(Sunday) After a late morning, Nick finally managed to get me off of my ass (and computer game) to go for a hike. Nick and Chrissy wanted an easier trail so opted for Photographer’s Point. As I had already been there, I set off on my own on the Pine Creek trail, which drops 2,000 feet into the canyon of Pine/Fremont Creeks and Long Lake. It was a pleasant hike, and I only passed two other people – most folks take the easy route to Photographer’s Point, Miller Lake, and beyond. Long Lake lies at the bottom of a deep glacial canyon carved into the ancient gneiss and makes for a beautiful up-valley vista. I hiked down Fremont Creek to the north end of Fremont Lake. A storm arrived with some serious wind just as I reached the lake, blowing spray and horizontal rain in my face. But the storm mostly missed me – the rain lasted only about five minutes. I chose a different trail for part of the return, but found it to be largely abandoned and difficult to follow in places. After a brisk hike up the 2,000 feet to the trailhead, I made it home in time for supper.
(Today) A good day of watching birds for pay – unfortunately my last as we are now finished with the area. Lots of yellow warblers, western tanagers, red-naped sapsuckers, and Brewer’s sparrows. Clouds built up but didn’t drop rain today. I worked on prep for the lynx survey in the afternoon. Played basketball with Nick before dinner – so far we haven’t managed to find a 10-foot rim but have been enjoying the 9-foot rim near the library.
