I recently enjoyed a trip into the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho.  A flight from Grangeville, (on "Camas Airways" with a great pilot named Carl) deposited me at Fish Lake Airstrip.  The scenery was beautiful and the weather matched.  Fish Lake is the base camp for "Boulder Creek Outfitters", where our son Jesse is a guide.  I had a welcoming committee when I stepped off the plan, consisting of pack mules, hunters flying out, and guides.  The hunters had harvested a couple of nice bull elk, a good black bear, and had enthusiastically reported on the great time they had.  Jesse assured me the wolves would howl and wake me up at night, but (just my luck) they were silent while I was there.  The guides are all happy that wolf tags are now available for hunting the overly abundant packs. My next trip anywhere in the Idaho backcountry will include a fishing pole, but this trip was a short one and I packed light without tackle.  I observed so many likely looking spots, and could do nothing more than dream of lunkers in the dark pools.  Jesse and I rode out to civilization via horses on the 21 mile trip over Fish Lake Pass, and down along Boulder Creek to the Lochsa River.  We saw a nice bull moose with a couple of girl-friends, deer, and lots of ruff grouse along the trail.  The smaller shrubs are turning the colors of fall, but it will be a couple more weeks for the aspen groves to glow gold.  None the less, it was a feast for my eyes.  What a beautiful ride!  Thanks Jesse for taking your Mom "camping" and for the "pony ride".  Much appreciated.

WOW. We are kicking off our 11th year of hosting hunters here at the Ranch.   It has been a fun ride!  Thanks to all of you for making that possible.                  Vicki & Gary