Sisters.gpx”] The Two Sisters are a pair of stone pillars that stand above the Bitterroot River near Lolo, Montana. It had planned almost 2 years since I had last hiked to them. You have a cross the Bitterroot River, which is low at this point in the year.
Northern Saw-whet Owl along the Bitterroot
“There’s an owl!”, Vida exclaimed. Following her pointed finger to a small clump in a ponderosa pine thicket, a small Northern Saw-whet Owl sat motionless. I had been hearing a dervish of scolding Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches, apparently they had even found the owl previously.
Beaver teaching Impermanence
During the course of my daily walks along the Bitterroot River, I have become accustomed, or better said comfortable, with the placement of every tree and stone. There is a sense of permanence from them, and now a beaver has gnawed away at this view. Every night for the past several weeks, it comes to the […]
Winter’s last gasp
This past weekend, my pal Jorge and I took a winter’s walk along the Bitterroot River at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. The light snow continued to fall and accumulate. The powder was already knee deep and the air had frigid edges to it, but there were cracks in winter’s facade. Red-winged Blackbirds sang […]
Brilliant Moon over the Bitterroot
The brilliant moon travels upstream under the bats and over the leaping trout yellow sunset becomes blue twilight eight deer cross at the shallows i used to think that the moon followed the car now i know that it follows the Bitterroot is Dilgo in the moonbeams?
Bitterroot (dharma) River and Montana (vajra) Sky
It is the time of day when everything becomes soft. The formerly blazing sun transforms into a warm blanket of light. Delicate mayflies swarm over the round rocks and ripples of the river. The sun continues its descent has the moon, a sliver of a crescent, dutifully follows. Kingbirds and Cedar Waxwings slice through the […]
Dreamt I was a dragongfly lying by a stream
With slightly cooler temperatures, I spent some time next to the Bitterroot River in the company of multitudes of dragonflies and damselflies. They provide some extreme identification challenges, and heck, they are just plain cool to observe. The early noon yawns I shake off my dreams Dreamt I was a dragonfly lying by a stream […]
Bitterroot River Merganser, an uncommon experience
One of the benefits of living next to the Bitterroot River is the near constant presence of Common Mergansers has they float on past. Dressed in stately garb, the male is strikingly black and white with a bright red bill, whereas the hen possesses a russet head adorned with a ragged crest of feathers. These outfits make the moniker […]