Glacier Natl Park, backpacking, bear

. . .  Glacier National Park (we didn't stay at the lodge)

The Train takes you into the city of East Glacier. We stayed at a Youth Hostel, that was interesting, and fun. From there we hitchhiked to Two Medicine Lake to our base campsite. 


Bert crossing on log just before encountering grizzly
A 22+ mile week long backpacking trip going from 5000 feet base camp at Two Medicine Lake, to 9000 feet on Morgan Mountain.

A few years ago we went backpacking in Glacier Natl Park It was late August, warmest part of the year (It was cold). The actual hiking part was 5 days.

We had barely walked a mile when we encountered our first bear. A very large 300# Black bear (brown in color). Even though we were wearing noisy “Bear Bells”, the bear walked from the dense brush onto the trail just about 20 feet in front of us, surprised us both. He stood up and POUNCED on a tree making it sway, as if to say… “You’re next”, so we slowly backed away and soon he wandered off. We had a super sized jumbo can of bear repellent spray but didn’t need to use it. 

 

About 5 miles farther we came across two people standing on the trail. They stopped because there was a HUGE Volkswagen sized Grizzly bear just off the trail about 300 yards ahead.

We waited about 45 minutes and by then there were a few more people, day hikers. While we waited, one fellow pulled out a (smelly bear bait) peanut butter sandwich and we made him put it away.
Eventually we decided to walk around the Grizzly by climbing farther up the mountain. Because of the delay, we barely made it the 7 miles to our Oldman Lake Campsite  before dark.

 Since it was late August we were prepared for temps as low as 40f but the cold air from the glaciers flowed down upon us in the valleys. That night it got down to low 20s and we nearly froze, our water did freeze. We were wearing every single piece of clothing we had with, it wasn’t enough. We didn’t sleep much. It snowed a bit the next morning. 
Next morning we started up the switchback trail, well above the timberline, 3000 feet up in just about a mile distance. No matter where we hiked the trail usually sloped , sometimes steeply, toward the drop off.

Bert on the trail. That day, we traveled with a couple we had met at the campsite. He was a Doctor, a cardiologist. PERFECT, I thought. We were carrying 35# packs (plenty heavy). He and his wife each had 80# packs.

Because of the thinner air near the top, the sun burned like a heat lamp. The Doctor was standing inches from a 2000’ drop to the lake.

 

You can see a group of hikers on the trail. About a mile ahead, we had to walk thru snow in upper right, the highest point in our trip, about 9000 feet, we looked down on many of the glaciers..

 “THIS is where the Doctor was standing. (Arrow)

 We rested and enjoyed the view near the top of Morgan Mountain. Our legs were tired from the climb. The view from the mountain tops was spectacular.

 Then we started off for the most treacherous part of the trip. The trail is wide and level here but quickly became narrower and more sloped toward the drop-off ahead.
   Bert on the trail. The next mile had a shear drop off of several hundred feet right at the edge of the trail and then sloped down a few more thousand feet. 

That was the worst section of trail. Aerial photo of the trail ahead. We had to crouch down to get under the two overhangs near the top of pic, shear drop off at edge of trail.

 Another view of overhangs and trail.

The next 2 miles were on the steep slippery West slope of the mountain, Near impossible to pass someone on the narrow trail. Don’t step on loose rocks. If you fell you would slide and tumble a few thousand feet to the bottom and would only need a sponge to retrieve you.

 Close up from previous photo. We walked here, the two pictures following are from these spots (A & B )

 “A” Bert again

 “B” Bert and Karen

 Karen is on the continental divide, the only flat spot we encountered.. . Glacier on the right.

From the continental divide, we walked down this very steep trail (got blisters) into the valley.

 We camped in the shadow of Pumpelly Pillar at No Name lake and the Glacier on the other side kept us cool (cold).

 The next day we descended toward Two Medicine Lake leaving Pumpelly Pilllar behind us. In the background is the Continental divide, In the foreground is Two Medicine Lake. 

