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.                                                                            

Where, oh Where, Did my Weekend Go?

 A short play in two acts...

ACT I ~ Friday

Another wedding anniversary has rolled around. How shall we celebrate?  A romantic, candlelight dinner? Pizza and a movie? Nah, let's go for a drive. 

Since our white Christmas made our original road-trip plans inadvisable, we took to the back roads. No, they were not plowed, but at least we had them mostly to ourselves. We even found a few roads that were new to us, starting with the very first one. There is an old barn visible from the interstate just east of Laurel, and I have been itching to to photograph it. But how to get to it? We found the right road, and came across several other barns along with the one that I originally wanted to get. 

The road we were on looped back to the frontage road, so we headed for Duck Creek Road, a long-standing favorite. There are plenty of old homesteads along this route, and with the full-frame feature on the new camera, even ones that we have photographed before were "new."

A couple of hours later, we arrived in Bridger (about a half-hour drive from home by the main road). After a quick stop for Cheetoes, we returned to the back roads and made our way toward Roberts. This stretch of road netted us an eagle, deer, and turkeys. When our road met up with 212, we decided that dinner was sounding better all the time. Humongous prawns from the Beartooth Grill fit the bill nicely. 

ACT II ~ Saturday

Pyramid Peak

Despite less than ideal road conditions, I persuaded Dan that we needed to head out again. Yes, I did have an agenda. I wanted to go back up past Cooney Dam and look for the deer. I was very disappointed with the fuzzy pictures that we got last week, and I was eager to have another go at it. 

Just before we got to the field where we always see the deer, we saw a whole herd of them in somebody's front yard! Even though they were close, I still had to step out on the running board to get the camera lens above the fence. Needless to say, these pictures were in focus. It is difficult, however, to convince people that you saw these "wild" animals when there are bird-feeders and a picnic table in the shot! 

Probably this spring's fawns. So cute!

We came around the next corner, and sure enough, the deer were out. Dan shut off the truck while I snapped a couple of quick shots over the roof of the truck, then I got out the tripod. I wanted to eliminate every possible element of human error. I even used the delayed shutter. Whether the snow helped the camera "see" what I wanted in focus or the tripod just steadied it better, the pictures were definitely better than last week's. Dan also got out the range finder to help me see what the equipment we have is truly capable of recording. (Ummm, we need a bigger lens!)

Late afternoon found us back in Nye. The wind had picked up and we were starting to see some blowing, drifting snow. At one point, we actually got bogged down and had to back out of a drift. As we sat in a clear spot between huge mounds of snow, we debated whether we should just turn around while we still could. Dan decided that since this was the last big, open field close to the mountains, the road would improve from this point. He put his foot down and this time we blasted through -- albeit blindly for a few seconds as flying snow completely covered the windshield! We made it without incident the rest of the way into Absorkee. Shortly after that, we spotted a rare late-afternoon bald eagle. (We see them most often in the morning to early afternoon.) Upon stopping, Dan realized that there were two more. They didn't hang around for pictures, but the deer did. This time, they were close enough to the road to get decent pictures even in the fading daylight. 

Here's an unusual buck!

Eventually, we came back to Columbus and hit the interstate. It was a relief to find that it was mostly clear, even though there were plenty of tracks to indicate that such had not been the case earlier. I was glad to pull up safely behind the house, but also very glad that we went out! 

THE END

Riding Shotgun

My poor little blog has been neglected lately...

After spending our last three weekends in Billings selling our photos, we finally got out to take some more. We didn't really have a set itinerary when we left the house Friday morning. We started out from Absorkee, following the Stillwater River. We almost always see eagles along this road, and this morning was no exception. Before long, we had spotted a golden eagle, and then a bald eagle. 

When we reached Nye, we turned toward the East Rosebud drainage, a great spot for moose sightings. Dan had been studying the map again and found a different way to get there. Almost immediately after turning onto the new road, we spied another bald eagle. But the best of the day was waiting a little further up the road where Dan captured THREE flying bald eagles in the viewfinder. We also added an old school house and a weathered barn to our collection of old buildings. We made our way past the road to the West Rosebud and continued on toward the East, talking about when we might actually make the hike from one drainage to the other. (It's a hike of at least 12 or 13 miles, topping out at over 10,000 ft. Not today!!) 

We finally pulled over at a trail head along the river on the East Rosebud road and ate our lunch. We then drove the rest of the way to the end of the road and spent some time photographing the mountains and studying the trail head maps. So many trails... (and so few moose, like none)!

When we came back to the T at the main road, Dan asked which way I wanted to go. I reminded him that he was driving and I was just riding shotgun. But having said that, I did remark that I was not in any hurry to go home. So we turned in the general direction of Cooney Dam, avoiding pavement as much as possible. Just before we reached the Cooney Dam State Park, we passed a couple of fields where we have always seen deer. It is posted, private property, so there are quite a few really nice bucks around. Sure enough, the deer were out and we spent several minutes keeping the shutter clicking. 

Not the best deer we saw, but it is the best photo we got. 

Winter days are just too short, so long before we were ready, we had to put the camera away and once again head for home. But we already have plans for our next outing. Stay tuned...

