A heck of a hike

Friday, Sept. 7, 2012
In the interest of sighting our elk herd again this morning, we decided to take a walk along last evening's trail. We saw the tracks of the herd. Then we decided to continue around the woods to a "road" that appeared to go to the top of the hill from the west side. It is a 4x4 trail that goes steeply to the top. At more than 9000' elevation we had to take frequent breathing breaks on our way up. The trail continues down the east side from the peak, but it is not well used. We soon discovered why when we came to the point where the trail ended in just a little ways. So we started bushwhacking back to our camp at the eastern base of the hill. We could see the tracks of the lone bull elk from time to time. But the big excitement was a pile of bear scat that still appeared fresh. Maybe, the bear is what had the elk spooked before we saw them. Even though black bears seldom attack full grown elk or people, I would certainly be spooked by one when I was on foot in the woods.
So now we are excited. With fewer people around, we have elk and bear on the hill behind our camp. We saw deer in this woods when we were camped on the far side last month. We still hear the wolves howling some nights. This is why we camp in the woods.