Wednesday, June 18, 2008

A Few Photos from Willow Creek Reservoir, west of Augusta, Mt.


Alkali Lilies...
We were lucky enough to see some blooming along the road to the Sun River Game Range. I photographed these same flowers last year. How these little guys live on alkali flats is beyond me, they have marvelous strength and don't need much for nourishment or water.

They're delicate, like orchids, and very beautiful.

When my brother, sister and I were little kids, my mom and grandma's and aunts all wore face powder when they dressed up to go to town. Down in the pasture where us kids used to play, the alkali lilies bloomed on white stretches of alkali ground. This ground was covered with white alkali powder. We used to paint our faces white and pretend we were walking around on high heels being "fancy".

No photo shoot is complete without some beautiful horses.

I think it's fairly rare to see an antelope with three healthy babies. These were so far away, it's a miracle they even showed up in my photo, but talk about cute, running along with their mom, enjoying a sunny day, are three little triplets.

It's the "baby time of year" in the mountains...we also saw this little fawn. When Robert said, "Hey, Little Guy!" He turned and looked right at us. Talk about cute. We just watched the old movie, "The Yearling" and it almost made me cry to see this little one! That movie will get to you every time. If you haven't seen it for a long time, or if you've never seen it, I'd recommend it...it stars Gregory Peck.

Sunsets at Willow Creek are just about always spectacular.

I saw birds flying out of this rock, and went over to take a look, it's a natural bird bath! Since we had 7 inches of snow last week, there was still water in the rock.

This gopher was my laugh of this camping trip. I was riding along on my four wheeler and he was beside me. He was so curious, and not the least bit afraid. I stopped and he came close so I could take his picture. One thing I love about wildlife, is that, while we're watching them, they are just as curious about us.

He was young, and had never been scared or hurt by humans, I almost could have touched him.

Dumb me, I didn't know pelicans have bumps on their beaks while they're courting! You learn something new every day. I can just imagine them swimming up to the girls, winking slyly, and saying, "Take me, my bump is bigger than his!" The whole thing conjured up silly images in my mind....
Here I am on the Sun River Game Range, with "Nemo". I named my four wheeler Nemo, so instead of having everyone say, "Where's Donna?" they can say, "Where's Nemo?" When I get into the mountains, no one ever knows what trail I might be on next. Seems they're always looking for me, wondering when I'm going to come out, if my motorcycle is broke down, why is she gone so long....Robert says he's going to put a cb on my bike, so he can talk to me and find out if I'm ok.

Then I'll be locked to the bike. I like to be free roaming when I'm in the hills. I can ride as far as the trail will go, and get off and hike to where I might find the next great photo.

But I also don't want to spend a night out there with the grizzly bears...so I have to balance between what I like to do, and what's practical. And I don't want people out at night looking for me...so I try to behave.
Donna Ridgway
PS, thanks for stopping by!

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