These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

As I picked up my pen to write this installment of the blog, it occurred to me that the usual narrative-style post might be getting a little redundant. Therefore, I thought that, at least for today, I would switch things up a bit and share just the highlights. So here, dear reader, are a few of my favorite things:

*The roads less traveled ~ With the continuing snow making camping or four-wheeling difficult-to-impossible, the truck is pretty much the only way we are getting out. Even our selection of roads is somewhat limited. But that's ok -- they are our favorites.

*Mountains and big skies ~ A picture (or two) is worth a thousand words.

*Wildlife ~ We saw a coyote, a rabbit, eagles, turkeys, deer, and three elk. 

*Moving water ~ No surprise here, I know. We hiked a little way up the trail to Souix Charley Lake to check on a recurring frozen "waterfall." The ice, both in the river and on the trail, had melted and refrozen to a perfectly clear, smooth finish. Beautiful, but treacherous. Fortunately, the trail had only a few places where the ice couldn't be avoided, although avoiding it forced me to walk much closer to the ledge along the river than I normally would! 

*Small town Montana ~ Last week when we were out, we stopped in Fishtail at the General Store. We've driven by it many, many times, but never stopped. To our surprise, we knew a couple of the employees. Another discovery was the little deli in the back of the store, complete with checker board and wood stove. We weren't hungry when we stopped last week, but this week, a big bowl of chicken and wild rice soup sure hit the spot. It was delicious!

What about you? What is your favorite thing about Montana (or where ever it is that you live)?

Chasing Rainbows (and a Wild Goose)

Since Dan has been on vacation all this week while I was at work, he spent a lot of time on the computer. On Google Earth, he found a picture of an arch east of Belfrey. It piqued his interest, so he figured out the coordinates for future use. 

With warmer temps and clearer roads today, we decided to try to find the arch. While we frequently use the GPS to trace our track or identify BLM or state or private property, we have never tried using it to find a specific point. We got as close as we could on the road, then set out on foot.

As we worked our way up the draw, we were keeping an eye on the sky. The clouds were right for fire rainbows, and before long, we spied a faint one. The fact that it was right next to the sun made it hard to see, let alone photograph.  

At some point, Dan pointed out that as far as the arch was concerned, we might be on a wild goose chase. Sure enough, as we stood on top of the ridge, on the "X" so to speak, it became apparent that the "goose" got away. There was no arch in sight in any direction.

But we were not as disappointed as we might otherwise have been, because at that point, the sky was a veritable kaleidoscope! We kept switching lenses and handing the camera back and forth in an attempt to get the best cloud pictures possible. 

The way down...

By now, we concluded that we were not going to find the arch, so we turned back toward the truck. We could see the truck below us, as well as the road, so it didn't make sense to back-track the way we came. The only problem was that the hillside between us and the road was pretty steep. We cautiously started down, and though most of the descent was a "controlled slide," we made it to the bottom without incident. (I keep saying that I want to go sledding, you know.)

Even once we were back in the truck and heading for home, we kept stopping for one more picture. (You are indeed lucky that I don't post them all!) But, hey, "hungry" trumps "pretty"! Oh well, there will be another day.