Today we are up at 6:30 AM and excited to see how the light is hitting the river, upstream and down. Gini looks over the edge of the rock to the sand below and sees some very large footprints. Also a set of smaller prints.

Looking over the edge of our perch, you can see the array of footprints. Some are ours but those big deep prints are animals.

We go down to the beach to take a closer look. We are sure it must be a cow moose and her calf. It looks like they came from the opposite bank, crossed the river to our side and then headed upriver through the willows. How exciting! I’m glad we didn’t bump into her and spook both her and ourselves. That could also have been very dangerous. Protective moose mothers are not known for being lenient!

What we believe to be a moose print. When we got home, Gini showed this photo to someone she trusted to know and it was confirmed. Yes, this is a moose!

Before breakfast, really before anything except coffee and tea, we decide to head down the trail to see if we can find a way to the river that is closer to the rock face we see from our cabin.

Looking downstream at the interesting rock face. If we could just get closer to it and set up an easel.

Gini’s still in her PJs but with a fleece sweater over them. It’s a little chilly this morning. We relish it, knowing that the day will get hot.

Our early morning exploration of just where does this trail lead?

Unfortunately the trail winds up through the forest, climbing instead of descending. We head back to the cabin, scoring some wood for our fire pit. It’s beautiful on the trail and there is an abundance of wildflowers. We are snapping photos all along the way.

Wildflower portraits: Cow Parsnip on the left and Fireweed on the right.

For breakfast, Gini makes us eggs with bagels and cream cheese. It’s lovely sitting in the sun while the day warms up. We do the dishes which have accumulated from the day before.

Our outdoor kitchen. As this huge granite boulder has eroded over the eons, it leaves these convenient shelves for us  to work with. We can actually stand and do the dishes.

We take another pass of cleaning the cabin, hitting areas that we haven’t gotten to before. We think that we must have everything clean enough by now. Luckily, Gini and I are two peas in a pod when it comes to how we like to have our living space.

Chores done, we decide to go back up the trail and see if we can find the huckleberries that we passed on our exhausting hike in.

We don’t have to go far—maybe 5 minutes and we find those little blue orbs of deliciousness. We pick for 45 minutes giving ourselves a time limit and we have to tear ourselves away. Our creative muses are calling to us and we want to get back to our painting for the afternoon.

Huckleberries!