Fall in the Flathead

Yes, I'm a member of the I-Love-Fall club. How could I not be? Fall is crisp. gorgeous, still flowery, and complete with the autumn colors and smells.


Last month, in an effort to enjoy the fall colors, Lesli and I hiked up to a place called Strawberry Lake in the Jewel Basin.

The trail was steep with switchbacks most of the way. The weather which had begun as cloudy and rainy (I know, I was locked out of my car in it for an hour or so) turned sunny and clear. The air smelled of fall and each leaf held it's own beauty.

Today I drove up to the Yaak settlement. Fall has progressed far enough to where the maple leaves are down up there. It's the bright yellow candlestick-like larch trees which bear the torch of fall colors. The hills are covered with them.

Creeks and Pronghorn

Visiting Elk Lake Resort is a pretty experience. Hiking reveals panoramic vistas. Boating provides a tranquil yet majestic view of the Centennials. The drive out is even pretty. It's an opportunity to see animals, mountains, and everything in between. These pictures were from two different drives out.





Pronghorn are plentiful. In fact, on my way out for the last time, we saw a large herd on road. Once on a hike with Rosie, I saw a lone pronghorn about 50 yards away. I'd never experienced the curiosity of a pronghorn before. It acted similarly to our llama--curious yet wary. The little thing kept taking steps toward Rosie and I. It did eventually get spooked, but it was fun while it lasted.

Morning Walk

Yesterday morning, Labor Day, I took advantage of the free morning hours and took a walk behind my house. There's a great view of the mountains plus a motocross track! Libby Creek is off to the right, and the sun streamed upon it so golden and pretty.

The large mountain in the middle is Treasure. Dome is peaking out from the righ of the picture. It's the round-topped granite one. My kiddos learned to identify that one Friday.

Bramlet Lakes...6,000 Feet Up!

Yesterday I saw two more of the lakes scattered about in the Cabinets. Upper and Lower Bramlet can be reached by a short and sweet hike from a goat trail of a road (which, by the way, my little Honda navigated just fine!). Ann and I hiked to Lower Bramlet, had lunch, then decided to 'bushwack' to Upper. That proved very fun. We climbed a waterfall, saw an huge version of a hamster laying on a rocky ledge, 'discovered' a magnificent waterfall over layered rocks, and gained elevation very quickly.






Upper Bramlet sits right underneath the rocky point known as Carney Peak. The lake is small and emerald green. It's banks are formed of huge rocks, some of which are partially submerged in the turquoise water. Little pollywog's dart about between them. Fish surfaced here and there while close to shore, little stonefly larvae scoot about on the lake floor. Plus...I was, in spirit, doing handsprings and backflips of delight over being on ground that was over 6,000 feet.

It's a place I hope to visit again before the snow flies through the air and piles into high, impassable drifts.

The Creek

Just beyond my little house is a creek called Libby Creek. It's beautiful in the winter under it's icy shell. Right now, however, it's beauty is of another kind. It's clear, cool, rippling, and sparkly. I rolled up my jeans and waded in yesterday, and this was my view.

This Garden of Mine...

I love gardens. I'm not really exagerating when I say that either. They are relaxing things of effort and reward. Here are some pics of mine. Now note, I didn't grow these. A lady worked in it all summer while I was gone! I came back to it waiting to be harvested! Green beans, egg plant, and tomatoes all ready to be eaten!

Back in Northern Montana

This morning I walked into my kitchen and saw a truly beautiful sight. My dish drainer was a sparkling jewelcase as the morning sun enlived every piece of new, pawn shop glassware I bought and washed yesterday! Life has great details sometimes.
















I drove in to Libby holding my eyelids open so I could see the road. It was good to step into my little house, smell it's old house smell, and see my unbelievable garden (yes, some grew a garden here while I was gone!). It was good to see my Libby friends again at church the next morning. They took me huckleberry picking too! Now, you must understand the joy this gave me. I've grown up putting up hundreds of pounds of fruit each year and, believe it or not, I felt a huge gap all summer not being able to do that. Well, I got 6 cups of huckleberries and I was probably on the edge of gleefull over it.

