For Early Risers Who Wish That It Could Be Morning All Day
I do love Ponderosa Pines with their coarse red bark, long green clumps of needles, and gnarly-shaped branches. Wild Horse Island is loaded with them. Since their fallen needles discourage undergrowth, a forest of them can take on an enchanted look—particularly in the twilight hours.
Here is a great kayak route that Marlene and I took in Glacier National Park. It was a short scenery packed morning trip from Swiftcurrent Lake up the connecting creek (and back) to Lake Josephine.
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Here is a fun pouring technique that I did of a Glacier National Park watercolor painting during a workshop. It is available as a download course (with downloadable/printable reference materials) here: http://spetz.teachable.com/courses/lakesherburne
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Wild Horse Island State Park has about 6 resident wild horses. They sometimes come down near the Skeeko Bay anchorage in the evenings. They are not particularly afraid of humans, though approaching them is forbidden, for good reason, anyway.
With well over 100 resident Bighorn Sheep, the island might have been more appropriately named Bighorn Sheep Island.
This place is a treasure.
As Homer would exclaim, “D’oh!”
Note to self: When boarding a kayak from a boat swim platform early in the morning, make sure that you first have had your coffee. Then with senses fully activated, be certain to move deliberately, while at the same time maintaining a well-centered posture. This is no time for hesitation. No time for self-doubt.
On my way into the “drink”—for the brief microsecond after I realized my hapless miscalculation—it occurred to me that the water I was rolling towards (in an inadvertent Eskimo roll) was going to be very, very cold. Painfully cold. It was, after all, a chilly morning.
But it wasn’t painful, surprisingly. It was almost sort of warm—well in relationship to the surrounding air anyway.
Marlene woke up startled to a loud splash. The morning was otherwise quiet and calm. When she finally found the source of the splash, she looked down at me and shook her head. I am certain that I heard her mumble something under her breath too.
She denied it, but she said something.
Skeeko Bay has a trailhead for a 3 mile loop hike. From the lake, it rises gradually through an old-growth Ponderosa Pine forest …
to a hill top with a, primarily, southern view. There are remnants of the island’s earlier residents here.
An optional spur trail leaves the loop and steeply climbs to an panoramic overlook, revealing the lake north, west, and, south.
The little sailboat haven town of Dayton can be seen off in the distance.
The loop trail then gradually drops back down through another valley and another old-growth Ponderosa forest. Eventually, it rejoins the eastern shore of Skeeko Bay.
