Hungry Horse-Spotted Bear-The Great Bear Wilderness

For the very longest time we have wanted to take the drive down Hungry Horse to Spotted Bear. Last week we did just that. The road is paved about 15 miles of the 58 mile trip. Once you get on the dirt it's one dusty road you can count on that. But, we think you will find the drive worth it. There is actually a road all the way round the reservoir but the east side was not open yet so we retraced our drive on the west side. Just as well, the sun setting on the Great Bear Wilderness was spectacular. Something about that name "Great Bear Wilderness" just chokes me up.

The Great Bear Wilderness in the morning. Hungry Horse in the foreground.

It took over two hours to get to Spotted Bear but we were dawdling. Stopping to rubber neck along the way.

One stop we made was Handkerchief Lake. The lake wasn't looking too pretty this day but if you go back and click on the link you can see how pretty she can be.

Wheeler Creek

The creeks are just beginning to pick up speed as the snow melts in the mountains. There are a bazillion creeks along this road. If the sound of rushing water floats your boat, your boat will sail!

There is a Ranger Station at Spotted Bear and a couple of places where you can stay if you aren't of a mind to camp. Or you can make it a day trip and sleep in your own bed.

Spotted Bear Ranger Station

The entire campus at the station is very beautiful. And, it's isolated. I imagine things get pretty busy in the middle of summer but right now it's simply serene splendor. The station wasn't open yet but the ranger was there getting things ready. It officially opens May 15th as does the east road.

Kinsey & Me at Spotted Bear

The Ranger station sits up on a bluff over looking the South Fork of the Flathead River. How pretty is that. Right?! Of course, I lend extra beauty with my presence. The old gray mare? Not so much. :) Just below where we are sitting is a foot bridge that crosses the river. I wasn't too keen on walking on it. But, neither was Kinsey.

We enjoyed a short hike and a Subway lunch. It was divine.

It turned into an all day trip. Dawdle, dawdle. For our dawdling we were treated to the sun setting on the Great Bear Wilderness.

The setting sun reflects off snow capped mountains in the Great Bear Wilderness

If you are in the area you might enjoy this trip. Again, it will be dusty so if that would bother you I'd skip it. For those who could care less and know how to wash their trucks it's very much a green light.

Until Next time,
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

I Am Not A Stinky Pants! We Need a New Vet!

Kinsey has been running around here calling me "Stinky Pants". Sometimes at night I smelled so bad she shooed me from the bedroom. Because she thought she saw more yellow spots in the snow she decided I might have a urinary infection, I've had that before.

Away we went to the vet. Kinsey found this vet when my predecessor, Lakota Sunrise, was fading with old age and Cushings Disease. At the time she thought he was a Godsend. Personally, I've never liked the place.

Kinsey had said she thought it might be a urinary tract infection. They took me in to get a urine sample and then we waited for the doctor and the results. So, the vet came in and said there was nothing in the sample. He asked what the symptoms were and Kinsey did her best to explain. He looked at my teeth and said maybe it was bad breath because I have a lot of plaque. Kinsey stuck her face in my mouth and said no smell there. Surely if it were plaque it wouldn't come and go. Next he said maybe it was my ears. Kinsey says I have the sweetest smelling ears on the planet. Then he said I was overweight.

With that I could see Kinsey start to sizzle with annoyance. She is very fussy about my weight, believing that any dog owner who allows their dog to become overweight is cruel. Kinsey asks "How much did she weigh?" The vet looks at the file and says "We didn't weight her". Normally, that's the first thing a vet does. Then I got weighed and came in at 48 pounds. The vet in self defense says "She's been gaining with each visit". Yeah, like the first visit I weighed like ten pounds because I was a puppy. This is maybe the second time I've been there as an adult. The average weight of a female Australian Shepherd is 40 to 55 pounds. I'd say 48 puts be about dead center.

I will admit when I put on my winter coat it makes me look much beefier than I am. But, if you put your hands on me you can feel my ribs. Also, I might put on a pound or two in winter but so does Kinsey and it melts right off with the snow.

Even though the urine test showed no sign of infection the vet says I can give her antibiotics to take. Which he did. I was barely back in my car crate before Kinsey says and I'm quoting here "This is bullshit! This is all wrong". Then, apparently, a light bulb goes off and Kinsey takes my collar off and smells it. It didn't smell so good. A stinky collar could cause intermittent stinky. Lots of times I sit out in the snow and rain and I'm sure the thing gets wet.  We drove directly to Pet Smart and bot me a new collar.  And, I'm stinky no more!