 Before we started our hike the ranger told us that there was a hiker missing for a week on Mount Sinopah on the left. When we got back 4 days later, they had searched but he was still missing and presumed dead. Weeks later he still hadn't been found. Much later we heard he had been found dead.....fallen off the trail.

Approaching Two Medicine lake, this is one of the many clear cold ice water streams where we got and filtered all our drinking water.

 

  










Bert crossing a few of the many creeks.

 

Back near our starting point on East end of Two Medicine Lake looking back where we came from, Mt Sinopah center, Rising wolf on right. Then just a few more miles back to base camp.

 


END 

Highlights of 2018

Highlights from 2018 We were in Mexico twice, .. once inland Yucatan, Merida area

We stayed at an AirBnb hacienda in Muna with 250 sheep.

HEATED PIGEON OR CHICKEN NEST

HEATED PIGEON OR CHICKEN NEST for use in Outdoor aviary. Radiant floor heating for birds ~:<)

Will keep nest 10 to 15 deg F above ambient down to minus 30 deg. . .Made from ordinary 10" Pine boards.

15 watt Coffee cup heater Electric costs just pennies per year.

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This is what I made, used for 15 years in Minnesota in the draft free unheated flight aviary.

Sometimes the Pigeons sleep outside the nest anyway even at minus 25 deg ... but they do lay their eggs and sit in the nest area, If set up at eye level, you can easily see the Pigeons in the nest ( I use net-cams).

. . Works fine for Pigeons, but may NOT be warm enough for Chickens at minus 25 deg F. For Chickens, there are other easy solutions to keep Nest area ABOVE freezing

. . My Chicken coop which is attached to the outdoor aviary, uses the same principle but stays ABOVE freezing even at minus 30 degrees with the door OPEN to the unheated aviary, no need to heat water, no frozen eggs. The aviary is Solar so it's almost free heat, ..$5 per YEAR electric for small 100% VERY safe plastic dog house heater, timers, lights, vent fans, 35 net-cams. Extremely efficient for operating cost AND ridiculously easy Chicken maintenance (seconds, not minutes). For you critics, if elec goes out, it still stays at about 20 deg F above zero with no electric.

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Mourning Dove breast torn open, had it's innards exposed.

2010 - When I walked near, she didn't move. I threw some seeds, she didn't move. Threw more, they hit her, she didn't move, something wrong.  After a bit she started walking toward the street. Tried to fly but couldn't, so I herded her into the grass, caught her with a fish net.

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Then I discovered what was wrong. Just a baby, badly injured and weak. Her breast had been torn open exposing her innards. I got her some water, Very thirsty, extremely thirsty, dehydrated, she perked up immediately but wouldn't eat. She was still bleeding a bit. I cleaned her up and she seemed like she'd survive. Should have stitches, but I will watch her, should be ok? 

Doing pretty good now, healing well, new skin even some new feathers on her belly  As soon as she's old enough to fly and then in a few days after when healed enough, I'll let her go.

Just before release... She was very Very healthy, fully feathered, and anxious to be free.(VIDEO)

Good luck little bird. Come back and visit someday  (VIDEO). 

(the Chicken wire was temporary)

Good news, she DID come back and visit... I'm sure it was her ~:<)

The life and adventures of Khufu Egyptian Swift Pigeon.

