UPDATE 21 JULY 2014

Hot and dry around here.  Glad we don't have the forest fires the State of Washington is having now but we did have some of their smoke.  That has cleared out now and our visibility is quite good now.  And the air sure smells better. 

We took a little drive the other day over to the Big Hole up Lost Trail Pass and then came back over Gibbons Pass to the Sula area.  Lots of Bear Grass still in bloom up high.  And the meadows had lots of flowers blooming. 

Some years the Bear Grass is just better than others.

Our lilies are just about done blooming.

Lots of Ox Eye Daisies in the high meadows right now.

You can see the beetle killed trees on the other side of the meadow.

While splitting wood for next winter, I encountered some wood borers that were just a little bigger than most that I encounter.  That is my chapstick to give you a comparison of size.

KAYAKING ON THE SNAKE RIVER

While at the Huff Cousins reunion, Connie and I did a little kayak paddle on the Snake River.  We put in at Centennial Park and paddled up to Pillar Falls.  Good paddle and will do it again if we get the chance.  Will start out earlier so we can portage around Pillar Falls and then kayak to Shoshone Falls further up the river.

 This is sunset on the Salmon River on our way down.  We camped at the Shoup Bridge in a BLM campground.

 This is a new way to launch your kayak for us.  Never seen anything like this before.  Load you kayak, get in, push back until you splash into the water.  And when coming back you just paddle up the end until you can't paddle anymore,  then just pull yourself the rest of the way out of the water.

The US Highway 93 bridge over the snake.  We saw quite a few base jumpers walk out and jump off the bridge.

Lots of water seeps into the snake.

A lesser yellow-legs checking me out.

Pillar Falls.

Zeph doing his "dock dog" jump off the rocks headed for a stick Connie threw.  Below is a sequence of another jump and retrieve. 

Zeph is pretty intent on the stick Connie has.

Some more pictures of the falls area.

My favorite kayak paddle brand.

Quite a few ducks on the river.

A base jumper from the bridge.

Lots of wading pools to cool off in.  And it was hot down there.