Here is a Mama elk and her little baby. It has been fun to see the baby animals. Spring is a fun time of year!
This is the first bear we saw. (see below!) This guy was with his mate. She was up a bit higher. We saw her but I didn't catch the picture of her. This one walked over the the trees and jumped up like he was going to climb, but then got back down and walked away. It was so neat! I was shaking with excitement! There was a ranger there making sure we weren't stupid. He kept us back plenty far away from him and made sure everyone stayed off the road to take pictures. He was the one who told us that these two bears were "courting"-- (that was the "sensitive way of saying it"--his words).
This is a petrified tree. 45-50 million years ago it was covered in volcanic ash. There used to be 3 at this spot but over the years people would come and break off pieces of the tree to keep as a sovenier. Now there is only one and it is fenced off so nobody can get to it. There is a Petrified Forest but it was a 6 mile hike and the kids were tuckered out- the short walk from the car to this one was a big deal to them (plus there wasn't a potty by it.)
It is so amazing how many and how dense the trees are. So many are really tall with needles only at the toop. Many are stripped bare from the fires 20 years ago- but they are still standing. It's fasinating to see the new growth that has come since the fires. The trees dropped their cones and the heat forced them to open. This caused the seeds to drop and that created the new growth. From our condo we can look out and see the hill side and it looks like ground cover. But when we get closer we can see that it is the little trees that are covering the ground, creating a new generation of trees. This place is amazing!
Here is a Mama elk and her little baby. It has been fun to see the baby animals. Spring is a fun time of year! 
This is the first bear we saw. (see below!) This guy was with his mate. She was up a bit higher. We saw her but I didn't catch the picture of her. This one walked over the the trees and jumped up like he was going to climb, but then got back down and walked away. It was so neat! I was shaking with excitement! There was a ranger there making sure we weren't stupid. He kept us back plenty far away from him and made sure everyone stayed off the road to take pictures. He was the one who told us that these two bears were "courting"-- (that was the "sensitive way of saying it"--his words).
This is a petrified tree. 45-50 million years ago it was covered in volcanic ash. There used to be 3 at this spot but over the years people would come and break off pieces of the tree to keep as a sovenier. Now there is only one and it is fenced off so nobody can get to it. There is a Petrified Forest but it was a 6 mile hike and the kids were tuckered out- the short walk from the car to this one was a big deal to them (plus there wasn't a potty by it.) 
It is so amazing how many and how dense the trees are. So many are really tall with needles only at the toop. Many are stripped bare from the fires 20 years ago- but they are still standing. It's fasinating to see the new growth that has come since the fires. The trees dropped their cones and the heat forced them to open. This caused the seeds to drop and that created the new growth. From our condo we can look out and see the hill side and it looks like ground cover. But when we get closer we can see that it is the little trees that are covering the ground, creating a new generation of trees. This place is amazing!
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