Two Days and Lots of Montana!

This last week has been rather unusual in that we haven't fixed food or cleaned cabins. The time somehow became used up anyway! Wednesday and Thursday we took off from the lodge with several things on our schedule: Virginia City, Nevada City, Sheridan, Twin Bridges and a hike up into the Madisons.


I'd never gone through the old buildings in Nevada City. That's a cool place! It still has a very uncomercialized feel to it, and that makes it all the more fun. Nathaniel found an old car to 'drive'. In V City we visited a museum, stopped at several stores, the old church (FYI, in which resides a baby grand piano), and totally enjoyed the whole boardwalk/old west feel. Main street is the only one that is paved. Wait, Sheridan's streets are mostly gravel too...moving on.



We drove to Twin Bridges and visited the museum there. The ladies were super nice and helpful. We especially enjoyed reading about the round barn (which we drove out to see). I read about the Beaverhead Rock while Lerrina educated herself on the round barn. Apparently Lewis and Clark left an inscription on it which was blown to bits to help a water problem. Gotta love those priorities!





We drove out to see both the barn and the rock.









Sheep Creek Trail in the Madison Moutain Range turned out to be a great hike on the second day! It was beeeeauuuuutiful! That hike would be worth doing again! I lost my sunglasses...that's three this summer...and gained 2 cups of Montana's treasure-huckleberries. What a treat!




The wildflowers were totally unbelievable! I saw deep pink Indian Paintbrush, which I've never seen before. We were following Sheep Creek most of the way and that was beautiful too.

The Ruby

Find a map of Montana, put your finger on Elk Lake then move it up and slightly to the left. This should put your attention on a little place called the Ruby Valley. Ever heard of Virginia City, Robbers' Roost, Lewis and Clark, or the Beaverhead River?

The Ruby Valley is the land of cattle and beautiful mountains, gardens and flatbed trucks, sweet cafes and garden stands, hay (as shown) and the steady pumping of field irrigation, mining and fishing. Fishing is quality and sought after here. R.L. Winston Rod Co. sits unassumingly but neatly at the edge of tiny Twin Bridges producing it's coveted bamboo and boron/graphite rods. There's an art gallery in Sheridan boasting one of the neatest collections of Airforce related paintings I've ever seen. Granted, I haven't seen many =). Cows are everywhere; big, sleek, beautiful, happy cows eating and sleeping their way through the day in lush, green fields. The rivers, and there are three near Twin Bridges, are small. That is something I had to get my eyes used to. The Santiam River in Oregon is a small river for the Willamette Valley, but is much bigger than the rivers here. "Here's the creek, but where's the river?" was my thought on first sight. As Lerrina explained, the closer one is to the source, the smaller the river is. Right here, we're really close to the headwaters of many of these rivers. This afternoon is an 'empty' day. It's my day off, and having worked on matting a cool Tim Cox print I have to think of something fun to do. Right now my mind is working on trying to figure out a good reason to head to the Ruby for the rest of it...

The Path My Feet Found

My feet are often clothed in my favorite summer shoes, Chaco sandles which my mom gave me as a present last summer. They are awesome and I've even worn them on all day hikes through sage brush. That did push it a little as they provide little protection against stinging nettles. The other day I slapped them on, and Bo and I headed up and over the hill to Horse Creek.



I'm getting skilled at avoiding foot-catching, scratchy sage so down the hill we ran. I did find some more bones for my classroom halfway down the hill. At the bottom, we headed up Horse Creek and my feet found a new way to avoid foot pain. The dry creekbed opened up as a comfortable walking path for making our way up the draw. Horse Creek is a funny little creek. Where we dropped down into the creek, the water was still flowing, but as we walked up the stream, the water disappeared and a dry bed emerged. If we would've walked further, we would've seen the pattern over again. I don't know where the water flows, underground maybe?

Bike Ride!