Khufu (Coo-Foo) Egyptian Swift Pigeon. . . . She is very much a hyper-active tomboy.  Her father was Nile and her Mother was Cleopatra.. and her surrogate mother was Sue-Ez. All three of them raised Khufu together, with loving care.
. . When Khufu-the-egg hatched June 15, 2016, In the cool darkness, with flashlight, I first discovered her cold blue naked dead body laying on the floor. After hatching, she had fallen out of the nest and dropped 2 feet to the wire mesh floor. I picked her up, her blue lifeless limp body cold as ice, but then I noticed she was still Very slowly breathing so I cupped my hands around her and dashed to the house to get her warm. Slowly she seemed to recover but I didn't hold out much hope for her... if she did live she'd probably have serious lifelong development problems from being SO cold and near-dead for a few hours?
. .  When sufficiently warm and recovered I returned her to the heated nest where all three parents were waiting to feed and take care of her. I made a bigger lip on the nest so she wouldn't fall again. From then on they took excellent care of her, all three feeding and nurturing her. They were excellent parents, tutoring her in all aspects of being a Pigeon. Slowly she grew up with no noticeable consequences.  It was a real learning experience (for me)..
 . . Not sure if she was male of female, I waited until she was over 6 months old before I decided HE was Male (no egg), So I named him after the Egyptian Pharos Khufu, owner of the Largest Pyramid in Egypt.
Then .. HE decided to lay an egg... but everybody in the neighborhood already knew him as Khufu.
. . Right from the beginning I knew Khufu was not going to be just another ordinary Pigeon. Full of surprises every day, very impetuous, curious,  and mischievous.... unpredictable ...never followed the rules (a lovable brat). It's been quite an experience knowing her thru her Teen years. She has a very strong confident personality.
. . NOW she is a grown young woman (but still a lovable brat). She is overflowing with endless non-stop surplus energy, never stops moving for an instant. She still doesn't follow the rules, does everything to the extreme, including cuddling and loving, flying, eating, etc.. She's the boss. She'll usually do what you want but It's always on HER terms, done HER way, when SHE wants. Sometimes she's just a little feathered Imp.. She never asks me for what she wants, She Demands if from me (food, hugging, treats, etc).
. . But .. she tells me every day that she truly and deeply loves me (she Demands my love), and, I rather like her dynamic confident independent unpredictable personality.
= = = = = = =

Note, Almost all the outside pics take place under a huge tree that totally shelters the deck and patio.... it's safe.

 June 15, 2016 Just hatched... After falling, ..... Returning Khufu, the "dead" blue baby Pigeon to the nest after getting warm and recovered in the house.

 160621a  Baby Khufu 6 days old

160624aa Baby Khufu 9 days old.

 

160630b Baby Khufu 2 weeks old

 160715a... One month old

160719b

160720b Mom Cleopatra feeding 5 week old Baby Khufu (VIDEO)

 160721b . . .Khufu's surrogate mother ... Sue-Ez

160722d . . . 5 week old Khufu and her Mother Cleopatra

 160726a . . Family Portrait ..Mom Cleopatra, 5 week Baby Khufu, Mom2 Sue-Ez

160810a . . At 2 months old  Khufu quickly discovered she cannot fly when wet.

160908 . . Khufu shares her food with a Cardinal

170420 Khufu Portrait, 10 months old.

170508 . . .Khufu visits the Nursing Home.

170926d . . . Khufu is determined to eat whatever is on my plate. Her favorites are Pizza and Corn on the cob (and everything else, no meat) .. does not like Spinach.

170930aa . .She knows... a Plate means food. ... ... She's very persistent and determined.

171020b . . This is what a Pigeon sitting on eggs, looks like from below.

 

170626c . . .Khufu loves to help with the chores

171211b . . Khufu loves to help with the chores

 180211b . . Khufu Loves to cuddle

180623. . When she hears the water running, Khufu wants to take a shower

180714 . .  Khufu flies to the wrong arm. (VIDEO)

180818 . . Khufu and Bert eating corn together. Once, before I could stop her, she landed in the middle of my mashed potatoes.  . .  (VIDEO)

180905cb  Khufu, just before landing on my camera lens.

180908c I cannot sleep late because Khufu flies to my room for her morning cuddle.

Khufu continues to surprise and entertain me. Quite unpredictable. Never a dull moment .

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Velcro, almost lost her leg, hanging upside down.

Pic = 090311

I WAS SURE she was dead.... eyes closed, motionless, hanging upside down by one foot, she looked so very very dead.
(She would "stick" to me, therefore I named her Velcro)
A very happy carefree Voorburg Shield Cropper.
 
