There are many things to do when making camp on a pack horse trip. The horses need to be unloaded and tethered for the night. Poles are cut for the tents and dead wood gathered and chopped for the fire. Only then does the wrangler strike his axe into the tree where it is safely stowed and easily reached. Then off come the chaps, the leather leggings that are still worn for leg protection in rough country. Sometimes they are hung on a branch, but what better clothes hook than the axe.

The gray jay is the silent and friendly little ghost that appears at campsites throughout the remote coniferous forests of North America. Although he doesn’t like civilization, he appreciates visitors to his world, provided they bring some tasty scraps.

- Robert Bateman