Yesterday the kids and I went for a bike ride up to the north road. FYI, you can begin getting a cell signal there. It's a couple of miles from the lodge. The faithful Bo and Rosie followed us the whole way! Hannah made sure we stopped to give them a chance to satisfy their thirst in the creek. Good friends these are.



A cow trail alongside the road is MUCH more fun to ride on than the road itself...

Dillon, 40 Miles of Gravel, Fine Dining and A Little Boy

We had quite the day yesterday! Nathaniel and I took off for Dillon yesterday morning. I'd never taken the south road west toward Dillon, but having heard it wasn't too bad of a road, I turned my wheels right at the junction and tried it. Forty miles of gravel road! We saw many birds, the little village of Lakeview, two real cowboys, herds of cattle, and water-lots of it!


We got into Dillon around 12:30 and stopped at the nearest Dairy Queen for, of course, burger and fries. I'd forgotten what it was like to have a little one accompanying me. "Ok, you take the tray, I'll open the door." I open the door, we go out, tray is suddenly perpendicular, chocolate shake is streaking the doorjam and sidewalk, ketchup is adorning little one's shirt, water and burgers begin to wiggle loose from the wedged place between tray, arm and little tummy. "Tip the tray up," is my altogether calm command. Well, that is hard to hear when in the apex of such an emotional moment. The tray did come up after a while and we began lunch. Do you know how many of those wimpy little napkins it takes to clean up anything?! Lots! FYI, I was wearing a white shirt and nothing got on it! Anyway, I could hear my mom as he stood outside the car and said, "Don't touch anything, don't move until I wash you off!" Out the handy wetones came and within minutes a smiling clean little face appeared from under the ketchup and burger crumbs. The last casualty from that stop was my keychain. I'd saved his chocolate shake for later, but as the cap was gone, my keychain took a bath in it while I was searching for the wetwipes. "This is not dignified," I thought as I popped it into my mouth (what else could I do) to clean it off. You moms will say, "Why even relate this? This is as common as breathing!" But, you see, I'm not one yet, and it's quite novel.

The day turned out very well. We found the DMV; I got my Montana driver's license! We shopped and had fun, went to Roxie's Nursery...again, got an americano at Serendipity Gifts and Coffee (a must return for pizza sometime!), and found a garden stand in Sheridan out of someone's beautiful yard. We ate at the adorable, elegant Old Hotel in Twin Bridges. Nathaniel was sporting a new Patagonia tee-shirt (remember the ketchup) so we were definitely dressed for the occasion! We had minted asparagus soup and Misoyaki Atlantic Salmon Filet with Tsunemono Pickles. He was a delightful little dinner companion! I've never had so much fun eating bread and butter before the meal came, nor playing I-Spy with stuff on the table, or trying not to slurp soup. It was a delightful meal!



We left there and headed home, but as I needed to sort out receipts, we stopped at a playground and Nathaniel bounded around for a while. I hadn't been on a teeter-totter for a long time. Not anymore! With that, our last stop was the candy store in Virginia City...a kid in a candy store is fun. Nathaniel read to me from the backseat much of the way home. We listened to Your Story Hour, we listened to the radio. Good thing he didn't control the radio or we would've done each one 30 times. Kids don't have very lengthy attention spans. After hitting the gravel road at about 9:15, Nathaniel became rather infatuated with the idea of sticking his head out the sunroof. I don't know how many bug funerals he caused. Their sacrifice was a worthy one. He was shrieking with delight.


The day was a fun one! Fun in a different way than being totally independent, but definitely worth it! Sticky little hands, a grinning face, jubilant play, giggles at dinner, reading 101 Dalmations and figuring out words like "Colonel" and "Pongo", laughing at the song "Favorite Things", getting out to watch a frog hop down the road...a just right, full, fun, tiring day.

New York Steak and Berry Pie?

Our lives are somewhat centered around food here. Not necessarily for us, but for our guests. Here's a steak ready to go along with broccoli and rice pilaf. Craig grills hundreds of pounds it seems of the most delicious steaks! New York, filet, rib...then there's the halibut, salmon and shrimp. Good stuff!






