Blog Posts

early spring hike on goat mountain. march 2019.

3/25/2019

We were expecting a sunny day for today's hike, but the weather forecast was a little off. Instead, it was a bit chilly with the overcast skies and wind. But since we still have almost a foot of snow on the ground at home, it was nice to find some bare ground to hike on in addition to the snow.

We came across our first wildflower of the season on Goat Mountain today, discovered our first tick of the year, and enjoyed an abundance of beautiful views.

A buttercup adds a welcome bit of color to the barren landscape.

Looking to the southeast, the foothills of Ward Mountain rise up between the Sapphire Mountains and Goat Mountain.

The entrance to the Roaring Lion drainage runs between Ward Mountain to its south and Goat Mountain on the north.

Goat Mountain has plenty of rocky areas from which you can enjoy views of Ward Mountain and Roaring Lion.

The Sapphire Mountains provide a beautiful backdrop to the remaining effects of the Roaring Lion Fire of 2016.

As always, we enjoyed today's hike and look forward to our next one. Hoping to find more bare ground as the temperatures continue to rise, and maybe a little sunshine. :)

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ice falls up kootenai canyon. march 2019.

3/19/2019

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Spring is working on coming to our part of Montana, but the mountains will remain a winter wonderland for quite some time.

These ice falls up Kootenai were our destination for today's hike. With no movement or sound, the stillness of the frozen water on the rock creates the feeling of a moment frozen in time.

While we always look forward to our destination, we also enjoy the journey along the way. This afternoon's snowy hike gave us numerous reasons to stop and observe our surroundings, which extended the time it took to get to where we were going.

We spotted a mink's slide path down the opposing hillside and into the creek below, as well as various tracks of critters that had been pretty busy going to and fro.

We stepped over moose droppings in the trail from a cow moose we had seen in the area on last week's hiking/snowshoe trek. (At first it had appeared that she was lying down, but it quickly became evident that she was instead standing in snow up to her belly.)

We observed a waterfall on the canyon wall created by snow melt, which is a common sight and sound this time of year.

And we hiked over extra snow and debris deposited on the trail from an avalanche that had slid from above, over the trail, and continued down the other side of the steep slope until it finished settling into the bottom of the creek. (This had occurred quite recently - sometime since last week's trip in Kootenai.)

Today was a beautiful day with blue sky and sunshine, and as the day warmed up, the trail continued to get worse. The farther we went, the more we were post-holing through the deep snow. But as usual, we enjoyed the opportunity to get out for a hike in our beautiful mountains.

And to our surprise, there were no cars at the trailhead when we arrived (which is very unusual for Kootenai), so we enjoyed the solitude of having the trail completely to ourselves going in.

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sunshine, wildlife, and beautiful views. march 2019.

3/18/2019

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After so much snow and cold in February and the first half of March, we finally got some sunshine and a bit warmer temps.

So off to the refuge we went, as the Kenai Nature Trail is a wonderful place to enjoy the sun in addition to the wildlife and beautiful views. :)

Kenai Nature Trail - March 2019
Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge - Montana

Which are your favorite photos? I'd love to hear... so leave me a comment. :)

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bald eagle. february 2019.

2/21/2019

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Frequent sightings of bald eagles are a sure sign it's February in Montana.

They are one of my favorite things about this time of year. :)

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nature inside my studio.

2/3/2019

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A ladybug came to visit my studio today.

She's taking a nap on my little rock cairn.

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sapphire mountains. january 2019.

1/20/2019

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The girls and I got out for a quick trail run on the Kenai Nature Trail yesterday after I got off work. It was overcast and looking like rain/snow for the most part, but we did enjoy a beautiful view of the Sapphire Mountains to the east.

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the mountains are calling. november 2018.

11/16/2018

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I had originally planned to do some errands and go to the gym today, but when the snow and rain had cleared, my earlier post of hiking up Kootenai Canyon last month inspired me to change my plans and get out there again today.

I called my husband to let him know of our change of plans (it's always wise to let someone know when you are heading into the mountains), and he said, "Don't you know there's a storm coming? It's hailing here right now." (He was currently working to the north of us, and we were headed in that direction.) I figured we weren't planning to go far, we're used to hiking in inclement weather in the mountains, and we always go prepared... so we stuck with our plans. The mountains are calling, and we must go. :)

Although we saw the foreboding clouds moving in from the north on our drive to the trailhead, my hiking companions (aka our youngest three daughters) are game for anything I'm wanting to do in the mountains. So we trekked in for our quick 1-1/2 hour hike before supper. We kept up a good pace, enjoyed a quick break, and headed back.

Sure enough, the weather began to change quite rapidly on our way back out. It got colder and darker as the clouds began moving in. As we arrived back to the trailhead, the clouds and snow had completely moved in and surrounded us. But... as usual, we had a great time. :)

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off-trail hiking up kootenai canyon. october 2018.

11/16/2018

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I love trail hiking, but I also enjoy exploring off trail to see what can't be seen from the trails. We've found a wonderful area up Kootenai Canyon far away from the trail where we like to go up and hang out for a bit. There is just so much to discover "out there". I took this photo on our way back down to the trail below. Fun times! :)

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mill creek hike. november 2018.

11/10/2018

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I was hoping for a better day for hiking on one of my days off, but warm weather and sunshine just wasn't happening. So we set off for a hike up Mill Creek anyway.

We hit snow from almost the beginning, and it got deeper as we continued to hike farther in. The clouds were setting in pretty thick and big snowflakes were falling by the time we got to the falls, making it feel very wintry. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable 6-mile day hike in the mountains, and the views are always beautiful. :)

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