= = = = = = = = =
 
It was a bit later than usual, dark when I went out to close up the Chickens and Pigeons in the thunder, lightning, and pouring rain. Everyone was there except for my sweet Velcro. She would never stay out on purpose so I feared the worst. This is my prize Pigeon, my friend, my companion, my treasure…we’ve been thru a lot together... It seems she has 9 lives but she's already used up 4.  With flashlight I looked everywhere, several times, no sign of her. I was about to give up and hoped she might return the next morning. Then, for no good reason, I shined the light at the top vent high in the back of the aviary, and to my amazement, there she was, outside, hanging upside down by one leg, motionless, eyes closed, looking so very very very dead, I was sure she was dead.

Pic = 100527eda

I grabbed a ladder and with the light in one hand and heavy rain pouring down… with my light shining on her, her eye twitched so then I knew she was still alive, but a very short time longer and she certainly would have died. I think she was there for a few hours. I lifted her totally limp unconscious body and was attempting to free her foot when the ladder started to sink in the wet soil and would very soon tip over. I was afraid if I dropped her, her leg would twist and break... the ladder continued to tip. The hole was small and I could not reach past her body to free her leg. The ladder was about to fall so I quickly pushed her back into the opening without freeing her leg and hoped for the best. Success, when she fell inside (just a 4" drop to the nest roof) her leg was freed.

I ran inside the aviary and she was laying on the nest roof, eyes closed, exhausted and motionless, only semi-conscious and near death. But, her leg did not appear to be broken. I held her in my arms on the couch and she promptly fell sound asleep... or ... was she dying?  I held her for hours and hours, hoping she’d survive.

PIC = 100526dc

WHY? Did she go out the vent ? It seemed strange, she never had before and the aviary door was wide open anyway. But the next night, our Tuna cat desperately wanted to go outside, so we let him. It was because there was a neighborhood cat returned to the scene of the crime. Velcro had managed to escape, but got trapped hanging upside down on the outside. Tuna promptly chased the cat away. Tuna pays no attention to the Pigeons, Chickens, or Doves, ignores them, but he doesn’t like stray cats.

The next morning Velcro’s leg was badly swollen and steadily getting worse so I took her to the vet. The Vet said she would likely lose her leg, it was totally limp and no control and no sensation at all... nerve damage?  But she gave Velcro an exam and an x-ray. There were no fractures but then the vet said there was a 75% chance she'd lose her leg. By then I was so very upset, the vet hugged me to comfort me.

Velcro's life partner, 2.5 a white Homer Pigeon, was so very upset, frantic, and desperate to see Velcro… she didn’t know what to do, cooing loudly and continuously pacing back and forth in the outside aviary. She seemed to know that Velcro was in big trouble. The minute I put Velcro’s cage outside  on the deck, 2.5 immediately flew up from the aviary to be near Velcro. I could see that 2.5 was greatly relieved to see Velcro alive.
 
Vid =  100526aq

Pic = 100526bc  

The next day Velcro showed signs of being able to control her leg just a little bit, but not her toes (dangling) so there was a bit of hope. When she walked she’d fall on her face. By that evening she was able to use her leg just a little bit for support and could limp with great difficulty but still falling. By the third day her leg had much improved and she seemed to be able to control her front toes just a little tiny bit. By evening, she could sorta walk but with a very severe limp, NO pressure at all on her toes and foot, still no control of her toes.

 Vid = 100527aa

Later I brought Velcro in the house and before I could even close the door, 2.5 had flown inside to be near Velcro. The bond between those two birds is so amazing, so complete…. They truly love each other so very very much (Pic = happier days).

 100420ab

The forth day Velcro was doing so much better I decided she could be free inside the aviary to be with her lover 2.5. For the entire day, they hugged and kissed and coo’ed and coo’ed. So much happiness.

The fifth day she still limped badly, but it seemed she would be able to fly free and lead a mostly normal life so I let them both outside. It was a pleasure to see their happiness. They were jubilant to be together again, much continuous hugging and kissing. They flew around the neighborhood all day and spent a lot of time on the roof, so happy to be reunited and free to fly. I could see it was a great sense of relief to 2.5. Velcro was still limping badly but otherwise seemed in pretty good shape.
This is such a sweet video.
 
Vid = 100530ff

BUT THEN that evening when I went to the aviary late in the day, I discovered  Velcro laying in a very large pool of blood. She was bleeding to death and hadn’t the strength to get up to the nest, SOoo much blood lost. She was laying on the aviary platform instead of up high by their nest as usual.  She was covered in blood and I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I finally discovered that she had NO control of her back toe and had been walking with her toe folded under her foot all day and the knuckle was bleeding badly. I cleaned her up some and got the bleeding to stop.  We taped a cotton ball on her foot to restrict movement and protect the wound. I was afraid it may start bleeding again.  From lack of blood, she was again mostly unconscious so I held her in my arms for many hours again and  we both slept soundly into the night. I was hoping she hadn’t lost TOO much blood, and that it wasn’t too late, or ... maybe she wasn't sleeping ... Again, maybe she was dying in my arms?

The next morning I made a splint… a cast… of styrofoam and gauze patches, carved with deep grooves to keep all her toes in place. She still limps badly but could now walk on her leg fairly well and didn't seem to care about the splint, it was working well. 


PIC =  100531bi  
I’m hoping that when we remove the splint tomorrow (Fri) that her back toe stays in the right position… then maybe… a day in the aviary and if that’s successful, then Saturday she and 2.5 can be free to fly together again. I’m hoping.

= = = = = = =    UPDATE 6/4/10. The 7th day started out great. Removed the splint and Velcro was happy and in good spirits (as usual) and walking pretty good with but with a serious limp, but with all her toes where they should be. I let her loose in the aviary and watched her closely for many hours and it looked very promising. Her back toe was always straight behind her all day long. She doesn't have perfect control of her leg yet so stumbles occasionally but overall, doing quite nicely.

BUT by evening, she was walking with her back toe under her foot again so we immediately put the splint back on and confined her to a cage. Will check again in a few days, but I fear it means she cannot control it at all, and then her back toe may have to be amputated ???

...Another potential problem. Her leg is still quite swollen and feels hot to the touch, she gets daily medication for it.  I was hoping it would be normal by now. Also her digestive system is not right. Her droppings contained far too much fluid. That means all is not well, but maybe that's to be expected under the circumstances... lots of stress. Otherwise, she seems healthy, alert and very happy (as usual).

UPDATE 6/11/2010 12 noon, The 8th day she is doing well except that she still has almost no control of her toes. The problem is that her rear toe continues to fold under her foot then she walks on it and it bleeds. The splint prevents that but if she's to get muscles and control back, her toes need exercise without the splint. I'm taking her back to the vet this afternoon for some advice and more pain medication. I'm still keeping her confined but loose in my office. She just now managed to land on my arm while I'm typing this.

GOOD NEWS update 7/9/2010 - Success. Nearly one month later and almost 100% recovered. All her toes stay in place and her limp is barely noticeable.

4/20/2009 More Good news update months later - She's fully functional, back to normal, same old happy carefree Velcro, my sweet little feathered friend.

 Pic = 090420da

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Bev Letard... just for your info... Can be another (final) story about Velcro
Terrible news 5/20/2014. Today a hawk killed her as she was flying to the deck to visit me. 
http://bertthemensachicken.blogspot.com/2014/09/this-is-not-sunset-picture.html

Khufu steals food from my plate.

WITH BOTH FEET, she landed in the middle of my mashed potatoes.

Khufu . . . She's such and imp, so quick, so super sneaky, so very persistent, snatching food off my plate. She hates Spinach, Loves everything else, PIZZA is by far her favorite (NO meat allowed).

.... 

Likes broccoli, corn, egg rolls, cauliflower, sweet rolls, hot dogs, hamburger, salads (and even some dressing), rice, burritos, tacos, churros, french fries, mashed, pudding, Flan, corn on cob, sandwiches (any kind), tomatoes, Avocado (toxic to her), cucumber, radish, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, cookies (any kind), pancakes (some syrup), rice crispy bars, ice cream, brussel sprouts, etc, ... pretty much anything. ... a junk food junkie ~:<)