"Summer Delight" pie~ strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, marionberries, a few huckleberries, and spritz of lime juice and a pinch of zest. Lerrina had made some awesome tasting berry sauce a few days before which I was copying. The addition of strawberries to a typical blue, black,and raspberry blend softened it and added such yumminess. People like this one! I took a picture of the inside, but as the picture looks reminds me of what you'd see if you had a successful hunt and were gutting out your game, I thought a picture of the top would be adequate!

Hiking, Fishing...No Reading, and Dusty Roads

Have you ever had a day that just wasn't coming together? Tuesday was like that for me. I was supposed to go to Dillon to get my MT driver's license, but that wasn't working out for one reason and another. I didn't know what to do.
I ended up hiking in places I'd never been, getting some new flower pics, and revisiting some old places. I've never descended over the left side of the rocky point, nor have I taken pictures of glacier lilies, nor stepped into the waters of Henry's Lake. There's always something new to do here! It's big country.




A small picture, I know, but this is the top of a little hogback ridge that swoops upward to it's end which is a pile of big boulders baking in the sun. It's great!




Descending from the point~ Thankfully there was trail at the bottom in a green little valley.









Contented cows by the north end of the lake. See the greens here!














Knee-deep in green grass with the water of Red Rock Creek sliding by, willows shading the curving banks, a good book in my hand.





A few hours later I was wading in the just-right waters of Henry's Lake, and riding the dusty old roads of the Centennial Valley. This is a not a bad place to have a day off.

Montana's Jewelry

Elk Lake is beautiful as you scan miles of country at a single glance. The soft dips, rocky ledges, trees like soft green lumps on a light soft green carpet of grass are the things that you see from the hillsides and trails. But looking closer is a whole new world yet. This place is made up of so many different textures. By that I mean, the things you see when you look closer. When you lay down with your eyes inches away from the ground or run your hand along the rough and smooth bark of an aspen or sink down to the eye level of a flower. All of these little things make up the big picture and I love them just as much as the peaceful, broad vistas they create. Here are some of Montana's little jewels...



Indian paintbrush and wild chives















Bitterroot, state flower of Montana




Arrowleaf balsam root







unknown as of now =) If you know, let me know!





Rose pussytoes (anntenaria)

Lewis and Clark

The trip to Dillon proved to be fun for many reasons, but one of them was that unexpectedly I came across some real Lewis and Clark sites. Now I say 'real' because I've always been almost where they were or close to where they were but never actually there. I was driving along totally enjoying the cows and hay fields when a historic site sign flew past my window. I pulled in and there I learned that the big rock beside the road was Beaver Head Rock. Apparently Clark had rushed to get there in time to purchase horses from the Shoshone for crossing the Rockies. The rock is an obvious landmark and was used by the Indians for that reason.


Once in Dillon I turned off onto old Hwy 91 for no reason other than the car in front of me did, and found a spot called Clark's Lookout State Park. It sits right under several homes. A road, called Lover's Leap taking off from the one I came in on, runs under it on the bluff side. The bluff isn't that tall. A little higher than the rock we jump off of down by the bridge. In other words, it's not a 'big deal'. It just sits there, perfectly accessible and hardly differentiated from the rest of the landscape. I loved it. Clark stood up there on the 14th, so 6 days after they're meeting with the Shoshone at Beaver Head Rock I took pictures of past Twin Bridges.

Trip to Dillon

Yesterday beging my day off, I decided on a trip to Dillon. So, packing my backpack full of stuff and throughing a cooler in the back for groceries, I took off on the somewhat wet road. Actually in three places the water is running across the road and has actually cut some fairly deep channels. At least they seem fairly deep when I'm about to go through them with my little car. But the old Honda did fine...of course!




