Went for a hike this morning. I had a trail picked out and I suspected it took me to a destination I've been wanting to see. I couldn't have been more wrong. That's what tomorrow is for though, right? But the hike was still pretty. I wandered around for 5.5 hours. I'm pretty exhausted now but it felt good to get out and spend some time in the forest. The lighting was bad today, so no award winners- forgive me. :)
I thought the rocks above were neat. Most of the time the rock has been worn down into a shape, but this pile (much larger than in picture) was a lot of individual rocks piled up.
I'll have to remember this spot (above) for when the birch trees change in the fall.
One of the biggest struggles in the park.
This is the point where I realized my trial led me in the opposite direction of where I was hoping to go. In my defense, there are no trail signs, the map I had was terrible, and with all the rocks its really easy to get disoriented with direction. I tried to tell the dogs to go home, but they wouldn't have anything of it. For the first 30 min they trailed behind me about 50 yards. Finally I accepted it and called them up to walk with me. The dog in the foreground is Shakes. I don't think she's been introduced yet. Of course, the other is Abby.
Poor girl. This was 1 hour into the hike, too. Only another 4.5 to go!! Oh, remember this hilltop- it plays a key roll below.
Heading back into the mountains.
Argali. There is a pin where they park raises some to release. I've heard there is a baby now, but I haven't seen it.
The argali, as cool as they are, was a depressing site. When I headed back into the mtns I decided I'd try to bushwack up to the trail I was hoping to be on and come home a different way. I followed the map- it all made sense down to the "t". I couldn't find the trail but I "knew where town was" so I turned left and headed home with the dogs. Then I came out at the argali. The argali pen is directly below the hill where I sat with the dogs. Somehow I hiked 1.5 hours into the mountains, turned completely around and hiked back, without ever actually turning around and without ever crossing my original trail. I've studied the map- it doesn't make sense. Perhaps it was the "Karkaraly Triangle"?