Our next stop was back to the vets to see if we could get our money back because there was no way Kinsey was going to give me those pills. In fact she still can't believe the vet gave them to us. The vet Kinsey thought he was would have said "I can't find anything let's just keep and eye on things".

In conclusion let me just say, I am not a stinky pants!!! And, I want a new vet!!!

Meanwhile Kinsey continues to be obsessed with her painting project. You can check in on her progress at Following My Art


©Kinsey Barnard

I've Been Abandoned

My typist and photographer has pretty much abandoned me. She has gotten it into her head that she wants to learn how to paint. And, when she gets worked up about something there's no stopping her.

This entry is just to say I probably won't be posting here that much, at least until this painting insanity blows over. There's not all that much going on right now anyway. It's raining here in Northwest Montana to the point that we have flood warnings in effect. That's a first. Usually, by this time everything is frozen solid.

If I can get her to do anything with me I'll make her post it. Until then, if you want you can read the blog she started about her painting, you will find it here www.followingmyart.blogspot.com

Meanwhile Boo Hoo for me!

Cio for now,

Molly Montana

JOURNEY TO THE BLACK HILLS DAY 14 - HOT SPRINGS TO SHERIDAN HEADING HOME

Today we packed ourselves up and headed north. Sad to leave South Dakota in our rear view mirror.

Clem seems to have developed a bit of a thing. She doesn't want to turnover after sitting for a couple of days. It's like the battery is dead but after a few turnoffs and retries she starts right up. This actually started right before we left but Kinsey made an executive decision to press ahead on schedule. Once were up and running there don't seem to be any further issues. It's like a cold start problem. Hopefully, we'll make it home and then we can have it checked out.

We headed north on 16 to Custer and took it all the way to 90. It was a beautiful drive. The prairies are so green now and before long we could see the snow capped Rockies in the distance. Kinsey forgot to charge the battery in the point and shoot so, well you know. Actually, just as well, Trying to take photos whilst going 70 down an Interstate is not real smart, IMO.

We stopped in Sheridan, Wyoming for the night. We are at Peter D's. It's a nice rv park and the owners are real friendly. So, nice in fact Barb gave Kinsey a double discount for paying cash and later brought us some fresh spinach and radishes from her garden. Now That's hospitality! People have been so kind to her on this trip. The gal at Kevin Costner's The Story of the Buffalo Center gave her and a video for free.



The best thing about this place is it has an enclosed dog run and I got to play friss bee (that's how Kinsey says it) for the first time in two weeks! Golly was that fun. I miss my friss bee! I sure hope we stay here again!

After a friss bee session, a meal and a nap we decided to walk to town. Sheridan is definitely bigger than a wide spot in the road. The main street runs a fer piece as they say around here. There are sculptures all along the way and it looks like a western store paradise. Since it was after five on Saturday a lot of places were closing up. Yes, you city slickers, there are still places in this world where stores close early on Saturdays and stay closed on Sundays. Imagine that!

What was open was a Dairy Queen right on main street with a sidewalk window. Kinsey couldn't resist and got herself a Reese's Blizzard. There are benches to sit on so we did and watched the traffic go by. When Kinsey was a kid that's what one did on a Saturday afternoon. The best part for me was I got to lick the cup when she was done.

This evening a thunderstorm rolled in and it was a doozie! Clementine was rocking and rolling like a cork on heavy seas. The rain drops that fell were the size of pebbles.

If everything goes ok with Pearl's foaling we will be returning to The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in the fall. I think will Sheridan definitely be on the itinerary for a return visit.

Ciao for now!
#MollyMontana

JOURNEY TO THE BLACK HILLS DAY 11 - RED CLOUD - WOUNDED KNEE - PINE RIDGE

Today we went to visit Red Cloud's grave on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The main reason Kinsey was motivated to bring us to the Black Hills was because of a book she read this past winter. The book was called The Heart of Everything That Is aka The Black Hills. She found Red Cloud, an Oglala Sioux warrior chief, to be a very compelling character and after reading this history she just had to see where it had all happened. Me, I'm always up for a trip!

The cemetery where Red Cloud is buried is located just before the town of Pine Ridge at the Indian School, Heritage Center and Church. Red Cloud's grave is looking like it needs a little attention. The white picket fence that surrounds it is desperately in need of new paint.

Red Cloud's Grave Pine Ridge Reservation

After reading The Heart of Everything That Is, Kinsey felt Red Cloud to be a hero as he was the only Indian to ever wage war against the US Army and win. He was one of the few Indians that understood the concept of strategy and was able to out fox the US Army. The US government pretty much reneged on every treaty they signed with the Indians. The Treaty of Fort Laramie gave the Blacks Hills to the Sioux. But, as soon as it was rumored there was gold in those hills the treaty was broken. Sadly it seems the US policy was, if we don't want it you can have it. But, if they missed something they took it back and so they did. Geez, even dogs are more honorable than that.

