"Be ver-wy, ver-wy quiet..."

"... we're hunting wabbits!" ~ Elmer Fudd

 

Coolest rainbow EVER!!



I had every intention of staying home and being domestic today, but Dan had to point out that the sun was shining. He called up a friend of ours who is ALWAYS willing to go four-wheeling with us, especially if there is snow involved. Grif suggested that we go down to Belfry and check out the rabbit population. His son John also joined us, and once again we were off and running.

 

If at first you don't succeed...

The guys said that I should take the lead, since I am the "light-weight" of the group (whatever...), so away I went. But it didn't take long to find a drift big enough to stop me. I backed up and hit it again. Now I was STUCK! The boys got me loose and I backed up farther and hit it faster. SUCCESS!

 

...try, try again.

 

The bunnies made themselves scarce, so we just rode. Eventually we came to a drifted incline that just wouldn't be conquered. I tried at least three times, and once again, the guys had to come to my rescue. Grif gave it a go, but only got a little farther than I did. We decided to call it a day.

 

The truck was in sight when we came to the last Y in the road. Knowing that the guys would follow me (Dan says males are stupid that way!), I turned away from the truck and hit the throttle. What a blast! The road looped back to the truck and we were losing daylight, oh, and I was hungry, so we packed it up.

 

                                                 Nope, not this time.

 

Maybe tomorrow I will get the Christmas tree down... If the sun doesn't shine!

 





The Eagles Are Back!

Today is our 26th wedding anniversary! It is also the first day that we have had nice weather when we were not at work. What difference does that make? Well, it has been nearly three weeks since we bought our new camera, and we have been dying to try it out.

We loaded snacks, water, and both cameras into the truck and hit the road. We left the interstate at Columbus and made our way toward Absarokee. Before too long, the mountains came into view and we stopped to take a few pictures with both cameras, just for the sake of comparison. Not long after that, we spotted the first bald eagle of the day. It was one of a pair, and we got a few pictures before they took off. Not much later, we came across another pair. One flew away immediately, but the other one was too busy watching the river below it to care about us. Unfortunately, it was a little too far away for truly good pictures. The next one was on Dan's side of the road, so he parked the truck and walked back. He got a few shots, but when the eagle took off, it headed back my way, away from Dan and the camera. It took a minute, but I "woke up" and grabbed the old camera, and as the eagle circled overhead, we both kept clicking away until it flew out of sight.

We did have a destination in mind when we set out this morning. We drove up past the Stillwater Mine to the Souix Charley trailhead at the end of the road. Leaving the parking lot on foot, we were amazed at how much snow and ice were built up in the river. At one point, it was even completely frozen over. We have never seen it like that! About half a mile up the trail is a frozen waterfall. It is only there in the winter and it is different every year. We have photographed it four times before now, but never this early in the season. It will be interesting to see how it changes as winter progresses.




On the way home, we encountered a young big horn ram with an attitude (in the road), a photo-bombing deer, and two golden eagles (neither of which was overly photogenic). All in all, it was a beautiful sunny day and spending it with the with the one I love, doing something we both enjoy just made it that much better.  

 
 

Spending my Birthday in Red Lodge

New road, new views

A girl only gets one birthday a year, so it should be embraced and celebrated! I had already decided what I wanted to do today, so I was a little concerned when I woke up to grey skies. But fortunately, the clouds started to break up, and by the time I made myself as pretty as possible, the sun was shining.

Yep, been to that tippy-top!

Off to Red Lodge! In honor of the occasion, Dan even found a road that we have never taken before ~ not an easy feat! The gravel road had its own surprise for us ~ perhaps the most head-on view of Silver Run Peak that we have seen. We have an affinity for this 12,500 foot peak. Climbing to the top of it will do that.  Along the way, we were reminded that while the new truck has more "muscle" under the hood, the tires are NOT what we had on the old truck. (Soon to be remedied!) Only once was I afraid that we just might not get up the hill, even in 4-wheel drive. But after a couple of tries, she got her wheels under her and we made it to the paved road and on down into Red Lodge.




While I love Montana and can't imagine living anywhere else, I am very glad that I did not arrive in this era!
  

Red Lodge is a favorite mountain haunt of ours ~ It is the start of our all-time favorite drive, the Beartooth Highway; the trailhead to Silver Run Peak, our longest, highest hike, is not far out of town; and the little shops and lack of corporate America reminds me of my hometown in Northern Michigan in the 70's and 80's. We did a little Christmas shopping, visited with a couple of local professional photographers (there is always something we can learn), and had an awesome plate of nachos at Bogart's. Of course, no stop in Red Lodge is complete until I have been to the Candy Emporium. I guess that is enough for one birthday.

A beautiful end to an enjoyable day

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving is absolutely my favorite holiday! I love the foundation of family and counting blessings. The lack of pressure - Will she like my gift? Did I forget anybody? - probably doesn't hurt anything either.

Even growing up, this holiday was probably the best in my book. My dad was usually hunting, so our meal was almost always after dark. In the morning, my sister and I would watch the parade on television, then help Mom with meal preparations. Then it was just a matter of waiting, and waiting, and w a i t i n g for Daddy to get home.

