The season of bears and flowers ~

Wandering the woods, breathing with trees, photographing spring treasures, I heard a unique scrambling sound. 

One is wise to take note of sounds while in the wilds of this NW corner of Montana. 

For we live with the critters of fairy tales. 

Looking in the direction of the sound I saw a black bear scurrying up a tall conifer tree, bark flying as she did. 

Oh! 

Since she was kind of far and up a tree I snapped a few photos. 

But really, she got up that tree so fast, she could have gotten to me before I knew what was happening. 

Later I learned that my camera captured her two little cubs! She had sent her cubs to safety and followed after them. 

A good bear encounter!

Each May, when wandering the woods, my eyes scan the forest floor for fairy slippers, the calypso orchid. 

 Absolutely thrilling! 

and

shooting stars

a little past its prime

yet still a thrill to find

the highly sought after morel mushroom

moss is growing

and so beautiful up close!

~

*

 

Honoring Glacier Lilies

we hiked up a boulder strewn canyon

boulders larger by far than us

boulders covered in lichen and moss

when we got to the cliffs above

we were greeted in spring flowers!

lovely glacier lilies

our natural world is sublime

~

*

Spring flowers and a Chickadee

lovely spring beauties

one of our first flowers

usually in white(above)

sometimes pink:

do you know what these are?

(above)

I was thinking phlox, but i am not sure. 

the lovely pasque flowers are here!

I love this little ones hairdo

funny how feathers get ruffled

~

Lovely spring day to you!

~

*

Grizzly

yesterday

a bear, grizzly bear walked through....

I was fairly far from it

it stood up to have a good look at me

or smell of me?

the bear was hunting a ground squirrel

it circled this leaning tree

dug at the earth

stood up and pounced:

it caught the ground squirrel (gopher) 

and 

sauntered off into the woods to eat in private

~

one never knows what one will see in the woods

~

*

Stepping into a Fairy tale

I donned xc skis

and headed through the woods, meadows and hills 

the wilds around home

after an hour I arrived at a tangled forest along a creek

you know the kind of woods that you have to bend and twist to get through 

the limbs of trees and bushes

grab your hat and cloak each step of the way

along the waters edge

snow turned into geometry crystals

sacred geometry

it was layers and layers deep, perhaps a dozen layers 

of delicate yet strong sheets of these icy layers

a pile of flicker (woodpecker group) feathers were scattered on a log and snow

someone dinned in these shadowy woods

a lone wolf had passed the same path that morning

ice formations showed the beauty of branches in a unique way

upon return

I had the honor of holding a little junco until it felt well enough to fly away

after colliding with a window

~

it truly felt like a fairy-tale day

~

*

Glimpses of a Creek Walk

beneath the milky ice

runs cold water

rocks nestled down for winter

(which is nearly spring)

flowing

frozen

nature's art

nature's life

recent snow

offers glimpses never seen before

artful offerings

pink bark!

in the shadowy darkness...... light

platinum beauty

~

wishing you peace

calm

beauty 

from the inside out

~

*

Winter in February

as we lean towards spring

each snowfall inspires my smiles

taking to heart winter's spirit

breath-enhancing sunsets.....

morning ice crystals 

made of fairy wings

rocks under faceted ice

make ones heart sing

celebrated my birthday at one of my beloved places

stayed for the alpine glow sunset

the first sunset in this post is of the night before

very similar sunsets

and

so beautiful

the sweet little birds

that stay with us all winter

~

lovely end of winter to you!

~

 

*

The Park, Glacier National Park

as the sun nears the horizon

snow shows off the beach boulders in a different way

without sunlight the rocks colors are muted, appealing in a earth toned way

reflections are day dream beauties

tucked into that far off canyon, it is snowing

~*

Winter Crystals

morning treasures

 

formed in the cold of night

 

they call my creek home

 

in their short lived life

 

often the crystals evaporate, take flight, disappear throughout the day

even though the temperature is below freezing

so interesting

moon shadows on the snow

our recent full moon

~

*