Red Cloud made a journey to Washington and after seeing the ocean of whites he realized that to continue fighting would only mean annihilation for his people. In the end he led his people to the Pine Ridge Reservation where he lived out the rest of his long life. Kinsey saw this as a wise choice. Red Cloud was no coward. Great leaders make the hard choices. She has since found out that, among the Sioux, there are two camps. One camp honors his memory and the other feels he was a traitor to his people.

From the Pine Ridge we headed over to Wounded Knee, site of a major massacre. There really isn't much to see. It's a spot where Indians set out there arts and crafts for the tourists. It is still too early for the tourist season so there wasn't any of that either. But, there was one Oglala man there that, wonder of wonders, Kinsey talked to for an hour. I tell you that woman is a talker and strangely enough people like to talk to her. As always, she learned some things that she could not have other wise known. I'm sure she will write about it on her blog The Liberated Photographer. There was another younger man there that wanted to take my leash and Kinsey let him. The man took me out of sight of Kinsey and I nearly had a heart attack. This man probably weight 250 pounds but I drug him right back to her. Yikes! What was she thinking?!

Wounded Knee Pine Ridge Reservation

Across the road on a hill over looking Wounded Knee is a cemetery with a mass grave site where many who died here were buried in a mass grave.

Wounded Knee Pine Ridge Reservation

Kinsey has visited many reservations and in her opinion Pine Ridge is the nicest she's seen. The landscape is gorgeous and, although we know there is plenty of poverty, the towns and homes were of a much nicer quality than any she has seen. Compared to what our neighbors the Blackfeet have it is paradise. Still, a reservation is a reservation.

Paint Horses at Pine Ridge Reservation

We had wanted to try and get into the Badlands on the reservation but all the heavy rains had closed the road. So we drove around some and Kinsey tried to get some pictures of the beautiful landscape. Hard to do because the side roads were mud pits and the paved roads had no turn outs.

Pine Ridge Reservation

This afternoon we spent two hours walking around Hot Springs, South Dakota. I'm going to make that a separate blog post. It's a pretty interesting little town.

Ciao for now.
#MollyMontana

©Kinsey Barnard

JOURNEY TO THE BLACK HILLS DAY 8 - THE BLACK HILLS

Well phooey! We today got well and truly rained out. It started in the early hours and never stopped all day.

Kinsey thought what the heck let's see what we can see. We wanted to go to the scared mountain Bear Butte. We headed that way. Here in the campground we are kind of closed off. Once we got out on the road we saw we weren't going to see much of anything. The clouds were socked in. The clouds were practically on the ground. Well, not more than a few hundred feet above it.

Australian Shepherd trying to sleep through the boredom

 We went east on 90 until we hit Whitewood and Kinsey said, "This is ridiculous!" At Whitewood we got off the freeway and turned back for home.  Also, ridiculous, South Dakota has just raised the speed limit to 80 miles per hour on some highways, 90 is one of them. With zero visibility the Dakotans were enjoying their new freedom to the max. It was scary.

On the way back we spotted a Super Wal-Mart. Kinsey went in and got some towels and rugs to help with the mess I'm making in Clementine. Somehow I seem to get very muddy.

As I already mentioned, Spearfish Campground is beautiful but it has one flaw which is particularly annoying when you are stuck inside, internet access is more or less useless. Pages load at the speed of molasses in January or it just disconnects. It's all I can do to write my daily blog entries, very frustrating. I'm going to have Kinsey look into getting our own internet connection for future travels. Kinsey doesn't have an iPhone. She was actually going to get one when she switched to Redot but was advised, for her purposes, the flip phone was better. The difference being it is more durable and has a better antennae.

Spearfish Campground Spearfish Creek really running

By three we were both about ready to go stir so we started out driving up Spearfish Canyon but it was the same story as earlier. Surprisingly, there were a lot of people on the road. I suppose it was because it was Sunday and Memorial weekend. Like us, people were determined to get out come hell or high water. Let me tell you the water was high in Speafish Creek. We got as far as Bridal Veil Falls and packed it in again.

Spearfish Creek up Spearfish Canyon

Back at the campground Kinsey decided to hook up to the cable. But, the cable outlet didn't work. Then she thought she'd maybe watch a DVD. No luck there either. She hadn't checked out the remote before we left and the batteries were dead. Nor had she removed them after last season so they had corroded in the unit. Turned out she hadn't thought to bring fresh batteries either. You can't play the DVD's without the remote. So, that was out too.

