There is something a little scary about a badger. Maybe it is the weird flatness of their bodies. Anyway, I won't take my old sweetheart on her morning or evening walks in that direction again! It was only the second time I've seen a badger.
This has been a great week for wildlife: two bull mooses, uncountable antelopes, two noisy deranged geese, cows that jumped over a barbed wire fence when scared by the mountain bike, grouses the size of pheasants, and my favorite, a kestrel.
There is no mountain biking better than climbing a ridge into the unknown. I had just started the return back down the ridge. The north faces of the ravines were forested, while the rest was sagebrush.
And just then I noticed a small bird hovering, levitating. That is, it was flying with zero ground speed, and 15-20 mph air speed. It must have been a kestrel or sparrow hawk. Any bird that plays with 'ridge lift' is a soulmate of mine. That sounds like something a hang glider would say, instead of a mountain biker.
Of all the places I have ridden or camped over all these years, this is my favorite. The sparrow hawk clinched the deal.
It is surprising I didn't see any bears. In olden times, when the wagon trains went by here, grizzlies were probably still to be seen in the open land. They aren't forest bears, like black bears. Actually the only time I've seen a grizzly was in Alberta, in open ridge-country. It was running like crazy one ridge away from me, and had two cubs.
Why am I surprised to see all this wildlife? Perhaps it is the dryness and sagebrush-iness. But there IS water flowing in small creeks, and ponds abound. The banks of the little creeks are soggy and green. It makes you appreciate land that has water, even if it's just a little.
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