Hungry Horse and the Jewel Basin - Day 2

Next day we got up bright and early with the mission on our minds of hiking the Clayton Creek trail to Clayton Lake in the Jewel Basin. But, our first stop was a reprise of Lion Lake. The water was like glass and, as you can see, it made for a perfect mirror. Mornings like this make a person mighty glad to be alive.



The trailhead for Clayton Lake is about 20 miles in from Hwy 2. Once we got underway on the trail we were immediately treated to a riot of fall color. The mountain ash were just drooping with berries and we thought we might see a grizzly because the picking was certainly easy. But, unfortunately, we saw very little wildlife signs on this trail. A few elk tracks and one, two or three day old, bear scat at the lake.



Above is my handy dandy bear detector Koty Bear. And, in fact, this is exactly where we saw the scat but Koty is more interested in something he sees across the way. Koty is a great hiking companion, drawing my attention to things I might not otherwise see. Of course, this is a double edged sword as he can make it a little tough to capture wildlife photos. But, it is a price I gladly pay. To see more of Koty at Hungry Horse go to Koty's Korner New Photos




The hike to Clayton Lake is mostly up hill but it's a very easy hike. The distance from the trailhead is a little less than three miles. I'd reckon for the determined the hike wouldn't take an hour but for dawdlers like us it took and hour and a half as we have to investigate and admire everything along the way.

Mother Nature did a cleansing operation in the area about three years ago. You can see the bare trees on the mountain in the distance. It's just amazing how quickly things have come back. And, how beautiful it still is in it's own special way. Clayton Lake is a little Jewel and one of the things we so love about Montana is we mostly have these fabulous places to ourselves, especially in the off season. You can hike around the lake using either the west trail or the east trail. We chose the eastern trail.



We stayed at the lake for a couple of hours exploring and having a little lunch. On the way back down we were treated to this view of the Flathead Range and the Great Bear Wilderness. You can't see it but this view is looking east across Hungry Horse Reservoir. You can see on the left the dead trees that didn't survive the fire. More Mountain Landscapes



And, lo and behold what did we see on the way down but another human being! This fellow was a local and he was using this trail to get in shape for hunting season. Looked to us as though he had a way to go. ;)



And, so, we bid adieu to the beautiful Clayton Trail. Another day in paradise under our belts.

Be sure and check out KOTY BEAR'S 2009 CALENDER

©Kinsey Barnard

Clementine Throws A Fit, Squirrels Find a Home and A New Book Gets Published

Well, what a time we have been having. This is the time of year when we start battening down the hatches here at the ranch and start checking out gear for our winter photo safari. Clementine and Shadow are our most important participants. Regular readers will know that Clementine is our Winnebago motorhome and Shadow is our little Ford Focus tow car.

This week I went out to fire up Clemmie and her battery was dead. Not to worry I just boosted the engine battery with the house batteries and let her charge for twenty minutes. But, a couple of days later it started to rain and I noticed I had left the the driver's window down. When I went to put it up the window moved like glue. The battery was dead again. When I checked under the hood what did I find but a million pine cones some industrious squirrel had squirreled away for the winter. It appears we aren't the only ones preparing for winter. I was convinced the little varmits had chewed the wiring so the next call was to AAA. Away went Clemmie to the Dodge dealer in Kalispell 75 miles away. Clemmie's chassis is a Dodge Sprinter with a Mercedes diesel engine.

The Dodge people spent a day rooting around in the engine but couldn't find anything amiss. Apparently, it wasn't the squirrels fault after all. So, they sent me off to an RV dealer to check for a wiring problem and/or a battery drain. That is where she remains. Hopefully, we'll find out what the problem is next week.



We did manage a little trip to Lake Koocanusa. That's the Koocanusa in the back ground and Koty Bear looking handsome as usual. KOTY'S KORNER



The picture above shows Mt. Baldy across the Koocanusa and as you can see it already has snow on it. Those mountains are actually in British Columbia. Not only is fall in the air but a little bit of winter too. Now is when I start worrying about not beating the snow on my way out of town. If there is anything that gives me the terrors it's driving on snowy, icy roads. MOUNTAIN and LAKE LANDSCAPES



On our way home from Kalispell we did take time out to take a walk along the Whitefish River in Whitefish. The above photo is of a beautiful old willow bending it's branches down along the river. With the exception of the leaves on the right hand side the entire photo is just a refection of this stately old tree.



This last photo is of a giant sunflower. It was still in great shape. It seemed to be leaning over asking us what we were up to on this fine fall day. It reminded me a little of "Day of the Triffids" a story I once read in grade school. FLOWERS are among my favorite subjects to photograph. They are so colorful and alive.

The Fine Art o...

A few of my favori...

By by: Kinsey Barnard

Book Preview

Last but certainly not least I finally got my book THE FINE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY published and I'm quite pleased with the results. Check it out if you have a chance.

That's it for this week.

Ciao for now,
Koty & Kinsey

©Kinsey Barnard