• Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Yellow wildflowersThe wildflowers were everywhereGrouseMale grouseSnow on the mountainsHawkView at the top of the hill of 360Dear1Mike got a good zoom in on the deerThe Beaver PondThe Beaver den or damIt's getting dark out

    Beaver pond hike

    June 10 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    We are going on this hike to the Beaver Pond. It’s considered a backcountry hike. Which means we’re going to be in a bear frequented area. Unfortunately Mike accidentally left his hiking bag back at the rig so no water for him to drink. No bear spray for him to carry and no bear bell for us. That’s fine. I don’t mind sharing my water, but only having one bear spray and no bear bell made us a little bit nervous.

    The hike was super beautiful. There were tons of wildflowers. Especially these yellow ones they were everywhere. It was a sea of yellow flowers. we came across a grouse pretty quickly in the hike. He was just sitting there about 3 feet off the trail. Sitting so still and he blended in so well with the ground you could hardly see him. A little later in the hike we walked up on a male grouse that was sitting in tall grass so we didn’t see him. But we scared him. And then he scared us. We both had a good laugh about it. Mike about hit the deck and grabbed his bear spray ready to take action.

    The weather was pretty nice during our hike, but then the clouds started to build. We got a couple sprinkles here and there, but it wasn’t a big of a deal. Once we made it to the top of the hill, we had outstanding views of the valley below and the mountains across from us covered in snow. We also saw several pica which are not as big as a marmot but bigger than a squirrel. I didn’t get any good pictures cause they moved too fast.

    We saw a hawk and then we saw two deer a doe, and a buck. We finally made it to the Beaver pond. We didn’t see any beaver, but we did see his little damn or den.

    On the way back, the clouds started to get darker and darker, and the wind started to pick up. We were about a half a mile from the end of the hike when it started to sprinkle. By the time we made it to the truck, it was trying to snow.

    We were going to do some more sightseeing. We did make a stop at the sheep eater cliffs, but it was starting to snow so we decided to call it a day. That’s OK because the ride home was just as adventurous.    Read more