Orvis Joins the Whitefish Walkers

This morning, Orvis and I went in to Whitefish for my walk with the Whitefish Walkers. It was my turn to lead. I hadn't planned to take Orv, but it rained off and on all day yesterday, so he didn't get to play ball and walk with me here (because I played pantywaist and stayed inside). When he saw me put on my walking shoes this a.m., he got so HAPPY, found a ball and waggled all over--I just couldn't leave him here. So we drove in early, parked and played ball on the soccer field for a few minutes to tone him down a bit (ha!), then I leashed him and took him on the walk with me. He had two little dust-mop companions--"Bear" (black) and "Petey" (white). We walked up Grouse Mountain (really a big hill, with a nice overlook of Whitefish), and Orvis pulled me up most of the way. He was more subdued on the way down.

Just in case anyone wonders why we don't care a whole lot about coming up here in the winter . . . this picture was taken by our nearest neighbor, Buck, from his property last December. The building on the right is our garage (yes, it's big). The more distant building in the center of the picture is our house. If we were cross-country skiers or snowshoers, this would be a great place in winter. And for you downhill ski freaks, two excellent downhill resorts are within an hour's drive--Big Mountain in Whitefish, and Alpine Ski Resort in Fernie, British Columbia. The invitation is open to any & all who might want to come up for winter fun and games--but this Old Girl will not be on hand to child tend, cook and do laundry. Now, Maui in the wintertime might make me your slave . . .

This one will give you an idea of why we like to stay into the fall--this is the Fisher River, about a 45-minute drive from the cabin. The gold trees are "tamaracks," as they say in these parts--I know them as "larches," but tamarack does distinguish them from the alpine larches in higher places (like some of my Canadian haunts). The Fisher isn't a big river, but it sure is pretty. Dad sent me this pic from Texas--he has it on his computer as it's background, or wallpaper, or whatever you call it. BTW--I took the picture.

If you're giving any thought to visiting us, remember that you might get a very close view of wildlife. This was taken our first year here (before Orvis), and is about 15 feet from our living room window. That's a little tube-type birdfeeder he's nosing. As we watched, he pulled it down, rolled it around on the ground until the lid came off, snuffled up the seed and then shuffled off into the woods behind our house. We haven't had such close contact with bears since, but our neighbor up the hill, Becky (not to be confused with Bucky), saw a Mama Grizzly and cub last week down by the highway where we walk most mornings. I saw a pair of grizzlies in Canada last week on my hike to Rae Glacier--it's berry season, and they're down in the lower elevations where the berries are ripest. Getting ready for that long winter nap!