Little Dudes

Mount Healy

Yesterday we hiked partway up Mount Healy. We gained about 1000 feet in the 2 miles then another 1200 in next 1.4 miles. Honestly, we’re pretty fit and the hardest part on the way up was the heat. Electrolytes are cool. The descent was brutal. Not quite used to all that eccentric motion.

On the top we met this little dude who was about a foot away and didn’t run when I slowly crouched to take her picture. We named her and all of her kind Celeste. She was about 6 inches tall when standing up on her back feet which she did often.

Savage Alpine Trail

This morning we drove as far into the park as private vehicles are allowed to go and arrived at the trailhead at about 7:30am local time. The main trail is from one parking lot near Savage River to another parking lot near Savage River Campground. Arlene read reviews which said that Campground to River was easier because it had less climbing and River to Campground had steeper climbing. So we chose River to Campground to avoid the steep part as a descent. Then we returned to the car by walking two miles on the road (which wasn’t bad because there is so little traffic).

Near the trailhead was a sign that said how grizzly bears are common in the area. I was prepared with my bear spray. Here is a picture of one Arlene and no bears:

I took this picture of a Fox Sparrow. It was nice because he is sitting at the top of the tree and he was singing when all off the other birds were silent so it was easy to identify the song with Merlin.

This Black-Billed Magpie was hopping around on the side of the road:

And this White-Crowned Sparrow was trying to hide in a tree. And failing!

And, of course, we saw Celeste who seemed to be working on a nest:

An Explanation For No Reports On Coffee

Arlene brought her espresso machine and has making her coffee herself since we arrived at the cabin. I found some locally roasted coffee and am perfectly happy making a fresh pot of drip every morning. Today we wandered around the “village” near the park and found a couple of places that make espresso that we’ll probably try at some point.