For a "close encounter" species, it's hard to beat the Grey-crowned Rosy
Finch on its summer feeding-grounds - but you need to be a climber (or on
the hardy end of the hiking spectrum) to have the encounter. When they are
feeding on wind-borne insects on the high glaciers and snowfields, they
are pretty oblivious to humans. They're extremely cheeky on the hike up to
Camp Muir on Rainier, for example. But while climbing in truly
inaccessible places, I've had them perch on my feet, and even peck little
bits of (insect, presumably?) material off my boots and crampons, before
moving on across the glacier. Left me feeling like a bit of the landscape
- which is a _good_ feeling, that I wish I could always live up to.

James West