Hungry Horse Reservoir

This weekend we decided to take a drive over to Hungry Horse to check out the fall colors. There is the town of Hungry Horse, Hungry Horse Dam and Hungry Horse Reservoir. Hungry Horse is a local favorite for hiking, fishing and camping. Hungry Horse is about fifteen miles from Glacier National Park. If you're visiting from out of state you should check it out, especially if you are here in the Fall. Glacier is beautiful but there are so many other beautiful places with less traffic and Hungry Horse is one of them.

On the way over we crossed the Flathead River and it was looking mighty pretty all dressed up for Fall. If you look closely there is even an intrepid fisherman on the river.

Flathead River

As pretty much everyone knows the West has been plagued by drought conditions and northwestern Montana is no exception. All I can say is I'm mighty glad we are up river. In any event the reservoir was pretty low. Below is a photo taken this weekend and one taken at full pool.

Hungry Horse October 10, 2015

Hungry Horse at full pool. Tiny speck in the middle is the same little island in the photo above.

We traveled down the west side of the reservoir and only went as far as Doris Creek, which isn't very far at all. If you have the time and an adventurous spirit you can drive around the whole reservoir. It'll be over a hundred miles. It's 58 miles to Spotted Bear which is a the far south end of the lake.

We were only out for a walk in the woods in the autumn and had gotten a bit of a late start. So we hiked up 895A which goes along Doris Creek. Along the way we came across a young family cutting firewood. There was something very lovely about the scene. A family together out in the forest, in the beauty of a Fall afternoon, providing for themselves a warm and toasty winter. Also, warming is that the heat will cost them $5.00 for all the wood they can cut.

There's not a lot more to tell other than we had a really wonderful, colorful afternoon. I'll let Kinsey's photos do the rest of the talking. The point of this exercise was finding color and that we surely did.

Cottonwoods in full Fall color

A walk in the woods at Hungry Horse

Aspen in Fall color

Me stuck in the car whilst Kinsey fools around

Sometimes it's hard to believe we live in such a beautiful part of the world. We are grateful we walk in this world with our eyes open. It's truly a gift. Soon the snow will fly and all this amazing color will only exist in photos and memories. But, the gods willing, we will be able to experience it again next year.

And, would you believe this is the sunset we were treated to at the end of the day? If you are color junkies like we are it just doesn't get any better than this! Oh, how we love Montana!

Sunset over the Flathead Valley

Ciao for now!
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

FIRST FALL IN MONTANA

I turned 11 months on the 12th. Pretty close to being a year old. Much to Kinsey's chagrin I'm not getting puppyhood behind me very fast. She keeps telling me that Koty was pretty much out of the mischief stage by now whilst I'm still in there pretty solid.

I have not experienced a Fall in Montana or anywhere else for that matter.  By gosh, by golly it is beautiful. Here at the ranch we have aspen, cottonwood, tamarack, birch and mountain maple interspersed with the evergreen trees. It's starting to get real pretty now. In fact last night we got a good hard frost and you can see the colors appear to have burst out over night. Very cool! (No pun intended)

I'm told soon it will be hunting seasons and the mountain will be alive with the sound of gun fire. Not sure how I am going to react to that. The other day we went out and put up the no hunting signs in hopes of keeping the hunters off our property. We don't have any problem with hunters per se but they are not all respectful of other people's property and we don't want to get our heads shot off whilst we're working out there. Well, whilst Kinsey is working. I mostly play.

Kinsey is still sawing and chopping and says she soon will be burning. Yesterday she had to go to the chiropractor to get her back fixed so she could keep on at it. The woman is obsessed I tell you. Maybe I can get her to stop long enough to take some photos of me in the pretty Fall forest.

I did something today that I think scored me a whole bunch of points. Kinsey was cutting the limbs off a downed tree with the chainsaw. I guess she was tired because she was straddling the tree trunk and scooting forward on her butt. I jumped up on the log, walked up behind her and lay my head on her shoulder. Kinsey says; life is all about moments.

©Kinsey Barnard

FALL COLORS AT DANCING DEER

Along with the mule deer come the fall colors here at Dancing Deer Ranch. A native Californian, I have come to truly appreciate the seasons after ten years living here. Where I grew up, near Santa Barbara, the temperature was pretty much perfect all the time. A winter temperature, on the coast, was forty degrees. Here in Montana the evenings often get into the forties at night during the summers. In winter you are likely to see forty below.

Down in the meadow, in view of the house, are the remains of a homesteader's cabin . I often wonder how anyone could survive these Montana winters in a place like this. It's easy for me. I have electricity, a wonderfully insulated home,  a four wheel drive vehicle to get me up and down the mountain and indoor plumbing. Can you imagine going to the out house at forty below? A sturdy people these early Montanans.

I digress. The extended forecast calls of rain and snow in the coming days so yesterday afternoon I took a walk in my forest to enjoy the fall colors. They will soon be gone. As usually happens I ended up at Walden Pond, my personal rendition of Thoreau's sanctuary. The pond is surrounded by aspen and cottonwoods and whilst it is beautiful any time of year it is most beautiful in the fall. This is the same pond where I had my moose encounter about a week ago.

Below are a few photos of the beauty my eyes begot.

Walden Pond

Aspen in full fall color

Aspen

How lucky am I that I never have to leave this blessed place to have all that is nurturing and important to me.

©Kinsey Barnard