Down the road a bit, another group is sharing a pasture with a small herd of sheep. They check us out &, after a few moments, they continue to graze

Just another day in Paradise.  A working ranch in the foreground.  Just too pretty.

Stealth Turkeys: They crept across the highway in slow motion.  Da dum-da dum. We saw them a ways back & slowly crept up on them.  They too no notice of us as they just kept creeping across the highway. I guess they thought the shade was good cover.  Sure was funny.

Not long after the wild turkeys, this farm came into view.  Imagine the changing views they have as the seasons change.  They probably have wild turkeys, too.  Along with any number of other wild things.

As we approach the Natural Bridge Falls in the mountains ahead, the views are wonderful. The Boulder River is flowing through the tree line in the valley.

Side note: Somewhere in those mountains is a tract of land owned by Tom Brokaw, news broadcaster icon, & friends. They have built their (I assume) vacation homes in this gorgeous area.  Lucky folks!

The Natural Bridge Falls is a series of views accomplished by walking on either side of the river. Starting on one side of the river from the parking lot you follow a paved pathway to several viewing points. Returning to the parking lot area, you then take this pedestrian bridge to the other side for more viewing from natural pathways.  Stunning, & you get a bit of exercise.

The bridge shown above is upper center in the photo on the left. The river bed abruptly narrows, the water drops over a precipice as a waterfall and the water disappears into a hole.

Looking from directly overhead as the waterfall  disappears into the rocks.

The area just beyond the waterfall appears to be a dry, rocky riverbed.  To understand the scope of the area, look for a guy with an orange shirt standing on one of the viewing outcroppings center-left.

And here comes the water.  Roaring out of its tunnel a distance from where it disappeared.

A cliff side view of the water emerging from the tunnel.  Gary was brave enough to climb the steep hill to take the shot. As the water meanders to the right of the picture, it continues its path in a more normal pattern.

This explains the whole thing a lot better than I can.

Currant bushes are abundant throughout the walk. I remember picking these small things so mom could make jelly when I was a kid in the mountains of Colorado. Took an awful lot just to get one small jar. But, oh, was it good!

A lot of the wildflowers have already bloomed, but every so often, a group of these sturdy flowers would appear.

Gary at one of the observation outcroppings.

A small part of the stairways & walkways on the one side of the Boulder River.

Lion’s Head: Often used as a point of reference for locals & it has a HUGE ranch named after it.  Can you see it? As seen from Natural Bridge Falls.  By the way, there is a ranch along this road belonging to the Levi Strauss (Levi’s) family.   After the Falls, the road turns to dirt. We traveled about 5 miles before we came to the Forestry Service’s oldest facility.

Imagine it’s 1903. Imagine you’re a young man about to start his career with the Forestry Service.  They are sending you to this place (shown in the picture) where you have to provide your horses, saddle, equipment & tools. Oh, & did I mention there was no shelter? So you get to build a home & barn, for you to live in & shelter your animals, that will belong to the Forestry Service.  Sound like a career you’d choose today?

Carefully restored & open on summer weekends with guide, this oldest facility owned by the Forestry Service was built by Ranger Guard Kaufman beginning in 1905. The center of the home came first, with a kitchen added on later & lastly, a master bedroom on the right side. He married after the initial structure went up & they had 2 children who grew up here. His responsibilities were vast.  Involved in gun play with trespassing stock owners, catching cattle thieves & wildlife poachers, dealt with tough loggers & fought forest fires. The stuff movies are made of.

Ranger Guard Kaufman also had to create & maintain a crude phone service through the mountains of what is now the Gallatin Nat’l Forest.  This is the room at his home that monitored that line. This man served the Forestry Service for 38 years, all from this home he built. He was responsible for 300,000 acres of forest.  Quite a story.  Glad we got our car filthy driving the dirt road to this facility. By the way, this location is still used by the Forestry...just not the house.

The view out the kitchen window overlooks the outbuildings of the settlement. This room is large & was built to handle a large stove, dry sink, cupboards and, of course, the place meals were served.  Their 2 children died without issue & the daughter gave these pottery pieces of her mothers to be used for display at the place she (the daughter) grew up.

‘The Raw Deal Ranch’ You can make up your own story about this if you like.  We have no clue what motivated someone to name it this.  Everything looked prosperous.  Maybe paid too much. Who knows?

About half way back to the campground, this momma & babe got a little too close to the road & a car well in front of us spooked them.  They ran as if their lives depended on it.  They were rather a distance away, so couldn’t get close-ups, but did the best we could with what I did get. They were flying!

Mom is slowing down a bit as baby runs to close the distance between them.  They soon quit running & mom checked out her little one, giving him lickies, too.

As we turned down the dirt road to the campground, these two were by the side of the road. Their momma was busy stuffing her face in the field next door & these two couldn’t jump the fence. So they waited. We slooowly crept up on them & they were very curious.

One looks to her mother. The other keeps his eye on us. He just keeps getting closer & closer to our car.  And we stay very still...except to take the pictures.

We thought they looked like bookends.

Look closely at the Bambi on the left.  He, or she, is licking his chops. They were taking delicate bites of the grass while they wait for their mom.