The weather channel says afternoon thunder showers. So, maybe tomorrow will be better. But, we aren't counting our chickens. The weather channel is wrong as often as it's right. We mighta got better info if we could have watched the local forecast. Now we know why it's so lush and green around here. It honestly never occurred to us that we might get rained out. Kinsey is reminded of her trip along the Oregon Coast but there it was to expected and the clouds were generally high enough you could work with it. Everybody needs moisture so we are happy for that but ..... FIDDLESTICKS!

We leave day after tomorrow for Hot Springs so if it doesn't stop we won't get to see much of anything in this part of the Black Hills.

If you haven't already, you can read the story of why we ventured to the Black Hills here.

Ciao for now.
#Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

JOURNEY TO THE BLACK HILLS DAY 5 - ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK NATIONAL GRASSLANDS

Turned out it was a good thing we went to Roosevelt Park yesterday after we arrived and there were some clouds drifting. This morning we woke to sunny clear skies. Without clouds landscape photos of this kind of country can be pretty much a yawn. Or so Kinsey says.

If one wants to get up with the sun around here you best be rising around 4:30am. I tried to get Kinsey up by jumping in her bed. She just grumbled so I laid my head next to her head on the pillow and we both went back to sleep.

The visitor center opens at 8:00am so we arrived promptly at eight. We still needed to get that map. We also asked about a dirt road we had seen that went off the park. We also asked about those horses and sure enough they are wild. You sure wouldn't know it to look at them. They are in excellent condition. We thought the wild horses of the Pryor Mountains were in good shape but these are in even better condition.

Wild Horse in Roosevelt National Park

By eight the sun was already high in the sky so what was beautiful last night was pretty washed out this morning and nary a cloud in the sky. We had our eye on that dirt road because we needed to stretch our legs. No hiking with dogs in the national parks.

Rambunctious Buffalo in Roosevelt National Park

About a mile up the dirt road you leave the park and are in the National Grasslands. There wasn't a tourist to be found. Yay! The road runs north toward the Elk Ranch and the North Unit along the Little Missouri River. There is a lot of private property along here so the traffic was primarily local pickup trucks. This is some pretty isolated country. Kinsey stopped to talk to a rancher parked on a side road. Turned out he was waiting for the mail which is delivered twice a week! She told him he was lucky. The USPS doesn't deliver mail to us at all. Course, the difference is we have to drive less than ten miles to get our mail. This guy would probably have to drive forty.

The Road North to the National Grasslands

The Little Missouri River

Kinsey wouldn't turn me loose for two reasons. First, as the name National Grasslands might suggest there's a lot of cattle grazing out there and well I might get myself in trouble. The other reason is ticks. Everybody seems to be having a hellacious tick season this year. I wish she get me a tick collar. We've never had them at the ranch. Anyway, we did get to stretch our legs and see some new country. We headed home for lunch.

I look like a ghoul. Kinsey messing with me.

After lunch and a nap we decided to check out Sully Creek State Park. The Haah Daah Hey trailhead was supposed to be out that way. The park itself was very nice. You can bring your horses and camp there. The trailhead was more for riders than hikers unless you wanted to jump in the river right off the bat. Reading the sign it's not all that hospitable out there. No potable water. Rattlesnakes. Quick sand. And the ever popular ticks. But, I guess cyclists like it cuz there's a big bike race that goes north out of there and into the park.

The trail also goes south because we found mini trail heads along the road. You can pick it up down by the Bully Pulpit golf course. But, it was getting late so we packed it in for the day. Not a good idea to hike out there by yourself if you're starting tired. Well, it wasn't really getting late, you know who was getting pooped.

BTW, Medora, where the Roosevelt National Park entrance is located is quite quaint. Lots of stuff goes on here in the summer months.

Medora North Dakota

If you haven't already, you can read the story of why we ventured to the Black Hills here.

Ciao for now.
Molly Montana

Kinsey Barnard

JOURNEY TO THE BLACK HILLS DAY 3 - FORT PECK LAKE - CHARLES RUSSELL WILDLIFE REFUGE

May 19, 2015

We were up bright and early. Kinsey believes a hearty breakfast is the right way to start the day. And they call this camping?

Ouevos Rancheros

Whilst Kinsey stuffed her face I kept watch.

Australian Shepherd Guard Dog

From consulting the map Kinsey's plan had been to drive into the Charles Russell Wildlife refuge. The map indicated dirt roads and we do dirt roads all the time. Well, Shadow ain't doing the dirt roads in this refuge. We quickly found out that the roads are really more suitable for four wheel vehicles and at the very least high centered ones. Shadow would have been high centered in a Minnesota minute.

