Class explores winter surroundings
Members of a past winter class pose for a photo.
(Photo courtesy BRIAN BAXTER)
You're invited to come along in search of winter.
On Feb. 27, a class titled “In Search and Study of Winter” will offer a combination of safe space winter strolls, and road tours to observe and appreciate the region’s winter surroundings.
Along the route, participants will visit private land sites of riverside, creek, wetland, forest habitats and birding viewpoints to observe and discuss winter birding, animal and bird tracks / sign and scat, and evergreen / deciduous vegetation. The group, limited to eight participants, will cover an area of diverse locations by caravanning in our own rigs, stopping and hopping out at roadside stops, and taking a few short walks or mini-hikes on private lands of less than one mile round trip. We will also be briefly discussing some of the history of the Salish-Kootenai Peoples, and David Thompson’s party.
Participants will meet Saturday, Feb. 27, at Riverfront Park in Libby at 9 a.m., Mountain Time. Riverfront Park is located on the southwest side of where Highway 37 begins to cross the bridge over the Kootenai River in Libby. There are blue-and-white signs to the turnoff before you cross the bridge. The class will meet under the large timber frame shelter, and very briefly go over the days plan. Please arrive with full gas tanks, water, lunch, appropriate layers and boots for the weather, hats and gloves for the extremities, binoculars, cameras, and any bird, track, and plant field guide books you might have. Bring snowshoes if you have them, in case of deeper snows. Wrap up time will be approx. 3 p.m. Mountain Time.
This class is sponsored by Libby Hostel Base Camp (libbyhostelbasecampairbnb.com.) This outdoor educational program is designed as a COVID-19 aware outdoor experience with all maintaining safe distances. The instructor for the day is college educated, with over 43 years of field experience in forestry, wildlife research, and land surveying, and over 20 years of teaching outdoor educational classes. For more information and to register, email: b_baxter53@yahoo.com or call 406-291-2154.