Elk Close-Up

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:1-8

Finding treasures in the outdoors is one of my favorite delights in life. The Lord is gracious toward me that I seem to find something new or different whilst on the majority of my hikes.

One thing which has added to my treasure-finding experience the past few years is my trail cam. When I don’t have it set up in my backyard, I often place it on public land close to my home. Thus far I am fortunate that no one has seen the camera or taken it, although I have captured pictures of people from time to time riding on the trail. The only real problem I’ve had so far is when a bear chose to chew on it a bit last year. ( See The Two Hundred Dollar Bear )  I was able to repair the camera well enough that it is up and running once again, though I’m not sure it will withstand much more abuse by the wild animals.

I discovered a five-mile loop trail through the mountains which I hike with Star the Wonderdog. Whenever possible, I like to hike the trail in the direction that allows me to arrive at the camera toward the end of my hike. While I note various animal signs along our hike, my anticipation level grows as I am hopeful that the camera captured some of the animals I’m seeing signs of along the way. So by the time Star and I get to the camera, I usually have high hopes that I’ve got a good picture of something.

The cow elk pictured above apparently noted my camera strapped to a tree and did some investigating. The next picture in the series is of a pair of blurry lips up against the camera as she gave it a good sniff before moving on. At least she didn’t decide to chew on it…

I’ve always liked the words in Psalm 121. And since I’m surrounded by mountains, it is easy for me to lift up my eyes to them and realize where my help comes from. But no matter where you live, I hope you too know where your help comes from.

Have a great day.