Out Here.

wildflower hike up tin cup. june 2020.

6/30/2020

Beautiful beargrass with lovely lupine in the background.

Tin Cup - June 2020.

After our picnic lunch up Lost Horse on a beautiful day earlier this month, we headed further south to enjoy an afternoon hike up Tin Cup Creek.

In addition to enjoying the abundance of wildflowers along the way, we also watched some small wildlife and heard and saw a tree fall not very far away from us! Like I often say ... you just never know what you will come across in the mountains. Always be prepared for anything and everything out here! :)

A tree falls nearby!

A wonderful day for a hike in the mountains.

Chipmunks tend to keep themselves plenty busy in the woods. -- Lots of lupine everywhere!

Stopping for pics. (Photo credit: Jamie Weiss)

Cute little chipmunk! (Photo credit: Jamie Weiss)

Interesting detail in a star tulip (aka elegant cat's ear).

Beauty greets us all along the trail.

Bunchberry dogwood flowers are elegantly beautiful.

This bee pays no attention to me and my camera.

The vibrancy of Indian paintbrush always stands out.

An interesting horsetail stalk growing by itself.

It seems I'm not the only one attracted to red clover.

False Solomon's-seal leaves and flowers contrast in size.

The flowers of mountain-ash and its orange berries later on are both a beautiful sight to see.

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lunch + views at lost horse observation point.

6/30/2020

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Panoramic mountain views along the way.

A lovely day with beautiful views on our drive in.

Como Peaks with snow in June.

Wonderful views overlooking a portion of the Lost Horse area.

Beautiful view of Como Peaks.

Getting out our map and compass helped us to identify a couple more distant peaks to the southwest.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch with sunshine, wind, and beautiful views earlier this month at Lost Horse Observation Point. Afterwards, we headed down south of Darby for a hike up Tin Cup. Photos from that part of the day to come in another post. :)

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seven vultures gather on a cattle ranch fence.

6/28/2020

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While taking the backroads home from a trip to the refuge earlier this month, the turkey vultures started flying over and flocking in. They were quite entertaining. :)

Bitterroot Valley, Montana
June 2020.

A couple of photos and the video were taken by my daughter, Jamie. We were both kept busy with the shutter button on our cameras. :)

Some of our photos are not as focused as I'd like, as we were snapping quickly to capture the vultures in action, and we had to use our zoom to keep from scaring them off. But I included these photos anyway, as they give a glimpse into some of what we got to see.

Photo credit: Jamie Weiss

There were seven turkey vultures in all. We were kept amused as we watched them gather together on the fence, flap around, and circle around overhead.

I put together some clips from Jamie's video footage. It would have been better if we had a tripod with us, but it's still fun to watch these interesting birds. :)
Remember to watch the video in fullscreen for the full affect.

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mama deer had another baby at our place.

6/28/2020

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Mama deer has been staying on the property since her recent baby was born. While mama deer comes to visit us, she leaves her fawn off in the tall grasses and woods to keep her safe. We get glimpses of the two of them together every now and then.

Look how high baby can jump already! She's growing so fast!
My evening run was interrupted for a bit when I met up with mama and baby on our trail just ahead of me. I went and got my camera in time to get one quick pic as mama headed to drop baby back off in the woods again. So fun to watch them! :)

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a taste of summer up bear creek. june 2020.

6/27/2020

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We enjoyed a taste of summer in the mountains up Bear Creek earlier this week.

I love the refreshing cool mist spraying off the rushing water after a hot, sunny hike. :)

We caught a glimpse of this female Western tanager snacking in the trees on our hike in.

Water and rock ...
two of my favorite things! :)

The power of water rushing down the mountain is incredible!

That water is moving!!
(To feel like you're there, watch it in fullscreen.)

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rainy day drive .. highway .. refuge .. backroads.

6/9/2020

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We discovered these yellow pond-lilies along the highway near home.