One childhood Thanksgiving, however, clearly stands out in my mind. I don't remember exactly how many people were crammed into our tiny kitchen, but it was a lot! But the next day, it was another tiny room that was in great demand ~ EVERYBODY was sick! Looking back, we have decided that cross-contamination from the turkey to the cranberry sauce was probably to blame, because my grandpa and I were the only ones who didn't get sick. (I hate cranberry sauce and my grandpa had an iron stomach.)

These days with my family and our kids far away, our Thanksgiving is a rather quiet gathering at Dan's sister's house. She is a fabulous cook, and dinner never disappoints. Of course, with my job in retail, I will not have the day off, but at least I can join the family for dinner on my lunch hour.

However you celebrate the day, I hope you will take a moment to count your blessings. I know I will be.

Different Desert, Different Day

Bryce Canyon National Park

Arches National Park

Zion National Park

Dan and I have been thinking for a while now that it is time to get back into a diesel truck with a little more pulling power. We spent all of last Friday and Saturday looking at every used Chevy diesel in Billings, but nothing seemed quite right. So we did what every savvy shopper does ~ we came home and pulled up trucks on the internet. NOW we had choices! Since we were being picky anyway, I insisted that we only look at red ones. After one false start, we located a truck with real possibilities in St George, Utah. It was really neat to sit back and watch God put the pieces of the puzzle together: the right truck, the financing, the extra day off work, etc.

We took off Thursday morning for the 14-hour drive. (I love spontaneity!) Friday morning, we hit the dealership five minutes after opening. The truck was just what we needed and we were able to make a deal, so we were leaving the city by early afternoon.

With the deal made and two and a half days' time to get home on, we turned to tourist attractions. While we were just a stone's throw away from AZ (one of the few states that I have not visited) and the Grand Canyon, we decided to save that for another trip and go east instead.

We started with Zion National Park, as recommended by several locals. It was absolutely gorgeous! I loved the rock formations, the river, and the trees, but I wasn't too fond of the mile-long tunnel in the main road. It probably didn't help that it was unlit, and right up until that moment, it never even occurred to us to check the lights on the truck. After a couple of seconds, Dan got it figured out, but I was still very relieved to exit the tunnel.

I love the etching in the rock.

From Zion, we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park. Since we had very little daylight left, we made a bee-line straight to the main attraction. All I could say, over and over again, was WOW! We watched the moon rise and the sun set and just kept taking pictures. After a delicious buffet dinner in the historic lodge, we drove across the desert floor, still enjoying the mountains by the light of the full moon.

Saturday morning found us up bright and early and making tracks for Arches National Park. I have seen pictures and tv travelogues on these parks, but that is just not the same as being there and taking your own pictures. The timing of the trip was perfect, too... not too hot (ok, downright chilly), and not too many people. We photographed all the main arches, saying the whole time that we need to come back when we have time to hike.


 
 
 Unfortunately, there is no flat route from I-70 to I-80, so we had five hours of white-knuckle, edge-of-the-seat driving after dinner. But God watched over us all the way, and despite one "close call" (Dan's words), we arrived safely in Rawlins, WY.
We were both very relieved to travel the rest of the way home on Sunday on clear, dry roads under sunny skies, surrounded by the beautiful mountains of home.



A High Desert Day

Cactus and sage

Dan did some looking online this week for new places to ride. Right "next door" to an area we have ridden several times, he spotted some roads we hadn't yet tried. So when we awoke to sunshine this morning, we took off for Belfrey, a tiny town near the Montana/Wyoming border.

Heart Mountain




Because it's there, my friend, because it's there.



We located the road we wanted and unloaded. We left the parking lot and immediately started gaining altitude. It wasn't long before we were looking back down into the valley and enjoying views of the mountains in all directions. After a short, dead-end spur, we found a road going the way we wanted. When we stopped after a while for a snack, we were back in the valley ~ the next valley over. Looking around, we noted some interesting trees and rocks along the ridgeline, so we had to climb up! (Dan assured me that the rattlers are starting to den up this time of year, so even if we spotted one, it would be "sluggish." Makes it easier to catch, he tells me. Hmmm... Comforting!) We scrambled our way to the top and were rewarded with really neat rock formations, trees, and views of the Pryors.


Can you spot the machines?

Then it was "on the road again." We crossed a main road and realized that we were in the area we had ridden before. So we rode there for a while. When we looped back to the main road, I was ready to call it a day. BUT... not so fast. We got relatively close to the truck without trouble, but then we just couldn't seem to find our way back down off of the ridge. We took wrong roads TWICE! (Good thing we have a GPS. It helps if you check it now and again!) We did beat the sunset back to the truck, but it was dark when we got home. At least I had ribs waiting for us in the crock pot. Yummy!

 

 

Three Months of Bad Sledding

Try taking your sled down that "hill"!

It snowed today, and the first snowfall always makes me think of sledding. It has been said that summertime in Michigan is just three months of bad sledding, but let me tell you about the good sledding.

My sister and I started out on the "bunny hill" behind the house. We stayed outside playing nicely together (mostly, anyway) until we could no longer feel our fingers and toes. As we got older, Mom let us walk down the road a little bit to some higher hills. Maybe she got tired of us going up into the woods to get just a little higher up the hill, or perhaps it was the repeated "thumps" on the back of the house when we couldn't get stopped in time. Or maybe the final straw was when our friend went over the side of the very large pit that my dad was digging into the hillside for a root cellar. Yeah, that probably did it!

If you click on these, you can view
them full-screen.

The very best hill for sledding that I remember from childhood, though, was
across the road from our Christian day school. It was steep and smooth and had plenty of room at the bottom to squeeze every last inch of momentum out of the run. The tracks got icy with thawing and refreezing, and we built in bumps and jumps ~ we could fly! (Of course, then we had to trudge our way all the way back up to the top.)

At this point, you might be thinking, "But isn't Montana nothing but mountains? That must make for great sledding." Ah, not so, my friends, not so. The western half of the state is indeed mountainous (way too steep and rocky for safe sledding), but the eastern half is largely flat. We are considered high desert, and yes, we have cacti and rattlesnakes. The flat areas are cut through by deep coolies with steep, rocky sides, often with small creeks in the bottom. The wind doesn't help either, as it tends to clear bare patches.

No St Bernard on duty. Sled at your own risk!
 

Perhaps I have not put enough effort into finding just the right hill, or maybe some childhood memories are best left right there ~ in childhood. I think I will go make a cup of hot chocolate.

This one has no trees, rocks, drop-offs.... or slope.

 



The hill in the foreground has the right slope, but the drop-off is a killer.

 

 

Opening Day

Tomorrow is "opening day" for hunting mule deer with rifles. (More ardent sportsmen than me have been out since the first of September hunting antelope with bow and arrows.) BUT, I have decided to take the year off. Unfortunately, the sun will rise without me on one of my very favorite places in Montana ~ a place I can only go during hunting season. "But why?" you may ask.



Let me explain. Montana ranchers have partnered with the state and with hunters to control the deer populations on their properties. They allow hunters to treat their private land like "home" during the season in exchange for avoiding over-population. I have harvested two decent mulie bucks on one such property.

Yes, we found our way to the bottom of this one.

It is a tract of land that Dan and I have spent time exploring extensively. There is a deep canyon that we made our way down into, only to find that we had to climb a mini-waterfall to get back out of. An adjacent plot has a couple of coulies that had me looking back over my shoulder for a mountain lion (think Incredible Journey). Dan likes to remind me that lions pick off the stragglers. Hahaha!

Ever get the feeling you are being watched?

Perhaps my favorite thing about the place, though, is the view ~ we can see

A rainbow in a sunrise

three separate mountain ranges. Nothing beats a sunrise turning the snow-capped mountains pink!

The other special thing is the wildlife. One chilly morning, we were sitting on a rock ledge overlooking a little valley while the sun was coming up, and a porcupine waddled by about 3 feet behind us! He stopped and looked at us as if to say, "WHAT, pray tell, are you?" Down in the canyon, in the middle of the day, a little owl hooted at us from his perch. Maybe he was too drowsy to care enough to fly away. Two years ago, my dad came out from Michigan to hunt with us, and we watched a very nice buck pester a doe, who was having no part of his amorous advances. It was cool to watch in the wild what I had previously only seen on TV. And last year, there was the owl who kept hooting in the grey pre-dawn. You can't get any more "one with nature" than that.

Hmmm... I am feeling almost a little homesick. Maybe I will have to go get a license after all. A license to wander... Rifle optional. :)

Playing Downstairs

Beartooth Mountains

Bighorn Mountains

It looks a little chilly in the attic today...

As fall progresses, Old Man Winter starts closing up the "attic rooms" where we love to play. So yesterday, when we decided to go for a ride, we headed for the Pryors, which top out at only about 8,000 ft. While we were getting breakfast at Hardee's on the way out of town, Dan's co-worker drove by hauling his 4-wheeler. Knowing that the Pryors are a favorite haunt of his, we hoped that maybe we would catch up with him. (He has been riding since he was a kid, so Dan and I, being "newbies", can learn a lot from him!) We overtook him at the gas station in Bridger and we continued on to the mountains together.


Maybe not today...

Even in the Pryors, there was snow on the highest peaks, as well as drifts over some of the roads. But there are lots of trails up there, so when the one we wanted to take was impassable, we just turned around and went another way.

 

 The day was fairly warm with almost no wind, so we spent some time wandering around in a high meadow. The guys climbed up and down the rocks along the edges and I kept trying for the perfect shots of the surrounding mountains and the valley below, especially the red canyon walls.



Eventually, we meandered back to the waiting vehicles and bid Old Man Winter goodbye... (at least for now. We are going to have to give more thought to snow shoes!) 
 

All over the mountains in Montana are individual
mining claims. Most are just a pile of rocks with a
claim stake in it, but this one was a little more
interesting than that. (Yes, I DID heed the
No Trespassing sign.)