Logan Canyon Scenic By-way, Part Two

The docent at the Bear River Refuge stressed that when we visited this canyon we should be sure to hike the Limber Pine Nature Trail.  This trail crowns the canyon's 7,800-foot summit and is named for what was once believed to be the oldest and largest living limber pine tree ( since then limber pines have been found in Oregon which are two thousand years old). Scientists have discovered that this giant is actually five trees which have grown together for for a relatively young 560 years.

Just before we reached this point on the trail a large buck elk came thundering past us, he was moving so fast that we only could catch a quick glimpse of him, I did notice that he had a large rack of horns!

We noticed on our hike that not all of the fir tree are as healthy as the ones pictured above.  Possibly because of drought conditions, some of them have become afflicted with a fungal disease called rust.  The tree's reaction to the disease causes it to develop malformations called "witches broom".

  It was on this trail that I had my first sighting of a western tanager.  I only had a quick glimpse of him, but his colors make him easy to identify; a red head and bright yellow body with black markings.  Our next stop of the day was at the Bear Lake Overlook.  The lake at times has an incredible turquoise blue color, when we were there it was not so obvious because of the skies being overcast. The striking color is caused by a natural phenomenon that occurs as a result of limestone particles being suspended in water.  The particles absorb light and reflect varying shades of color from azure to turquoise to sky blue.

 

 Bear Lake lies in Garden City, a town famous for its juicy Bear Lake raspberries.  Unfortunately they are not ripe yet.  Still, we were able to enjoy last year's crop at the restaurant where we had supper.  My grilled chicken had a raspberry sauce on it, we were served homemade rolls with raspberry jam, and a dollop of raspberry sherbert to end our meal.  And John just had to start his meal with a raspberry shake!