Our beautiful view from the condo in Big Sky MT.

Just a short trip down the road to Yellowstone National Park where we  met our fishing guide, Win, and spent the afternoon on Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park!  It is all catch and release.  Either you catch Lake Trout or you catch Cutthroat Trout.  Cutthroat are native to the Lake and they are suppose to be there.  Lake Trout are the bad intruders that must be KILLED, which Win did by cutting their air sack, and put them back into the Lake to renew the environment.  When you see us holding a fish - Lake Trout -  it was returned to the Lake, dead.  When you see the live Cutthroat Trout in the net, that's how they went back to the Lake.  You do not want to handle of touch them ... they die easily.

We had so much fun just seeing the sights around Big Sky!  One of the included the scenic walk to Ouzel Falls.  Ouzel Falls is named after the Ouzel birds that live there at the falls.  Just beautiful!
We even went all the up to the Big EZ!
Great Santa picture there I took for my friend Joey and a really cool bridge!

The Water Ouzel, also known as the American Dipper (scientific name: Cinclus Mexicanus), is found in hilly and mountainous regions across North America where there are clear, fast-flowing streams. With the benefit of several unique adaptations such as an inner protective eyelid and an extra layer of downy feathers, the ouzel dives into cold, often turbulent rivers and streams, swimming, and walking along the bottom of the river. It uses the pressure of water on its wings and tail to help keep it down while it searches for insect larvae and other small animals on which to feed. Both the wings and tail are short, the beak is fairly short and straight, and the general color of the bird is a slate gray. When on shore, it has a custom of “dipping” that easily distinguishes it from any other bird along the river. The Ouzel is most often found by itself; rarely in pairs, except during the breeding season, and very rarely in threes or fours.

The Ouzel's nest is one of the most extraordinary pieces of bird architecture. It is typically large, made of moss and ferns, and usually found under or beneath a waterfall, or upon a slick rock face where it is almost impossible for anything to reach it. The moss continues to grow as it is continually sprinkled with water, and provides a comfortable, cushy place for the bird to nest.

As North America's only aquatic songbird, the Ouzel possesses a strong sweet song, composed of a variety of trills and flute-like notes that sometimes abruptly end as the bird enters the river to feed. Upon returning to the surface, the Ouzel seemingly picks up right where it left off without so much as skipping a beat.

and the fall frog!

... gotta love it!