This past Wednesday we decided to do the Northwest Trek. There are actually quite a few billboards advertising this place suggesting that you "take a daycation" and visit. Basically, this place is a preserve of over 700 acres that was donated by a couple a while back that has since been turned into a wildlife park. There are all sorts of habitats in this huge place with lakes, meadows, open fields, and forests. It really is quite beautiful. The park is divided up into two sections. The front part is a large forest type "zoo". The paths are long and windy and go all through the forest and they take you to all kinds of different animals.
They have a couple of eagles here, a Golden Eagle and a Bald Eagle. It was startling to walk by because there is no real enclosure keeping them in there and the powerful bird was only like ten feet away. Glenn pretty much ran away when the Bald Eagle started talking. We didn't stay in that area for too long.
There was also a section that was dedicated to the "Forest Animals" and that is where we saw this snot-nosed little porcupine sitting up in a tree. He was surprisingly cute even with the snot coming out of his nose.
Right next to the porcupine was a badger. I can't recall having ever seen a badger until now. I always assumed they were ugly animals. I guess just the connotation of their name makes me pictures something ugly. Anyway, badgers are quite the opposite. He was super cute and he had really neat markings on his fur.
As we were wandering along the paths we looked up and couldn't help but stop and take in all the beauty of the trees and leaves around us. At this particular part there was a heavy overhang of bright green leaves and this small little opening where I could see straight up to the trees and the sky. It was very beautiful.
The second section of the park is an area of about 435 acres that is closed off from the rest of the park. This section is home to over 200 North American animals. They take you through this expansive area in a tram like at Universal Studios. There is a guide that drives you all through the park and points out all of the animals roaming around. It's like a safari, but in the Pacific Northwest. It was really cool just seeing the animals hang out and walk in the road whenever they felt like. The little guy in the picture above is a younger Bighorn Sheep. Those horns are going to get much much bigger.
There were a bunch of much bigger Bighorn Sheep hanging out around a water hole. They seemed to like being in a group, but this guy wandered off and was checking out what was on the other side of the tall grass.
This deer totally reminded me of Rally when he does this pose. He's definitely not a full grown deer, as you can see his little antlers are just starting to poke up out of his head. At this time of the year, all the deer with antlers are shedding so when you are up real close to them, you can see their velvety antlers that they will eventually scratch the exterior off of.
Speaking of antlers, these Roosevelt Elk had some pretty impressive sets. I never thought that elk would like to hang out in packs but these guys seemed pretty content to lay around with one another. They were pretty majestic looking animals. That wraps up all the pictures I have for here, but there were many more animals. Along the tram we also saw plenty of bison including a few babies and even some moose. They were really cute! This was a pretty cool place that I would definitely suggest checking out should you find yourself up in Washington.
This past Wednesday we decided to do the Northwest Trek. There are actually quite a few billboards advertising this place suggesting that you "take a daycation" and visit. Basically, this place is a preserve of over 700 acres that was donated by a couple a while back that has since been turned into a wildlife park. There are all sorts of habitats in this huge place with lakes, meadows, open fields, and forests. It really is quite beautiful. The park is divided up into two sections. The front part is a large forest type "zoo". The paths are long and windy and go all through the forest and they take you to all kinds of different animals.
They have a couple of eagles here, a Golden Eagle and a Bald Eagle. It was startling to walk by because there is no real enclosure keeping them in there and the powerful bird was only like ten feet away. Glenn pretty much ran away when the Bald Eagle started talking. We didn't stay in that area for too long.
There was also a section that was dedicated to the "Forest Animals" and that is where we saw this snot-nosed little porcupine sitting up in a tree. He was surprisingly cute even with the snot coming out of his nose. 
Right next to the porcupine was a badger. I can't recall having ever seen a badger until now. I always assumed they were ugly animals. I guess just the connotation of their name makes me pictures something ugly. Anyway, badgers are quite the opposite. He was super cute and he had really neat markings on his fur.
As we were wandering along the paths we looked up and couldn't help but stop and take in all the beauty of the trees and leaves around us. At this particular part there was a heavy overhang of bright green leaves and this small little opening where I could see straight up to the trees and the sky. It was very beautiful.
The second section of the park is an area of about 435 acres that is closed off from the rest of the park. This section is home to over 200 North American animals. They take you through this expansive area in a tram like at Universal Studios. There is a guide that drives you all through the park and points out all of the animals roaming around. It's like a safari, but in the Pacific Northwest. It was really cool just seeing the animals hang out and walk in the road whenever they felt like. The little guy in the picture above is a younger Bighorn Sheep. Those horns are going to get much much bigger.
There were a bunch of much bigger Bighorn Sheep hanging out around a water hole. They seemed to like being in a group, but this guy wandered off and was checking out what was on the other side of the tall grass.
This deer totally reminded me of Rally when he does this pose. He's definitely not a full grown deer, as you can see his little antlers are just starting to poke up out of his head. At this time of the year, all the deer with antlers are shedding so when you are up real close to them, you can see their velvety antlers that they will eventually scratch the exterior off of.
Speaking of antlers, these Roosevelt Elk had some pretty impressive sets. I never thought that elk would like to hang out in packs but these guys seemed pretty content to lay around with one another. They were pretty majestic looking animals. That wraps up all the pictures I have for here, but there were many more animals. Along the tram we also saw plenty of bison including a few babies and even some moose. They were really cute! This was a pretty cool place that I would definitely suggest checking out should you find yourself up in Washington.
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