Fall Trips

We have been to Michigan on a road trip & also places close to Montana for hiking, canoeing & walking. We went to Michigan to attend a nieces wedding. Very nice. We enjoyed their company when they came to Montana to explore. We took them on many hiking adventures. We also visited relatives & explored the area.

Our next trip was to the Seeley/Swan Valley to canoe at Lindbergh Lake then on to Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. We had wonderful weather for a November trip. No one was on either lake. Saw lots of waterfowl, hawks & eagles. We stayed in two forest service cabins. Owl Creek Cabin near Holland Lake & Ben Rover Cabin near the town of Polebridge. Both were nice. The Ben Rover Cabin had 4 bedrooms so for just the two of use, quite a bit of room. The Owl Creek Cabin is one room & rustic. Good times till x-country ski season start.

Other than that we have been out looked at waterfowl, hawks & eagles at the Reservoir, been up Mt. Helena, right here in town & we walk around town daily. Very nice Fall so far.

Montana Magic

Great week-end. Our son & his wife spent the week-end with us. Our son chopped two cords of wood (we are very appreciative) & our daughter-in-law swam in s spring fed lake with our son kayaking next to her & us cheering her on. She is training for an Ironman. We had lots of conversation & a great barbecue with them & the in-laws. Great to see them.

Bear Gulch Pictographs

We took a road trip & camped on some ranch land in a pasture & hiked into & looked at some great pictorgraphs & petroglyphs. There were between 2,000 - 5,000 pictos & petros on the walls of this canyon. See: <"http://www.beargulch.net/"> for more information. 

Hawks, a badger, antelope, deer, rabbits, swallows, meadowlarks & sandhill cranes kept us company while in the area. We also stopped at a fish hatchery & looked at thousands of trout & salmon in long troughs swimming in crystal clear spring water. Good weather & company are always welcome.

Paddling & Hiking Continues

Canoed at the Reservoir on the 25th, 28th & 31st. Nice area to paddle. Trees all around the reservoir plus today (31st) we saw lots of kingbirds, redwing & yellowheaded blackbirds, ducks, geese & goslings, grebes, pelicans, coots, teal, red-tail hawks, bald eagles & herons in their rookery with their young looking pretty big. The carp were in big groups spawning & would swim in a circle & splash all over the place, there were hundreds of these doing the same mating dance. The hawks were making a new nest as their previous years nest was taken by a goose family! Warm again today. Its been in the 80's for about a week. Very nice canoe weather. Also this week we hiked up Priest Pass. Its nice having so many nice mountain hiking trails near town. On this hike we were looking for new cross-county ski trails. We like to discover new areas where we think we may be able to forge a new trail for back-country skiing. Lots of glacier lilies & spring beauties & butter cups. Very nice day for a hike in the mountains as it is a very beautiful time of year.

Update for the Outside LIfe

Mt. Helena Ridge(MHR) Trail - 15th of May, Saturday
Mike is in Michigan so I went hiking with friends. I walked over to their place & we started the hike, up Daisy Hill at 9:00 & then on the trail below parking lot, up to the Old Planted Trees trail, caught the Dump Out Gulch trail, then onto Hanging Draw Trail & over to McCulvey Trail & then to the left up another trail to the MHR Trail. Took us about 4 hours total. We stopped about 11:30 for lunch. Lots of different kinds of flowers but not too many of each kind. Nice day, around 60 & slightly windy. Great for hiking. 8.7 on my ped for the walk to their place & the hike.

Hauser to Beavercreek - 16 of May, Sunday
A friend & I hiked from the dam to Beavercreek this morning at 8:00. Got home around 11:30. Nice day, around 60 with light clouds. Suppose to get into the 80’s today. Saw some eagles, pelicans, cormorants & ducks. Something got killed on a rock along the route, looked like a birds had eaten something small like a mouse or chipmunk. This is around a 4 miles round-trip hike along the Missouri River.

Helena Holding Reservoir Mikes Back - 22nd of May, Friday
We canoed at the Reservoir this morning from 8:30 to about 10:15. It is full. Eagles, marsh hawk, red-wing hawks, grebes (western & redneck), cormorants, blue herons in the rookery, geese, coots, teal & some other ones we could not identify. Clear morning, beautiful with just a slight breeze. Nice canoe.

Note: I've also been working in the yard, clearing last years leaves, edging, planting, weeding & enjoying the yard. Update for the Desert Trip is still in the works.

Warm Utah to Cool Montana

Back from warm Utah to Montana (Utah trip will be posted later).  We canoed at the Reservoir Sunday morning.  Water is high now.  There was one snow goose hanging out with two canadian geese plus tons of other geese coupled up.  Lots of coots, geese, red-necked grebe + a small grebe with a crest on his head, misc. ducks, bald eagles, herons, red-winged blackbirds, yellow-headed blackbirds, chick-a-dees & meadow larks.  Nice morning canoe, cool with the sun coming & going.  

Sand-hill Cranes for Earth Day

Calm waters & blue ski with high light clouds & snowy mountains all around.  Beautiful morning to canoe at the Reservoir.  It is about a 5 mile canoe around the edge & takes us about 1 hour, 15 minutes.  New birds & water-fowl:  gadwall,  cinnamon teal, some other ducks that we could not identify & a yellow-headed blackbird.  Three sand-hill cranes flew over and then we saw another sand-hill crane fly over our house in town riding the thermals.  Happy Earth Day 

Loons Laughing

We canoed again at the Reservoir but today we were the only ones on the water.  Nice & quiet & the same water-fowl & birds that were there on Sunday.  New ones since then are teal, two swans, a marsh hawk & a bald eagle.  The loons were very noisy this morning talking up a storm, along with the ever honking geese.  

Water Fowl on the Water

Canoed at the reservoir this morning for about 1 1/2 hours.  Very nice outside & only a slight breeze.  We saw buffelhead ducks, an american wigeon, lesser scaup, geese, blue herons sitting in their rookery on and above their nests, cormorant, a pelican, many black-necked stilts, many american avocets, sandpipers, loons, coots, mergansers and red-neck grebes.  The grebes were really calling & there were an extremely large number of the coots.  My favorite is the loon, they are really interesting to watch. One funny thing is that there are geese nesting in an old hawks nest & also in the rookery in a herons nest.  The first drop to the ground for the young will be a shocker!  No eagles, hawks or owls today.  Great day.

Meadow Larks Sing for Spring

This morning we walked out at the reservoir,  Nice day.  Geese and some ducks & also meadow larks singing to let us know Spring is here.  They are letting water into the reservoir so we are close to getting our canoe out.

Warm sunshine & green leaves on my mind

This is a brown time here in Montana with crocus breaking through the cold ground.  There is always sunshine thrown in daily with a few flakes of snow.  We walk everyday while waiting for the ice to break up so we can get the canoe out.  Our next adventure is down in a canyon in Utah for a back-packing trip.  More to come...