Critters:
I feel a little guilty talking about the mountains of Idaho and only mentioning the
plants. While I saw no moose and heard no wolves, there was no shortage of deer and smaller fauna. Casual snapshots
I took while in Idaho included the cool metallic wood boring beetle
(probably Chalcophora angulicollis) shown above, as well as
Columbian ground squirrels,
least chipmunks, and
spruce grouse (this one is a chick).
My hike back to the car was grueling. I was out of water for the last two hours of the hike--a dangerous situation
resulting from excessive time spent scouring Tranquil Basin in full sun. While I had
eight liters of water and sports-drink awaiting me in the front seat of my car,
I had little margin for error. If I had snapped
a leg on the return trip my lack of water
would have made a bad situation much worse. When I finally saw my car waiting for me at the
camp site I was greatly relieved!
Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that my car--sitting in full sun--was boiling hot, and my eight liters of
liquid refreshments were hotter than fresh coffee! Have you ever tried hydrating on piping hot water? Not at all a pleasant
process!
My explorations in Idaho at an end, I still had a few hours of sunlight. I decided to make some miles, so I jumped in the
car and
drove the long dusty road back to Warm Lake. There I cleaned and pressed my specimens from Tranquil Basin. That
evening I camped on a Forest Service road near Warm Lake--an unfortunate choice because several inebriated dirtbikers
set up camp in the area and whooped it up late into the night. (At dawn I took great satisfaction when
a couple of pileated woodpeckers started sounding off with loud RAT-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TATs in the tree
directly over their campsite.
I can't imagine the hung-over bikers could have enjoyed that fabulous racket overhead!)
Ah, but this is not the end of my story. I left Warm Lake, the clattering woodpeckers, and the hung-over
dirtbikers, and headed westward for Oregon. More carnivorous plant sites awaited! But to hear about that, you'll have to await
completion of my next
trip report...
