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Blowdown root ball

Evidence of inexperienced feller

Tree in the road

Understory in a beetle-killed grove beginning to grow back

Wild Strawberry

I took a run up to Fayette Lake out of Sweeney Creek.  It was a cold morning and snowing quite a bit. This is a great place for logging, big groves of lodgepole have faced a little less than 50% mortality rate and the area hasn't been logged very much.  It also has a pretty good road if you could get across the ford.  There were some experienced loggers, like whoever low stumped the blow down root ball at right and then bucked, and pulled all the pieces.  There were also some inexperienced loggers up here.  At one point someone inexpertly felled a large lodge pole with a huge canopy directly into the road and left it.  I can see from the stump that they couldn't keep the tip of the bar level when they cut the tree.  Instead, the tip was dipping lower than the powerhead.  This prevents the back cut from cleanly meeting the wedge cut, creating a poor hinge, and reducing the ability of the feller to direct the tree as it falls.  In this case it fell correctly perpendicular with the hinge wood, but I wonder why the feller put it into a road and didn't clean it up.

Lodgepole bark from a porcupine

Bitterroot

Ant hill with water bottle for scale

Just before I crossed Sweeney Creek, I saw the tail feathers of an endangered sage grouse duck as it ducked behind a thicket.  I followed it to try to get a picture but the brush and trees were so thick it outdistanced me.  I saw the evidence of a porcupine recently eating the bark off a live lodgepole, but didn't find any quills.  There were also a number of giant red thriving red ant hills.  They love the sage brush to make their piles.

A fine meal of venison followed by a great shit

It looks like a large predator recently got a large elk.  I saw the remains, a leg and hoof and a large scat full of elk hair.  Blood was still draining from the leg bone and there was a small pool soaked into the ground.  This was probably a bear or lion.  I didn't stick around to look for tracks or the main carcass.

Fayette lake up and to the left through the snow

There was a bluff with an incredible vista.  I could see Fayette, Half Moon, Little Half Moon, Soda, Little Soda, Fremont, and Willow lakes from the same vantage point.  I tried to take some panorama vista shots with all the lakes but they didn't turn out.  The trail down to the lake had a bit of deadfall and some erosion but was mostly passable. 

Sailing on Fremont

Robin outside my bedroom window.

After the Fayette Lake trip I did a bit of sailing on Fremont with my friend.  It was snowing and hailing on us and the wind was very unstable so we kept it short.


The next day my mother and I mulched all the trees with 2 pickup truck loads of mulch.  Then I spent the rest of the day repacking my tools and equipment.  The next morning a robin greeted me with it's song, I ate a quick breakfast and headed back to Denver.

Pinedale and the surrounding area are truly world class for plants, wildlife, and recreation.  I am glad I had an opportunity to enjoy them this summer.  However, the best part of this trip for me was working with friends and family.