Raining with Wolves

There's a wolf in there somewhere

It's our last day in Winchester and it's been raining off and on all day.  Not a good day to hike, bike or even go fishing.   Every time we think the rain has stopped, it starts to sprinkle again.  I've taken Kathe for a few walks around the campground and managed to stay fairly dry. You don't see many chipmunks or squirrels out in the rain so it's been a pretty boring day for all of us.

Kathe and Jim read about The Wolf Education and Research Center that is near the campground on Nez Perce Tribal Land and decided to investigate it today.  The website made it sound like there were wolves running all over the place and that it was a 300 acre refuge for two wolf packs.  When they got there and spoke to the naturalist at the visitors center they found out that the original pack of wolves (the Owyhee Pack) have all passed away after long and healthy lives.  There were only two wolves in a 2 acre enclosure within the 300 acres and because of the rain it was not possible to see them.  I guess they were cozy and dry in a den somewhere and not feeling social.

There was a great deal of information about wolves in the visitors center and it was interesting to find that there are more wolves in Idaho (over 700) than there are in Glacier National Park.  The future of this research center is in question as the land is leased from the Nez Perce and the Tribe will decide if they can continue their research and obtain more wolves in the future.

Last look at Winchester Lake

After lunch Kathe and Jim just HAD to go to the Casino!  The Clearwater Casino was about 30 miles North of Winchester and so they decided to try their luck.  Jim tried playing Wolf Run in honor of the days earlier excursion, but left with his pockets a little lighter than when he began.  Kathe doesn't even want to talk about her casino experience!

Tomorrow it's on to McCall, Idaho.