Hiking Bass Creek Trail-Bitterroot Mountains

Brady, at the Blue Mountain Bed & Breakfast, turned us on to the Bass Creek Trail in the Bitteroot Forest. He told us we could find a waterfall but we never did. That's OK because it was a great hike.

The trailhead was easy to find. Believe me this is not always the case. Clearly marked on 93 and a straight shot to the trailhead.

Road to Bass Creek Trailhead Bitterroot Mountains

The weather forecast was for rain but as usual that was wrong. It was an absolutely perfect hiking day. Bass Creek is a very cool, literally and figuratively, trail.  As you might imagine it wanders along Bass Creek. The spring melt seemed to already be underway and the sound of the rushing water echoing off the canyon walls was awesome.

Molly Montana On the Bass Creek Trail-Bitterroot Mountain

You will notice in the above photo I am on the leash. This trail is also a popular horse trail, and well, Kinsey worries about meeting riders and me causing an accident with my enthusiasm. I don't blame her really. I do still forget myself when meeting new people and other critters.

I would rate this an easy trail even though there is a pretty good elevation gain. One can always just walk as far as they want and still enjoy the creek. The first landmark we found was the log jam pond. For some this is a destination. We trekked on by looking for that waterfall.

Log Jam Pond Bass Creek Trail Bitterroot Forest

The next Land mark we found was the sign notifying us we were entering the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness.

Entering the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness

We kept on looking for a big boulder we were told we would find where we would go one way to the falls and the other to Bass Lake. It's eight miles to Bass Lake and no way we could make that trip in a day. Well, I could but Kinsey even in her best day couldn't make that long a mountain trip roundtrip in a day. For those looking for an overnight backpacking sort of trip this looks like a good one. Below is what we could not see for ourselves.

Bass Lake-Bitterroot Wilderness ©Helene Bazin-Lee Photography

About 3 miles in we found a stone arrow in the ground that pointed the way up the trail to the right, up being the operative word. Straight ahead was a trail but it was covered with blown down. Kinsey thought the falls must be on the low road but she didn't feel like scrambling over the trees. By the time we got back down to the trailhead Kinsey's knees were screaming so I guess it's just as well be turn back when we did.  It was after all our first mountain trail of the season.

The point of this story is; this trail has something for everyone and we highly recommend you check it out when your are in the area.

Until next time.

Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

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

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

Hiking Red Canyon-Gallatin National Forest Montana

So, Kinsey unfurled her monster map, (see my previous post by clicking here) of the Gallatin NF and plotted a plan to hike the Red Canyon trail. Seriously, there was no room for me in the RV when she had that map open.

Hiking Chief Mountain US Customs Sucks

The wind started up in the night and by morning it was blowing a gale. Wind is not uncommon at St. Mary but this was some wild stuff. I thought popcorn popping on the roof all night was something. This wind made Clementine bob around like a cork on the water. I think I almost got seasick.

When we looked out the mountains surrounding St. Mary were socked in but when we looked north there was blue sky and sunshine. Kinsey decided we should go north to Waterton. We ate our breakfast and headed out a little before eight. There turned out to be two problems with her plan. 1) We arrived at the Chief Mountain crossing at 8:25 but the crossing doesn’t open until 9:00.  2) Kinsey had checked to make sure she had my rabies certificate but hadn’t checked the date, it was last years. Waterton is in Canada and the US requires a rabies certificate for re-entry. Kinsey spoke with one of the customs people. The gal she spoke to was aloof and purposely unhelpful.  Kinsey says US Customs officers are the most arrogant you will find anywhere in the world. She's been clearing customs since she was 18 so she's met a few. We had 20 minutes to wait for the border to open and there was no guarantee they’d let me back in the country. Kinsey made an executive decision and decided to heck with it. It was going to be windy in Waterton too. We headed back south.

Chief Mountain

Turns out, even though it was windier than anything I’ve experienced, we got a pretty nice hike. We found a couple of very cool tribal trails that go over to the base of Chief Mountain. Kinsey has a thing for Chief Mountain. She’s drawn to it like bees to honey. We hiked one trail as far as we could before we hit a water crossing that would require Kinsey to take off her boots. She didn't want to get her boots wet. It wasn't any problem for me. Kinsey said we would return when she had her water shoes to put on her delicate little feet.

Creek we needed to ford

When we got back to the car Kinsey almost got her legs chopped off at the shin letting me in the passenger side. A huge gust of wind hit just as I was jumping in and it drove that door right into her legs. OUCH! Good thing she had a little tuckus sticking out to act as a buffer. She had a heck of a time trying to get out from behind the door.

The Old Chief again

We headed back to the campground at St. Mary. We’d both had enough of the wind. Turned out there was no way to get away from it.

Much to my disappointment we spent the rest of the day around the campground. Kinsey tried to get her vet to fax over a copy of my rabies certificate but no luck there. I reckon she’ll try again tomorrow. My first international trip may have to be postponed. Bummer!

Kinsey did have a very interesting conversation with a tribal member about tribal politics. Very Machiavellian. Seems us white eyes aren’t the tribes’ only problem. Their own people are busy fleecing the general population. I see now why Kinsey is no fan of politics. She says she’ll be writing an opinion piece one of these days over on her blog TheLiberatedPhotographer.com.

Ciao for now,
MOLLY MONTANA

©Kinsey Barnard

MY BAD

My bad. I haven't written on this blog in quite some time.

Summer seems to be a crazy season. So many things to do. Lots of work at the ranch, which bores me spit less but must be done. Lot's of company coming to enjoy marvelous Montana. I love company and meeting new people.

We have been back to the Salish Mountains. We found a trail that Kinsey wants to explore further but we weren't prepared to go so far. If we are going more than an hour out she likes to take a larger pack that has enough on board to spend the night in case of an accident. I'm looking forward to checking this trail out. What we've seen so far has been beautiful.

My training is coming along nicely. I'll probably have my last private lesson next week. The problem I'm having is; when I'm in a classroom I'm good as gold and the instructor is quite impressed with me. But, the second I get out in the forest I go kookoo. So many wonderful scents. I'm like a kid on crack. :)

In sad news; a young (25 years old) photographer Kinsey thought very highly of both as a photographer and general all around good guy passed away. His name was Patrick Orton. He had an incredibly promising career ahead of him. Patrick loved extreme sport photography and had taken some awesome images of people doing crazy things. He liked to do crazy wild things himself. He liked to jump off things and a couple of weeks ago he jumped off a bridge in Sand Point and that was the last thing he did. What a tragedy. Here is some of Patrick's work. PATRICK ORTON

Below are a few recent photos.

This was the view from the trail we found in the Salish Mountains. You can just make out the peaks rising up in Glacier National Park in the far distance.

I am so darned cute!

This is Red Bird one of my favorite toys.

This is Miss Piggy. She is my most favorite toy. It's Kinsey's favorite toy too because instead of that annoying squeak, that I love , it makes a lowing pig sound. Very funny.

©Kinsey Barnard