The Shooting Gallery

And then there was the Shooting Gallery. This is where I wandered Sunday afternoon. This is where I started Monday morning (see second picture). A little overnight snow and sitting with my back to the trees and the trees between me and the rising sun, the drop in temperature hit me hard. I didn't last long here. This day quickly turned in to a day of exploration and adventure.

The first picture is from my Thursday afternoon walkabout and is probably very near to where Spike spent his week. The deceiving thing about the Shooting Gallery was distance. You could see forever. I sat and watched an open park Monday morning and the thought I had was what would I do if I saw an elk come out of that tree line? That tree line was, minimum, 400 yards away. That's a hold over of a half an elk shot. But even by Monday an elk 400 yards away would have been an accomplishment. The Shooting Gallery was a long and wide park, or meadow, surrounded by the dark timber. The lower end had fields of the red brush you see in the first picture. And it went on for a mile and a half with off shoots here and there It was awesome. By the way the second picture is right near the 11,000 foot mark. The air was getting thinner and thinner.