Bear scat

Yet another morning hike in our Idaho version of paradise. I chose a stretch of dirt forest road that is a little higher up than we usually walk. I took photos of the girls in this very spot on New Years Day when we ran far up into the forest on the newly groomed, snowy road. How different it looks now!
As usual, Maia very quickly tired of posing for her camera-crazy human.
This stretch of road had a LOT of relatively fresh bear scat on it. I kept waiting for Maia to show some nervousness, since she's never liked being near bears. But apparently her fear isn't triggered by their scat, only by their scent. I guess these bears had already moved through the area. Although, near here, I started exploring a vague side road. We all heard a crash off in the underbrush. We three stopped, listened, and decided to retrace out steps back to the main road. No debate. No sense pushing our luck!
I was noticing a stand of aspen and thought of taking a picture with the sun hitting their beautiful white bark. Then I noticed this particular aspen. Pure luck that I saw it. One can imagine all sorts of stories to explain the names carved into the bark. High school sweethearts. Love-struck teenage boy (Shane) pining for the girl (Caryne) he can't have.

I've noticed that, here in Idaho, Shane and Travis are very popular names. People tend to spell their names creatively, as well. Caryne is just one example.

It would fun to learn how that tree came to be carved, and when. It's really out in the middle of nowhere, four miles from the nearest private property, along a road that is rarely traveled and several feet off the road.