Lake McDonald - Glacier National Park

This past Sunday was an awesome day. Too beautiful not to just get in the car and go. Where we live it doesn't matter in what direction you go, you will be smacked in the face with incredible beauty.

Kinsey has a particular fondness for McDonald Lake in Glacier National Park. It was very beautiful at the lake. Maybe the snowy peaks could have been a little less shrouded in clouds but it was awesome just the same. There were lots of people with the same idea.

McDonald Lake-Glacier NP 02-21-16

Glacier National Park 02-21-16

We always marvel at our great good fortune to live where we can witness such incredible beauty at the drop of a hat.

After the park we went to some snowy woods near Hungry Horse and took a wonderful walk. I took a bit of a run.

Kinsey has been pretty focused on her painting project (see Following My Art) but I'm starting to detect a little spring fever in the air. That's gonna mean more exploring and getting out to do stuff. YAY for me!!!!!

©Kinsey Barnard
The Liberated Photographer

Hiking the Blacktail Trail

We had an awesome hike this morning, before the heat arrived.

The first thing we saw was a young black bear. I barked, jumped up and down and scared him away. Did not make myself popular with you know who. I do admit for such a little person I put out a heck of a deep bark. Poor little bear went flying off through the trees.

Kinsey saw this fungus growing on a tree trunk and thought it looked like some kind of baked meringue. Looking at things in terms of our stomachs is something we have in common. Probably if she ate it she would have been frothing at the mouth. It was pretty though.

Tree fungus

As we walked along we heard the screech of a hawk. We love that sound. For awhile we couldn't see through the trees but then it dropped down and lit in a fir tree. It perched in dark shadows so that it wasn't easy to see or take a picture. Kinsey called out to it "Hey hawk, can't you lite somewhere that we can see you?" No sooner did she say that than the hawk rose up and flew to a nearby tree top. I swear, sometimes I think she is a wildlife whisperer.

Hawk

 We went as far as an old mine shaft. Kinsey tried to get me to go in but I was not having any of it. That tunnel looked dark and dangerous to me. One time when Koty was with her the two of them went in until something growled at them and they high tailed it out for there. Never knew if it was a bear or a mountain lion. What idiots!

Old Mine Shaft

On the way back down the mountain Kinsey couldn't resist a selfie. I swear.

Kinsey & Molly Montana on the trail.

It was a great day and a great hike. Life is good in Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

I LOVE MY GROOMER

I'm taking a little break from the Black Hills trip. Still have lots of stories and photos to share. But, I wanted to tell you my grooming GOOD story. Some of you may remember my Dog Grooming Nightmare at Petco last summer. To catch up read it.

This year Kinsey wanted to get me an early spring cut, cuz I was already jumping in the pond and my long hair was getting grungy. Not knowing where to go after PetCo she asked a neighbor for a referral. I don't think we will be asking that lady for anymore referrals. The place was filthy and so was the groomer. She even let her dog tinkle right on the floor. It was pretty awful. The kicker was when Kinsey saw "industrial strength" on the shampoo label.

We were beside ourselves. How was I going to get a good summer cut? Then just before we left on the Black Hills trip we were in the new PetSmart store in Kalispell looking for some stuff. The manager wandered by and asked if he could help us with anything. Somehow the subject of grooming came up (You know Kinsey Blah, blah, blah, blah). Kinsey said "Oh, no thanks. No more corporate cuts for us". Kinsey proceeded to tell him our Dog Grooming Nightmare at Petco. She explained that it was a particular woman that was awful but there had been a guy there we liked but not enough to ever go back.

The manager said he would be happy to take us over to the grooming shop and show us around. We had time so we went. When we walked in all the groomers were heads down busy with dogs. Then this one guy looked up and it was Jake! (Please read the Grooming Nightmare story to see how Jake fits into our story.) We were both really surprised and happy to see Jake. We asked if we could make an appointment with Jake specifically to do the clip and the answer was yes. Since we were leaving for the Black Hills we promised we would schedule a clip when we returned.