Take the Back Road

Just when you thought for sure that we must have 

fallen off a cliff or gotten lost in the wilderness...

I'm baaaack....

We pulled out of Laurel yesterday morning under clear skies and with high hopes for a "bright, bright, sunshiny day." But alas, it was not to be. By the time we got half an hour down the road to Columbus, the clouds were gathering and spitting rain. Still, we continued on to Big Timber and Natural Bridge. Despite the rain, we walked the trails on both sides of the falls. We started down the trail to the pool at the base of the falls, but it is pretty steep. With a  just a little snow on it, it was too much for Dan's old boots with poor traction and for my nerves of silk. (Er, steel, I meant to say nerves of steel! ) Back at the truck, with the rain turning to snow, we decided to leave the ATV's right where they were -- on the rack! 

We always see tons of deer on this drive, largely because the property on either side of the road is mostly private and marked No Hunting. This trip was no different and we got to spend several minutes watching a large mule deer buck herd his does and keep the younger, smaller bucks in check. 

By the time we go back to the interstate, the clouds were clearing, of course. It's been a while since we took the "back way" home, because we are usually pulling either the camper or the ATV trailer. It was fun to meander the gravel roads, stopping every once in a while to photograph the cool clouds and then the sunset. We worked our way generally south and east and eventually we hit the pavement again and wrapped up another enjoyable outing. 

I don't know what caused the rays. It definitely wasn't the sun,
 because that was setting behind us,
 and this was in front of us. I almost didn't
 point it out to Dan because I thought I was seeing things!

Minnesota: From the Mall to Minneopa

"U should come visit me, bc Ima roadtrip somewhere for a couple days and I want a trip buddy."

 What would you do if you got that text from your girl? Well, I don't know what you might do, but I immediately put in a time-off request! Having eliminated air travel -- just too stinkin' expensive -- we decided to meet "half-way" in St Cloud, MN. (Jamestown, ND is actually about half-way, but it holds no appeal for a city girl!)

I won't bore you with the details of Day One at Mall of America. That is just too close to what I promised in my very first blog post that I would never do. It is sufficient to say that we walked miles and quite literally "closed the place down." Sears was calling the first closing warning as we were checking out. 

Having spent Day One hunting for bargains, we left the motel on Day Two hunting for Fall. To me, fall means mainly two things: colorful leaves and apples. We selected a state park south of St Cloud and headed out. It wasn't long until we spotted signs for pumpkins, but that is not what I wanted. It took a little longer before we saw a sign with apples, but it was worth the wait. Walking in, I was instantly transported back to my childhood. We bought local honeycrisp apples and the BEST caramel corn I have EVER eaten -- sweet and sticky with pieces of soft, chewy apples. Yummy!! I wish now that I had bought the biggest bag instead of the smallest! 

With the "apple" portion of the mission accomplished, we continued our quest for colorful leaves. We reached our destination, Minneopa State Park, without any flamboyant displays of color. Fortunately, the park also offered a small, two-part waterfall and an historic gristmill, so we had plenty of reason to keep the shutters clicking. The sun was shining, and it lit the small patches of color nicely. 

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and the next morning found us driving in opposite directions toward our respective homes. But we are already making plans for next year!

Bonus material: On Face Book this morning, I promised this picture:

I didn't bring the tripod on the trip with me, so doing a timed picture of both of us was a little tricky. I only found one spot where the camera would sit mostly level and provide a decent background. So I set it up on said spot on a log sticking slightly into the water. I had 10 seconds to get over, under, or around the log and onto some rocks in the creek. As you may have guessed, I missed my rock and nearly fell face-first into the water. Too bad the camera wasn't in sport mode! As you can see, it was pretty amusing! Dan reminded me when I was telling him about this that I while I didn't have the tripod, I did have the remote for the shutter. Well, what fun would that be? 

Blue Skies Smilin' at Me

Nothin' but blue skies do I see!

History is made! We went camping and riding, and we did NOT get wet! Li'l Miss Sunshine overpowered Black Cloud! Haha!

Yes, the entire cave floor is covered in ice.

Friday afternoon, we set up the camper in the Pryor Mountains. Acting on a tip from a co-worker, we went searching for the wild horses in a different spot than the areas where we have seen them before. We didn't find the horses (we probably didn't go far enough as daylight was going to run out on us), but we did finally make it to the Big Ice Cave. It was a neat place, but also dark and just a little bit eerie. Definitely not a place where I would want to spend any time alone! Away from the cave and back on the trail, we broke out of the trees onto the sunny plateau. Now we were looking across the valley over at the plateau where we usually ride. We beat the dark back to the camper and were treated to a beautiful sunset. 

Usually, we are running around on top over there.

C'mon in!

Our time was limited on Saturday, so we stuck closer to the camper. Even though we were back in familiar territory, we did find a few new roads. We came upon an old building previously unknown to us, and we ran another road to the point where it became a hiking trail with an intriguing name -- Crater Ice Cave Trail #31. We decided to save the hike for a warmer day (and maybe do a little research first), and returned to the main road. We got back to the camper in time for lunch and even a little shooting before packing up and returning to civilization. 

No wild horses, but a lot of inquisitive deer.