Charles Russel Wildlife Refuge

 Not to be deterred we set out to walk the road, aka Willow Creek Road, heading down the west side of Fort Peck Lake. Fort Peck Lake was formed by the damming of the Missouri River and it's a really big lake. We knew we wouldn't get that far, this refuge is enormous. But, we got much less far than we'd hoped. First, after the rains the roads were still muddy. The mud around here is something else. I'm guessing it's some type of clay and believe me you could sculpt with the stuff. It stuck in the hair between my toes so bad I had to stop every five seconds to try and chew the it out. Secondly, only about a mile in we ran into a cattle guard that neither of us wanted to try and cross.

The views of the lake were beautiful but we were very disappointed. Trying to make lemonade out of this lemon we decided that these primitive roads act as a buffer keeping a lot of tourists out of it and that is surely a good thing. We drove over the damn and down the other side but it was the same thing. If you want to do an in depth exploration of the Charles Russel Wildlife Refuge you'd best bring a four wheel drive vehicle.

Fort Peck Lake

We stopped in at the marina and Kinsey asked about hiring a guide to take us into the refuge. At the Interpretive Center she had seen some awesome photos of just how beautiful it is in there. We got some names and numbers and maybe we'll come back this way when we can actually get back into the refuge. We'll chalk this up to a reconnaissance stop and certainly be better prepared next time.

On the way back we stopped at the Spillway overlook. The spillway is for overflow when there's flooding. I wonder how often that happens. Right now they are working on expanding it. We ended up having a picnic at the Downstream Campground and walking the nature trail. Sadly, my new BFF Harper, that I met yesterday, wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Downstream Campground Fort Peck

If you haven't already, you can read the story of why we ventured to the Black Hills here.

Ciao for now.
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

JOURNEY TO THE BLACK HILLS - DAY 1 KALISPELL TO SHELBY, MONTANA

Well, at last, we are on the road again. Kinsey has been running around like a chicken with its head chopped off getting ready for this trip to The Heart of Everything That Is aka The Black Hills (Paha Sapa). To read why we wanted to visit the Black Hills click here.

Taking 2 East we headed for the Great Plains. At Marias Pass it was 30 degrees. By the time we hit Browning it was snowing. Did not expect that. Was hoping to see the incredible site of the Rockies thrusting up off the plains but they were completely shrouded in clouds.

We were glad we weren't going to St. Mary this spring. It had to be snowing a bunch up that way. We were also glad because in Browning where you turn to go north on 89 MDOT signs announced there was construction going on up that way and the delays would be such that they advised using an alternative route. Trouble is, if you are driving a motor home there is no other route. If you live in snow country it is a source of never ending frustration that just when you are able to get out and about they start tearing up the roads.

The green rolling hills of the plains are just beautiful. We passed a wind farm where not a single blade was idle. They were those really huge windmills. The blades move slowly and nearly made me seasick watching them as they crisscrossed one another in big lazy loops. Saw lots and lots of horses but no foals. We pulled over in Cut Bank for a stretch and I nearly dove through the window after a ground squirrel.

There was no shoulder so Kinsey just shot out the window as she drove.

Kinsey didn't want to beat herself to death on the road the first day so we stopped in Shelby, Montana. Stayed at the Shelby RV park. It's new and next door to a Comfort Inn and casino. We don't care much for casinos. I'm too young to gamble and Kinsey isn't a gambler. It's right near a veterans memorial and under a huge flag that flies 24/7. Montanans are a very patriotic bunch.

Veterans Memorial in Shelby Montana

Old Glory flying 24/7

We walked into town which is mostly several blocks of a main street. It reminded Kinsey of towns she grew up around in California in the fifties. The town was dead as a door nail (how is a nail dead?). Many towns in Montana are pretty much closed down on Sundays. Driving through rural Montana is like taking a trip in a time machine. We like it!

Main Street in Shelby, Montana

Koty came along to watch over us. Many years ago when Kinsey was shooting on the California Coast and Lakota Sunrise aka Koty was still with her, a friend gave her this stuffed toy husky and Kinsey has carried in Clementine ever since.

Koty watching over us

Ciao for now.
#MollyMontana

©Kinsey Barnard

SHAKE DOWN CRUISE TO LAKE MC DONALD

I am very excited. Kinsey is starting to make preparations for our upcoming trip to the Heart of Everything That Is aka the Black hills of South Dakota. Kinsey read this book over the winter and it got her all worked up about the area. She wrote about it on her blog: Finding Red Cloud & The Heart of Everything That Is.

Yesterday she de-winterized our girl Clementine and began systems checks.

Our Clementine patiently waiting to be rescued from storage.

It has sort of become our spring time ritual to make a run up to Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park, to see how Clem is feeling. Happy to report she was as frisky as ever. Clem has a little Mercedes diesel engine and it runs like a top even towing Shadow.

It was an awesomely gorgeous day and not surprisingly people were already enjoying the park. At this tinme of year you can just drive in as the park isn't officially open. They have opened Going to the Sun Road to hikers and bikers so many were there for that.

Surrounded by snow capped mountains Lake McDonald is always a site to see. In the photo below some folks are enjoying the sun along with the beauty.

Lake McDonald Glacier National Park

Of course, even gorgeous scenery cannot help but be enhanced by the presence of moi. It's not my fault I think I'm beautiful. Everyone tells me so even with my funny summer hair cut.

Molly Montana at Glacier National Park

There seems to be a lot less snow around than last year. For comparison check out the photos from April 20, 2014. If I remember correctly they didn't get Going to the Sun Road open 'til way late last year.

Kinsey is always amazed and delighted by the lake's clear water. In the photo below it's hard to believe the stones you see are underwater.

Crystal clear water at Lake McDonald Glacier National Park

Other people were out on the lake doing a little kayaking.

Kayaking Lake McDonald Glacier National Park

I had to wait around for like hours whilst Kinsey tinkered around with Clementine. From her tinkering she determined the stove was working as was the refrigerator. Us girls can do without a lot but when it comes to our grub things have got to be right. The house batteries were working as agreed but a check showed they needed their water topped off. So, far things are looking good!

After Kinsey finished fooling around we took off on a walk along the lake. At the campground just before you hit Going to the Sun Road we met the nicest young people. A brother and sister from, would you believe, South Dakota! Well, you can imagine that was grounds for a good deal of talking and sharing of information. We now actually have a contact in Rapid City, their mom Pete who is a travel agent and knows everything about the area. I don't know how Kinsey does it but this sort of thing happens all the time. People just come into our lives just at the right times. But, I help. People are always wanting to meet me so Kinsey gets to meet them too. I am a very effective goodwill ambassador if I do say so myself.

Shea & Tanner our new friends from South Dakota

So, it was a great dry run. After we got home Kinsey drained out all the anti-freeze, treated the pooper and we are looking good to go. The last thing that needs to be checked is the water heater but I'm betting it's working too.

Ciao for now,
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

NO DEMONSTRATORS IN THE DEMONSTRATION FOREST

Today we took off  up a road we'd not driven before, Good Creek Road to be exact. There are lots of roads I've not been down, me being just a puppy and all. It is hard to believe that Kinsey still finds new ones after over thirteen years of driving around this area.

We thought we were looking for Good Creek but ended up going into the Miller Creek Demonstration Forest, part of the Flathead National Forest.  I'm not sure what a demonstration forest is but we didn't see any demonstrators. Nice thing about the Montana forests, don't hardly ever see any demonstrators in them. Just saw a few whitetail deer. All they were demonstrating is how graceful they can be when charging off with their long, white tails flying. I would have loved to demonstrate how graceful I can be whilst chasing after them.

Flathead National Forest

We decided to walk rather than drive into the forest because it's still a little early and we were in Shadow (Ford Focus). These single track forest service roads can get a little dicey during the melt. Shadow has about two inches of clearance and no four wheel drive.

Miller Creek was a gushing. I always love to here water rushing. I'll bet the folks in California would like to hear it too only in their own creeks. Sure glad this little corner of the world isn't having water problems, at least not at the moment. Never know when that might could change. Mother Nature can be plenty fickle, or so Kinsey says.

Molly on Miller Creek

The road was all up hill and as it turned out not driving Shadow in was the right decision. Couple of miles up and we hit snow and ice. Kinsey didn't have any spikes with her so that about finished us off. She feels if she's going to fall and break her neck she'd rather do it somewhere where there was a chance of someone finding us. No cell service up here.

Winter not done up here

As luck would have it our timing could not have been better. No sooner did we reach the car than the clouds let fly with a burst of slushy hail.

Hail and snow on the windshield

Once again our hike was derailed by weather. But, not to worry now that we have gotten a taste of the area we will return later to explore some more.

Ciao for now!
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

COW PIE PARTY

As regular readers know Kinsey has been embroiled in a MAGIC JACK HORROR STORY. After several days of trying she thinks she's got it all sorted out and will be doing a followup article to explain exactly what happened. TWITTER followers and FACEBOOK followers will want to keep and eye out for it. She learned a lot of things, many of which could be helpful to you too. It'll probably be out this weekend.