Well, yesterday I went in for that clip and it was great. Jake was as gentle and caring as I remembered. I still don't really like getting groomed all that much. I especially don't like those noisy hair blowers. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I kinda don't like being away from Kinsey. But, it was OK and I didn't panic at all. I really do like the free and breezy feeling I have with all that hair gone in this warm weather. Jumping in those ponds is going to be even more refreshing! Also, Jake found, removed, and reported a tick. That was a shot across the bow. We've never had a tick problem before so it was a much appreciated heads up.

Jake & Me at PetSmart

If you need a groomer in the Kalispell area, I'm not necessarily recommending PetSmart, but I am recommending Jake. If you make an appointment with him specifically I don't think you will be sorry. Certainly my experience has been really good. It's like Kinsey always says, "It's not about the company. It's about the people."

Ciao for now,
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

JOURNEY TO THE BLACK HILLS DAY 7 - THE BLACK HILLS - THE STORY OF THE BUFFALO

Today we got our first opportunity to really get into the Black Hills. Nothing to be said for it but WOW! The road in the north follows along Spearfish Creek. Kinsey couldn't help but take a bunch of photos of it. Out on the plains there are rivers that aren't as big. I keep forgetting to get Kinsey to find out what's up with "spearfish". What the heck is a spearfish?

The Black Hills -Paha Sapa - The Heart of Everything That Is

It was sprinkling when we got up. And, I got news for you, it was "cloudy all day" on the range. We don't mind cloudy and we love cool.

There are many truly wonderful things about the Black Hills not the least of which is, it is managed by the US Forest Service which means I can use the trails. So, today was my day. We ended up on the Little Spearfish Trail. Their are so many trails out there it's hard to choose. We could spend months exploring them all. Little Spearfish Trail is a nice easy trail that goes along, of all things, Little Spearfish Creek. This creek is home to a whole bunch of beavers. There must have been a beaver dam every fifty feet. Darn but we didn't see any beavers.

Kinsey set me loose and I zipped around and splashed in that creek with reckless abandon. Got so muddy there wasn't much white left on me. Kinsey was completely out to lunch and didn't take any photos of my frolic. After awhile we saw someone coming up the trail so Kinsey called me in and I came a runnin' Kinsey just loves it when I do that. Turned out it was a man walking two beautiful Boxer dogs.

Kinsey really isn't much interested in tourist traps, like Deadwood, but after our hike we went over there anyway just to see. It's your typical western town with all the western bells and whistles. Gunfights, outlaws, gambling, and a hundred ways to spend your money. Kinsey says, If you've seen one you've seen them all." Being Memorial weekend the place was jumping.

Deadwood South Dakota

As it turned out it was a good decision to go over there if for only one reason. Kinsey has been complaining that all the history displayed for the tourists focuses on the white man. It's almost as if the Indians didn't exist. We came here to learn about the Native Americans. I guess when you are the victor it's all about you. But, Kinsey did stop in at the Visitor Center to check things out. Whilst she was looking around she heard one of the staff talking about "Tatanka" and The Story of the Bison. Turns out Kevin Costner built a place to tell the story. This was a place Kinsey wanted to see.

I can't tell you much about what happened as I wasn't allowed to go in. She was in there quite awhile and when Kinsey came back she was very excited. I'm sure she will write about it on her blog The Liberated Photographer. I can show you some pictures. The sculptures were amazing. Unfortunately, the sun was smack dab in Kinsey's face so it was a bit dicey on the photos. But I think you can get the idea.

Tatanka

Tatanka

Tatanka

Tatanka

By now the day was pretty well shot. So we headed back to Spearfish. We took a twenty minute nap and decided to visit the fish hatchery that is part of the city park where we are staying. Kinsey almost didn't take us here either because she's seen a lot of fish hatcheries. She's never seen one like this. The hatchery is named after the first superintendent D.C. Booth. Man, that guy lived the life of Riley! As fish hatcheries go Kinsey says this is one to see.

Spearfish Fish Hatchery

Ciao for now.
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard