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sour weather hike + campfire up kootenai. nov 2019.

12/1/2019

My friend, Dana, and I had planned a hike well over a week in advance, but as it got closer to the day, the weather forecast didn't sound very exciting. It had been quite some time since our schedules matched up to get out in the mountains together, so we went ahead and got out for our hike and campfire anyway.

Hiking + a campfire + roasting marshmallows = a fun time in the mountains!

With a mix of rain, snow, and graupel coming down on us that day,
everything was pretty wet and there was definitely a very damp chill in the air.

But... we had a good time.

Sometimes you just gotta get out there anyway.
Don't let the weather stop you from having fun! :)

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snowy hike up mill creek to finish november 2019.

11/30/2019

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A cold, snowy hike up Mill Creek for a bit after work this afternoon/evening to end November. Below are a few random photos. The views are always beautiful! :)

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short hike + campfire at gold creek. november 2019.

11/28/2019

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We drove up to Gold Creek to check out a couple of possible trails for a short day hike. We were thinking about hiking up to Eagle Point, but by the time we hit the end of the road, we were in a pretty good snowstorm.

After discussing our options, we decided to head back down to the Gold Creek Trail near the campground a couple of miles back where it wasn't snowing nearly as much. I'm not quite ready for full on winter mode yet. ;)

Into the woods we went without any idea of what we might see, as I haven't done much hiking in the Sapphires yet and didn't have any info on this trail other than what we could see on our map. We simply went to explore.

We hiked in a couple of miles with intentions of going further, but ended up turning around when I inadvertently hurt my leg.

Pretty easy trail in the beginning portion.

Cold weather mountain adventures are not complete without a campfire.

To enjoy our time out in the mountains a bit longer after cutting our hike short, we decided to head back to the campground for a campfire. It sure felt nice in the cold!

A little blustery back there. The weather was definitely better heading back to the valley.

We enjoyed the views on our drive back out.

The skies were looking rather dreary and wintry behind us from where we had just come.

Ahead things were looking brighter and a bit more like fall.

Add in seeing several deer along the way and you've got a typical fall day in the Bitterroot. :)

A little buck and doe.

Looking ahead at Little Saint Joe.

Looking back from the same spot.

A mixture of sunshine, clouds, and silhouetted surroundings is always a fascinating combination.

Sheep on the east side of the valley with the Bitterroot Mountains behind, looking into Kootenai Canyon.

Things don't always turn out as we plan when we head out to the mountains.
I certainly didn't plan on getting hurt this trip and shortening our hike because of it.
But we always find a way to adapt and have a good time. :)

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sunshine hike on goat mountain. november 2019.

11/24/2019

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Oh, how I love the mountains!

And when I'm wanting to get out to enjoy a sunny day in late fall, Goat Mountain comes to mind.

Goat Mountain sits between Ward Mountain to the south and Downing Mountain to the north, as part of the ridge between Roaring Lion and Sawtooth Canyons.

Although the trail is relatively short, it is quite steep. A great way to get in some cardio!

November 2019.

Enjoying the views on the way up.

A bit windy on top, but gotta get a few photos anyway.

Close up view further into Sawtooth Canyon.

Time to head back.

Beautiful golden grass in the late afternoon sunshine.

We love taking time to explore off-trail rock outcrops to hang out a bit while enjoying sunshine and views. :)

Looking back across the valley to the Sapphire Mountains on the east.

Overlooking the road to Roaring Lion below.

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ominous clouds and sunshine at the refuge. fall 2019.

11/17/2019

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A bit of sunshine momentarily lit up these trees against the dark clouds behind as we drove into the refuge.

I love this tree at the visitor center as you head to the Kenai Nature Trail. Photo by Jamie Weiss.

I'm always taking photos. And so is Jamie. :)

The Kenai Nature Trail offers a splendid view of the Bitterroot Mountains.

The mix of clouds and sunshine were continually changing as we walked along taking photos.

The clouds and the sun had quite a battle for a bit, but in the end the clouds won.

It's always fun to watch the swans and other waterfowl at the refuge.

Although it had been raining all day and was still currently raining when we left the house, we decided to get out for a quick walk at the refuge on the Kenai Nature Trail anyway.

It was interesting to watch the ominous clouds moving about over much of the valley. The clouds were especially dark over the refuge where we were going.

We thought we were in for a very rainy hike, but despite the dark clouds, the rain let up for us just as we hit the trail.

The constantly changing views were absolutely captivating! :)

November 2019.

A nice view of Little Saint Joe. The views from the top of this mountain peak are incredible! :)

Geese in flight. Photo by Jamie Weiss.

