The Daily Click :: 28

 
I took this photo yesterday at the very beginning of our hike. The water you see at the bottom of the photo Mission Creek, which flows into Mission Reservoir, the body of water in yesterday's daily click.

The Daily Click :: 27

 
Clayton and I went on our first (and possibly last) hike of the year today. One of the things I look forward to most when the weather turns warm is hiking, a great excuse to get some exercise, take some pictures, enjoy nature...but that may change from now on.

Since we are finally getting some semi-nice weather, today we decided to go check out a hike we have wanted to do since we moved here. To a beautiful waterfall in the Mission mountains about 30 or so miles south of where we live.

So we start the hike and as we are walking along, probably about a 1/2 mile into the trail, we hear brush rustling to the right of us. And naturally, we freeze. Now this has happened on our hikes before and always elicits a rise in heart rate, but never have we discovered anything more than a bird, deer or rodent making that noise. Until today. This rustling is different, louder. Made all the more scary by the fact that we can't see hardly anything because the brush is so dense. Of course I start freaking out while Clayton calmly (or at least much more calmly than me) keeps still and reaches for the bear spray, peering through to see if he can catch any glimpse of what is there.

And what does he see? The hind end of a grizzly bear. A FREAKIN' GRIZZLY. Less than 30 yards away. So he tells me what it is and I'm pretty sure I begin hyperventilating at that point. I start booking it back down the trail loudly whispering to Clayton to hurry the *&$# up, which is just perfect, exactly what you aren't supposed to do in that situation. Go figure. I picture in my head all of the horrible things a bear could do to two humans, but luckily this is where the drama stops, as it looked like the bear had little interest in what we were doing and started walking the other direction. But all the way down (which we probably made in record time) I was certain a vicious elephant-sized grizzly would jump out any second and eat us for dinner.

All I can say is thank whoever is our guardian angel that that particular bear was not hungry for humans today! I am pretty sure my heart rate is not yet back to normal, and I will probably have nightmares for days, but I am just happy to be alive. Okay that is probably slightly dramatic, but honestly that's probably the single most scary thing that has happened to me in a very long time. I don't see hiking (at least anywhere there may be bears present) reappearing on my to-do list any time soon!

Well that's quite a long story for one picture, but here is my click of the day. This is the Mission Reservoir, near where we were hiking today. The hike was a bust, but at least there were pictures like this to make up for it!

The Daily Click :: 26

 
I shot this photo last week while wandering around my parent's place in ND looking for interesting things to photograph :) I love how the leaves appear to be blowing in the wind, though it was completely still. "Artsy" shots like these are becoming some of my favorites, both to shoot and process.

The Daily Click :: 25

 
I took this photo last Monday, Memorial Day, not even a mile from where my parents live on Lake Ashtabula near Valley City, ND. If you look closely, you'll see along the horizon a line of wind turbines, which scatter the landscape near my parent's place. Some people might consider them ugly, but I like the way they add an architectural contrast to the miles and miles of rolling farmland. This photo was taken from the lake on my parent's pontoon, and I had intended on taking more photos of the turbines close up later in the week, but of course time and good weather eluded me. Next time :)

The Daily Click :: 24

 
If you checked the blog yesterday you probably noticed I didn't make a post. Yesterday was my first day back from a week and a half long vacation to ND for my sister's wedding, which was oh-so-fun!! Maybe a little too fun in fact, as I ended up with a nasty sore throat and cold. So in a combination cold haze/vacation withdrawal, I thought Monday's image actually covered yesterday. Still not quite sure what day it is, honestly. :) But, I am back on track, and here are a couple images for Day 24.

Meet Addison- my adorable, beautiful, smiley, sweet, expressive and loveable little niece (I could go on and on really). She seriously has to be one of the cutest little girls I've ever seen (no bias of course!). I got to spend a lot of time with her last week in ND and as usual, brought out the camera whenever I could. Pretty sure when she's a bit older I'll be known as the crazy photo-obsessed aunt. Which, honestly, I'm okay with if I can get photos like these next two...so much cuteness!!

The Daily Click :: 23

The Daily Click :: 22

 
Meet Zeke, my "nephew" :) He is my older sister & brother-in-law's yellow lab. I love the way you can tell an animal's personality through photography. This photo says to me exactly who Zeke is, a friendly, happy dog who would love nothing but to play all day long.