I took off up Hwy 278 through Ennis (stopped for another Maydak illustrated book), Virginia City (this picture), Nevada City (Star Bakery stop), Alder (no stops), Sheridan (museum stop-LOVED it and a fabulous little art and frame shop with tons of WW2 paintings), Twin Bridges (stopped outside of at a Lewis and Clark sight), then finally Dillon. Dillon was fun! I stopped in at the Chamber of Commerce where I found out enough to keep me busy for the afternoon.

First I went to Sweetwater Coffee. That was a super experience...nice staff, beautiful interior, very cozy. They food was great! FYI, the don't take visa. After a lunch of turkey cranberry sandwich and peach iced tea, I meandered across the street to Wildwood Floral. It's beautiful in there, and I got some painting ideas. She's got many cute gifts and flowers. Her husband hunts in the Centennial, and that was a fun topic to talk about. I always like to find someone else who enjoys this place! She recommended a place called Roxie's Nursery for bedding plants so off I went.


The rain began POURING down. I was talking on the phone and had to get off because I couldn't hear! Anyway, I finally found the nursery. It's a bit like Garland in Corvallis but smaller. The staff were all huddled in this tiny shack talking about having to use an umbrella once! The matriarch was describing using an umbrella to the grinning audience. No other nut cases were out shopping for flowers except me and the grinning group thought I was crazy, but I explained I live a long ways away, and I had to get flowers rain or no rain, now or not at all! They laughed and sent me off with my discounted verbena.



My only other noteworthy stop on the way home was the candy shop in Virginia City. This is another 'must stop' place! Loved it!

Bike Ride

I took a bike ride yesterday out to the mailbox to mail a postcard and letter. If your name is Laura or Grandma, you'll recieve one! Anyway, during the five-mile ride out I saw some of the prettiest sights! It's always pretty out here and I never cease to enjoy the beauty of it. The clouds were blowing in with the whipping wind which was also making the flowers bow up and down along the white road. I hit this sandy part in the road and it almost unseated me. It grabs you and pushes your tires around so that the tire tracks behind you look like a drunken sailor came careening through. The mail safely placed in the mailbox, I took off down Red Rock Road toward the refuge. There's some old buildings and corrals along the road down there. There I sat underneath the aging cattle shoot, marveling at the peacefulness of it all. As I turned around to leave, I saw a fox almost float across the road. I've never seen one before! They sure move quickly! I road home to the squeaking reproach of the little sage rats who felt indignation at my presence. They're everywhere!

A Splendid Day

The day before yesterday Bo and I went on the biggest solo hike yet. We left around 1 or 2 and got back after 7. We ended up at Brimstone which will mean absolutely nothing to you unless you've been here. We walked up fencerows where I could see the mountains across the valley, sage under my feet, and land swooping out before my in all directions. The curving draws are the easiest to walk in, but I soon learned they're mesquito infested places of slow torture and before long we left the soft, grassy trail in favor of the scratchy sage 30 yards up to get away from them. The 1st picture shows where we came up out of the valley. There is a wide, wide, curving, high table with trees in the draw on the left, and then a draw on the right. We were on initially on top of the flat spot (where you can see it begins far off in the distance). Then we dropped down into the right draw where the mesquitoes took their bloody toll.



The 2nd picture shows the cabin in the little draw at the beginnings of Horse Creek. Hours down the creek the draw opens into the lake area. We 'found' and old cabin in a grassy swale at the beginning of Horse Creek. It was swarming with mesquitoes! Anyone living there would've been driven out of their mind! By the time we began the steep ascent up out of there my shoes were in my pack to relieve a growing blister.




The 3rd picture shows the gateway at the bottom of Horse Creek. Just the sight of that little valley curving its way into the hills has always made me want see it...just like a candybar wrapper makes me want to eat what's inside. That picture I took last night...storm light, isn't it cool! I didn't know there was a cabin up in there!


The hike was a great experience. I'd love to communicate it so that you could share the same joy, but the power of my pen isn't quite up to par. Just think soaring vistas of backlit buttery yellow flowers, green meadows, shimmering water miles below, a grassy old road bed curving around a hill high above a creek, and land that requires good lungs and strong muscles to see!