As it was getting late, the geese and swans were hunkering down for a little shut-eye.

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a quick after-work hike. larry creek trail. fall 2019.

11/16/2019

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View of the Sapphire Mountains to the east.

I was short on time and daylight for getting in my exercise outdoors after work today, so we chose to get in a quick 1-hour hike on the Larry Creek Trail to beat the dark. I came across a few things that caught my eye for some quick photos along the way. :)

A little peek of the Bitterroots to the west.

A picture perfect Montana cow.

It's not very often you'll see a cow in my hiking photos, since we are usually "out in the mountains". But this trail is located in the Bass Day Use Area in the foothills and has a small section that runs along the border of a private ranch below. While taking the photo of the Sapphire Mountains above, I noticed this "Montana cow" looking right at me. He was just so picture perfect, I couldn't resist getting a photograph. :)

Sunset clouds over the Bitterroot Mountains. The two peaks on the left are Mill Point and Mill Point West.

We had lovely skies to the east and the west as we drove home. There is almost always something of interest to see when driving along the backroads of Montana. :)

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rainy evening at lake como. november 2019.

11/15/2019

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We had a little extra time after hiking up Tin Cup today, so I decided to swing by Lake Como on our way home. As we got closer to the lake, the wind and rain were moving in, and the temperature was quickly dropping. When I realized the weather wasn't going to be what I had expected, I decided to go anyway. And I'm so glad we went. When I'm busy looking for fair-weather days for hiking, I can sometimes forget how enjoyable the atmosphere of inclement weather can be. One sure way to be reminded is to just get out in the middle of it. Which is what we did today. So much so, I didn't want to leave! :)

I discovered this whimsical rock spiral on the beach and enjoyed following the path to the rock cairn in the center. Just a little carefree fun that brought me an extra smile. :)

Enjoying the moment. -- The evening chill with the wind and the rain as we followed the shoreline listening to the water splashing on the rocks was an awesome experience to end our day. A little reminder that nature is beautiful in all sorts of weather. Enjoy! :)

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late fall hike up sweathouse creek. november 2019.

11/14/2019

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With our recent cloudy weather, we were happy to see some blue skies and sunshine on our hike up Sweathouse Canyon a few days ago.

It was a sunny day in the valley, and while we were hoping to hit a little sunshine on our hike, we knew we might be getting to that time of the year when the sun never hits the bottom of the canyons. But sun or no sun, we set out for a little mountain fun. :)

The falls are less dramatic this time of year, but still enjoyable to see.

This is the top portion of the lower falls. Icy cold!

We were getting so close to the warm glow of sunshine...

... as we headed up to our spot to hang out past the falls.

A bit of off-trail over and around rock and downfall, but nothing crazy.

When we arrived at our spot on the rocks, the sun was almost peeking over the opposite ridge, so we thought it was possible that the sunshine might reach us in a bit.

But it never did. Oh well.
It was nice to see it at least.

We did enjoy an afternoon snack by the warmth of our fire. And the girls can never resist roasting a few marshmallows. :)

The temp had dropped and our blue skies had turned to gray for our way back out.
Still quite enjoyable. We just put on another layer. :)

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a day spent in the mountains is a ...

11/10/2019

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Overlooking Lost Horse Corridor from Lost Horse Observation Point.
Bitterroot Mountains, Montana. July 2019. Northern Rockies.

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off-trail destination up mill creek. november 2019.

11/7/2019

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Although today's hike was a shorter one, we had a special destination in mind. We'd been eyeing a certain rectangular hole in the canyon wall that has piqued our interest for a while now. We'd had plans to try to get to it someday, and that day had finally come.

While we had our doubts about the possibility of getting into it, we were still hoping to find a way.

One way to find out... get up there and take a look. So that is what we set out to do. We hiked in on the trail a bit and then left the trail to head up to the canyon wall to answer our lingering questions.

There are lots of amazing views of the northern canyon wall in Mill Creek Canyon.

No trail to follow here.
We just pick our way along as we go, using caution on the loose rocks.

Rock fields are always a little slow going for me, but we're making progress. :)

Plenty of rock to navigate on the way up.

I'm not the only one stopping along the way to take pics. ;)

Getting pretty close. It's larger than I realized from the trail. We did get up to the wall below the hole, but as we suspected, it was too high up and risky to try to get into it. So we went around and up on the rock to the right of it as close as we could for now.

Almost there. Coming around on the side.

So, so close! This photo doesn't represent the size well, but it does show the relation of where we were sitting next to the hole. We couldn't find a way into it that we felt safe with at this point in time without additional help or gear. Maybe another day??