Back to the Cow Pie Party. Kinsey spent I don't know how many hours over three days trying to get to the bottom of the Magic Jack debacle. She has very little hair left on her head. Prior to that fiasco we were working hard in the forest.Yesterday was a drop dead gorgeous day so Kinsey declared a holiday and we went to the Tobacco River for a walk. There is a great walk along the river that ends up in the tiny burg of Rexford.

I'm a lot of help!

It's still early in the year for things to be pretty on the river so we just walked along enjoying the sunshine. There were a few Canadian Geese in the pastures and apparently there had been some cows out on the trail. While Kinsey walked along, day dreaming, I fell behind and before she knew what I was up to I was having the time of my life, a cow pie party if you will! I had found a lovely pile of cow poop and was flat on my back, with feet in the air wriggling around on top of it. Oh, yum! I was literally happy as a pig in poop! When Kinsey turned around to see what I was up to it was way too late for me to be anything but a poopy puppy!

Cow Pie Puppy!

We went down to the river so I could jump in it. But, I'm not real big on swimming so it did very little to get rid of the poop. So much for Kinsey's afternoon idyl along the river. Thank goodness we had needed to make a trip to the dump so we were driving the ranch truck. If we'd been in any other vehicle she probably would have left me. I was one stinky girl! And, I LOVED it!

Back at the ranch Kinsey hosed me down, which I did not love. But, I'm pretty much back to normal except for my collar which was nicely encrusted in poop. I think Kinsey still loves me.

Never a dull day around here I can tell you!

Ciao for now,
Molly, the poop head, Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

HERRON PARK MONTANA

Yesterday we made a new hiking discovery and it's only a mile further down the road from Lone Pine State Park. This park is a Flathead County Park. And as it turns out a way cool park.  Like the sky this is a big park for a county park over 400 acres. I wish we'd found it this winter because it looks like a great place to snow shoe.

Herron Park

The big meadow is setup for eventing jumping/competitions. And, even though it's still early spring and the grass is still brown it's not hard to imagine how beautiful it is once the grass greens. Kinsey wants to find out when they have their play days cuz she is crazy for cross country jumping. You may recall the Rebecca Farms Event she went to last July. I had to stay at home last year but she promises no photography this year just me getting a chance to behave in a crowd. Yay!

Ha! I could jump over those obstacles with the best of them.

Molly Montana at Herron Park

But, all Kinsey would let me do was pose.

Molly Montana at Herron Park

I don't know if you can tell. I've had another grooming nightmare. This time using a neighbor recommendation. Kinsey's mother taught her "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything". Kinsey passed that bit of wisdom on to me. So, I'm just saying this one didn't work out either. I look like a wooly lamb. My tail looks like a pom pom!

Herron Park

When we arrived it was sunny but, as so often happens in the spring before long it started to rain. The trails go up into the mountains and we had gotten just a couple of miles before we turned back in case the rain turned into something more than we wanted to endure. At this time of year they aren't warms rains. Me, I would have been fine but you know who is such a wuss. But, from what we saw there is much more for us to explore here and we will be returning very soon.

Ciao for now,
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

FYI - THE FOOD I EAT - CANIDAE PET FOOD

Kinsey feeds me Canidae dog food. I like it a lot. After watching this video I like it even more. I just had my annual check up and the Doc said I am in A-1 condition. With so much junk food being sold out there I just thought any pet lovers amongst my fans might appreciate seeing this. It's pretty clear these people are old fashioned, they care about what they do. If you can get your human to watch the video you might be really glad you did. Ciao for now, Molly Montana

THE HEART OF EVERYTHING THAT IS

Golly, where does the time go? It's been two weeks!

Not really my fault. Our usual mid January thaw started on schedule. We were waiting for winter to return but it never did. Now Kinsey is in spring mode which involves all kinds of activity. There is so much to do and none of it particularly interesting. Not fun to me any way. It's mostly maintenance stuff. Shadow had a dead battery. Turned out the battery had gone kaput. Not bad considering it was the original battery. Took half a day to get it replaced. Mr. Toad, the 6 x 6 needs servicing. The lawn tractor needs servicing. Clementine will have to have a trial run to see if anything has run amok over the winter. And, on and on. Boring!

Kinsey is also plotting our annual spring junket. Over the winter she read a biography of Red Cloud, a warrior chief of the Oglala Sioux. She now has it firmly implanted in her brain that she must explore "The Heart of Everything That Is". She's pouring over maps and marking spots from the book she wants to see. For some strange reason Red Cloud has really fired her up. Understanding Native American history and culture is a real passion of hers. I'm just as glad because it means more travel fun for me. You may recall we went to visit Chief Mountain last spring.

Meanwhile, I just make do. Below I am helping change the sheets.

As soon as I get to do something interesting I'll let you know.

Ciao for now!

Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

TRIAL TRAIL RUN AT LONE PINE STATE PARK

Yesterday we went to Lone Pine State Park so Kinsey could practice with her Bushnell d-tour, GPS thingy she got for Christmas. Lone Pine named for a lone pine which no longer exists is on a hill overlooking the Flathead Valley. Great view and good place to get some exercise. It also has a confusing trail system, at least, so says Kinsey. Personally, my attention was on the whitetail deer and squirrel activity and I don't need any trail.

It's good exercise because the park sits on a hill and just about anywhere you go you're going to get some great uphill aerobics. Kinsey wanted to try and make a loop, which we eventually did but not without some backtracking. And speaking of backtracking that brings me back to the Bushnell test. The device does point you in the direction you need to go to get back to your marked location but it doesn't tell you which trail to take to do that. I could care less myself. All trails are the right trail in my book.

Kinsey has a good sense of direction but that doesn't help much if you have several trail options which basically take off in the right direction but end up not where you need to be. That actually happened on this hike so we had to retrace our steps and try a new trail. In this case our car was due west of us but the hill was in between. We needed to pick the right trail to take us around it. Our first choice was a mistake. The d-tour definitely would not have helped us last spring on Chief Mountain. Thank heaven for the Chief!

Lone Pine State Park - On the lookout 02-27-15

The d-tour has it's limitations but Kinsey will still be using it when we head out for adventure this spring. The important thing is to recognize the d-tour limitations and use the device accordingly. Kinsey will still be making her little cairns as we go. Unless, of course, she forgets like she did on Chief Mountain. As in that case, it's always best to have reliable spirit guides.

Ciao for now,
Molly Montana

STILLWATER SNOWMOBILING - NOT

This past Friday was a glorious day in Montana. The sun was shining and everywhere you looked snow was glistening. A perfect Friday the 13th. We could hardly pass up the chance to walk in such splendor. With no destination in mind we headed out on highway 93.

On a whim we turned off on the road to Upper Whitefish Lake in the Stillwater Forest. In winter, unbeknownst to us, the road is closed to all but snowmobiles. The road is groomed for snowmobiles and looks to be a great place to enjoy the sport. As luck would have it, we are having the longest, warmest winter melt we've ever experienced, for Kinsey that's 14 winters. The melt usually last about ten days. So far, this one is a month old. As a result the snow is receding at a rapid rate.

There is a staging area just a few hundred feet in from the highway. Only few trucks were parked. The conditions did not look at all good for snowmobiling. The track was bald or slushy. Even though the road indicated it was closed, except for snowmobiles, it didn't specifically say anything about foot traffic. If conditions were different we wouldn't recommend walking this road. You'd risk getting mowed down by a snowmobile. It would definitely be dangerous. We made the decision to do it anyway because there wasn't likely to be much traffic and what traffic there was you would be able to hear coming a mile away in the silent Stillwater Forest.

We walked a little more than three miles in. In that time we saw exactly one snowmobile. We heard him coming in plenty of time to place ourselves far out of his way. It wasn't hard. He was hugging the edge of the road trying to stay in the snow. He didn't look like he was recreating. He was towing a sled with gas cans and a propane tank. Looked like he was on a supply run to us.

Stillwater Snowmobile

Even if the walk was slushy it was beautiful. With only one snowmobile to break the silence it was like having the forest all to ourselves. That's one of the things we love most about this part of the world, there are millions of acres of public forest and very few humans out in them.

Stillwater State Forest 2-13-2015

Stillwater State Forest 2-13-15

We also learned that although we were in the Stillwater Forest some of the time we were not all of the time. A lot of the land the road passes through belongs to Plum Creek Timber who allows the public to enter their property as long as they are proper guests. We hope the people who use the road are respectful.

Plum Creek Timber

And, of course, no post would be complete without a photo of moi. Dang I am pretty. I mean get a load of those eyes!

Molly Montana Stillwater Forest 2-15-15

So, here's what we learned. If you like to snowmobile this looks like a great place to do it when conditions are good, which they are not at the moment. If the conditions are good you do not want to walk here in winter. It would be dangerous for everyone. This is a road we are putting on our to do list for this summer. We'll report back what it's like when the hiking is good.

Ciao for now!
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard