Saturday, June 6, 2009

Beautiful Day Hike and a Surprising Visitor!

A couple of weeks ago Bill and I went rappelling at Shelberg Falls, about 1/2 hour from our home. It was so beautiful that we decided to return there today for a short hike.

I took a picture of this gorgeous white foxglove at the trail head.









We went a short way up the road, and to our surprise an elk calf appeared out of the brush.




He stopped on the side of the road to check us out, and he was still a little wet on his back and wobbly on his feet!
He decided to cross the road right in front of us!












On the other side of the road, he paused to decide what he should do next.











He just stood there, so we decided to slowly and quietly pass so we would not scare him.
He looked a little nervous as we passed and went into some tall grass to bed down. We wondered where his mother was, but we could hear her in the nearby brush. It was an incredible experience...something you don't see everyday!











Wild irises...
This is where Bill and I rappelled, and the trail to Shellberg Falls starts on the right up the wooden stairs.












We saw a few salamanders as we hiked.












Matt and Bill on the trail

















It's not often you see a salmon berry this red!
Our first glimpse of Shellberg Falls

















Matt and Bill walked under the arching branches to the viewpoint
Becky and Bill

















Looking toward the falls through a beautiful cluster of vine maple
There is a trail behind the falls

























































This is one of the prettiest falls I've seen, and the trail is beautiful as well.













Maiden hair fern

Bill and Matt

















Jewels!
The trail was very well maintained!

















Matt
Becky and Matt






























New growth...
Another short trail to some falls...this is looking straight down











We're almost back to the car.

3 comments:

neffie said...

It looks like a beautiful area! I really like that close up photo of the... can't remember the name... the white flowers at the beginning of the post. The close-up one is amazing.

Megan said...

You would think that matt and dad were hiking mount everest with all that gear! ha ha. It looks so beautiful! And the elk calf was amazing! We should go there when we move up!

Kelsey Eickhoff said...

Wow!! You are so lucky to have been there when you did to see the baby elk!! Those pics are sooo adorable. Looks like such a fun day!