Monday, February 4, 2013

Onward to the North!

The next leg of our journey took us a couple hundred miles north and east of the Paloose (but still in the US).  We saw our first appreciable herds of wildlife. The 'reintroduced' wolves, which are not the wolves that had been in the region but are the larger Canadian wolves, have reduced the elk and deer herds to shadows of what I saw 10 years ago.  The target number for wolves (500) was exceeded several years ago (now >3000), and many of the northwest states are now allowing or encouraging reducing the numbers. I saw a picture of a harvested wolf that weighed just over 250 lbs. Imagine a pack of 8 to 10 of those chasing you.

The elk stayed close to the cattle herds. 
 The deer were foraging in front yards during mid-day. 


Mountain sheep were right next to the road in a few places, disturbed only when I spent too long taking pictures. 
 
The general scenery was also a little more spectacular than the rolling fields of the beautiful Paloose.



We had some adventures, including snowshoeing, a little archery practice and sampling the fare at local restaurants. There was a lot of good food to be found in the far north!
 

3 comments:

  1. Great pics. Sounds like you had a good time. We went up to Northren Idaho a few years ago I loved it it is so pretty up there. Hope you are feeling better.
    Connie

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  2. Very nice pictures and what a neat adventure you had - nothing beats a road trip! It is great that you had time with your brother, too. The Palouse country is very beautiful with the right eye to see it. We have driven much of the pan handle of Idaho and on into upper Montana several times and your pictures have me longing to head that way again!

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