Bend to Boise - Day 6

Today was a rest day. My big activity was to take the tram up to the top of Mount Howard. The elevation at the lodge is about 4400’. The peak of the mountain is 8200’. At that elevation, it still has scattered snow fields, especially on the north side. This is a view from the top looking south.

I brought my good camera up on the chance that I might see a few birds. Not surprisingly, there was very little bird life. I believe that I saw perhaps 10 birds total during the 2 hours I wandered about. For me, the highlight was this Mountain Chickadee since it is a new species for me.

The only other decent bird photo I got was this one of a Clark’s Nutcracker.

Mostly, it was just nice to walk around and take in the views. There were some places where I had to cross small snowfields which was a bit of a challenge at times since I only had running shoes. This was not one that I crossed.

There were quite a number of marmots scurrying around. I managed to get a few decent photos, but nothing that I was happy about. Suddenly, as I was walking back towards the tram to head back down the mountain, one started running towards me at full speed. I have no idea why it did so, but I was thrilled to get this action shot.

The best view of Wallowa Lake was from the tram on the way down. After returning to the lodge, I took a nap which was fabulous.

I wondered out again after my nap hoping that I might get a couple of interesting bird photos. This Bald Eagle shot was the only one worth sharing.

However, there are many deer around here, and they seem quite indifferent to people. I was probably 15’ from this one when I took this photo.

Tomorrow, it is back on the bike as we ride 83 miles mostly south to the town of Halfway OR.