Serendipitous Outing

My new friend, Steve, and I decided to spend the day checking out the partially flooding Spokane River back in May of last year. We are a couple of curious, nosey adventure seekers and can find fun just about anywhere. That day was one to remember! I am so glad I didn't stay home watching tv or otherwise wasting time...

We headed to the cemetery along Government Way not too far from where I live. I have never seen the river this high since moving here in 1983. The river banks are fairly tall and steep in this area except for a few spots. As we walked along the trail observing the river and how far up on the trees the water came, we started coming across a wide variety of wildlife. In the first low area we spotted a duckling in the tall grass and brush. We were afraid we would scare it out into the strong current so we froze. Then along came its parents, a pair of mergansers and they calmly swam with their charge back along the edge of the tall grass. Next we spotted a large bull snake in the branches of a bush at the edge of the water. While trying to get a good photo, Steve got a little too close for the snake's comfort and got hissed at rather aggressively! It was pretty funny and is even on video.

At this point we were feeling like a couple of kids out exploring in the woods behind the house. We went back to the car and since I was driving I decided to take the 'scenic' route back to my house. So up Indian Canyon road we went. At the Y I opted for the right sided road that connects with Basalt road. As it started to curve we passed a smallish man sitting cross-legged in the gravel behind his vehicle in a small pull-out area. We looked at each and wondered aloud if he was Native American as he sure looked like it from the glimpse we got. Soon after that I happened to glance to the left and saw 6 young coyotes in a pile playing with 2 adults nearby watching. We stopped and took some photos. It was several seconds before the adults headed down the abandoned road away from us. The youngsters, one by one, got the hint and slowly trotted after their parents. It was a very touching scene. We decided to drive a bit further up and get out to try to get some more close-up looks and photos. We headed down the next path and part way I realised that I had left my camera in the rig. Steve continued down the trail while I climbed up to retrieve the camera. As I came back down the trail I suddenly saw Steve frantically wave me to a stop. As soon as I stopped a medium size black bear strolled across the trail between Steve and I! He got a few pictures and when he was gone we were so excited that we could hardly contain ourselves! I live about a mile as the crow flies from there and across the freeway but have never seen a bear before. We have coyotes, deer, moose and occasionally an elk, but I have only heard any rumors about bears once in our area. We wondered about the connection between the man the the plethora of animals in that area on that day and how close together they all were.

You can see photos from this amazing little adventure on my regular blog, adventuringon.blogspot. I think the photos are under 'May'. Regrettably, they are all that remain of my photos from that day as shortly after that my computer crashed and I lost them all. It pays to back things up!