Gotta keep your eyes open and camera ready anywhere you go in Montana, as you never know what, where, and when you might see something. I'm known to pull over and hop out on the side of the road at a moment's notice. :)

There were plenty of red-winged blackbirds hanging out on the dried cattails as we drove along the main pond at the refuge.

Another angle of the barn at the refuge.

The straight on view with the cloudy mountain background is what attracted my attention on this trip.

St. Mary's Peak obscured in the rain clouds behind the pond and barn.

The colors in this photo caught my eye after leaving the refuge.
Always something to pull over and stop for. :)

As we took the backroads home, we stopped to watch and photograph a flock of turkey vultures. While doing so, this bald eagle flew overhead and landed off in the field.

I captured several cool photos of the vultures, so they will be featured in their own post.
Coming up next... :)

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chaffin butte evening hike. june 2020.

6/7/2020

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Chaffin Butte was our destination for this evening hike. Beautiful views await up there any season of the year.

We headed out for this hike in search of Bitterroots (our state flower), but with no success of finding any.

However, we did discover a lovely little orange flower we had never seen before, and had success of finding some photo-worthy scenic views as well.

Enjoy! :)

Scarlet globemallow.

We've never seen these flowers in the Bitterroot Mtns. It's a much different landscape over here on the east side.

View of the Bitterroot Mountains (where we do most of our hikes). This is just a very small portion of them.

The sagebrush is another element that we don't have on our hikes in the Bitterroots.

Up and up we go, with beautiful views behind and around!

The top is still out of view here, but we're getting closer. The shifting clouds added interest to our evening hike.

I love the wildflowers mixed with mountain views along the way! Makes the trudge up well worth it. :)

Looking back at another portion of the Bitterroot Mountains. Como Peaks and El Capitan are visible here.

This little veery beat us to the top. I could use some wings! ;) He was bobbing up and down like a dipper.

It was windy on top, but we enjoyed more beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and wildflowers!

Although a different landscape than the west side of the valley, the views to the east are beautiful in their own way!

Almost back as we come through the trees. The amazing views captured our attention the whole way down and out.

The setting sun was glorious as we finished our evening hike out in the flat part. I love the warm glow!

Chaffin Butte rises in the background. Enjoy the flat part, as this trail is quite steep for much of the hike!

This final photo says it all. Montana -- I love where I live! :)

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here comes the rain again...

6/6/2020

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The mountains are mostly hidden from view today, but it's still beautiful out here.

I love the feel of a good rainy day and the extra freshness in the air! :)

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in the mountains with a bear, views, and more...

6/2/2020

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Little Saint Joe / Bass Creek area. June 2020.

Today's mountain trip was extra exciting when we came across a bear along the way. We got a chance to watch and photograph him for a bit, as he would repeatedly stop and look at us and then meander up away from us some. At one point he was smelling our scent in the air. And when we saw him a second time further up the road, he stood up on his hind legs and looked at us before wandering back into the trees again.

We had the overlook to ourselves for about an hour to hang out on the rocks with a beautiful view of the Bass Creek Crags. We had a mix of sunshine and wind. We also enjoyed watching a raven and a turkey vulture soaring above and below at times.

A partial view of the upper portion of Little St. Joe. You can't quite see the top from this viewpoint, but you can see the snow is melting. We need to take a trek up there again one of these days. It's a steep hike, but the views from the top are definitely worth it! :)

Lots of flowing water this time of year. And lots of green. A perfect combination. :)

With a mix of hiking, hanging out at an overlook with views, and seeing a bear...
we had an awesome time on the mountain!

We never know what we might see.
We just get out and go and keep our eyes open for the unexpected.

I'll end this post with a little video clip my daughter took of the bear.
It's not the steadiest video, but it does show him meandering along. :)

If you enjoyed this post, leave me a comment and a thumbs up.
And be sure to check back for our next mountain adventure.
See you soon! :)

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