JOURNEY TO THE BLACK HILLS DAY 16 - THE HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI RIVER

Today was kind of like a day of relaxation before we make the final push for home.

Kinsey did some straightening up n Clementine and the we made a junket out to the Missouri Headwaters State Park. On our way out we tried to find some baby owls we had been told about when we arrived. They were right where they were supposed to be. The owners of the park had taken some great photos but the owls had grown a lot since. They still wore some of there baby fuzz but they were getting pretty big. They were cool to watch. It's amazing how they can swivel their heads 180 degrees.

Horned Owl

Too bad we couldn't have been there yesterday when the clouds were so gorgeous. I got to stretch my legs a little as we hiked around. There are lots of trails and places to view the rivers that converge there. It's very picturesque.

On the way back we drove through Three Forks. The only other time Kinsey has been here was to pick me up in February 2012. Things look a lot different in winter. Three Forks is a quaint little town with the main edifice being the Sacajawea Hotel which has a nice restaurant or so says Kinsey.

Three Forks Wall Mural

We returned to the campground, had lunch and our daily nap. By around three o'clock it started to cloud up and we took off to see if we could find anything else interesting. We didn't get very far. Down towards Yellowstone were the biggest, blackest clouds I've ever seen. They were headed in our direction. It's absolutely amazing how fast a storm can close in. Before we knew it we were in it. The wind blew so hard the rain was going horizontal. It was all we could do to get back to the rv park. We got soaked to the bone just getting from the car into Clementine. The storm pretty much put a cap on our day.

Storm Clouds in Three Forks

By about six the storm had passed. Kinsey took me for a walk and then went out by herself. She wanted to see the owls one last time. This rv park is teaming with critters. It makes watching out the windows of the motorhome very much fun.

This will be our last day on the road. We are both getting a little road weary and ready to get back to the comforts of home. I'm ready to run free and play in my ponds and creeks. Traveling is lots of fun but I love to be free!

Ciao for now!
#MollyMontana

©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

FLAT CREEK ROAD - GROS VENTRE WILDERNESS

For those of you visiting from Facebook you will find those photos in my previous post.

It's a darned good thing I keep notes on our travels because this post is from our fall trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons, September 23rd to be precise. I don't know what to do about Kinsey. I'm having a hard time getting her to focus.

We had been told Flat Creek was a good place to take a hike. The road to the area is just east of the National Elk Range. We didn't get too terribly far before we  came to a sign that said 4 wheel drive was required. When we travel we tow a little Ford Focus (Shadow) and that's what we explore in. Shadow doesn't do 4 wheel drive roads. We had thought we could get all the way to the trailhead but Kinsey takes no chances so we got out to walk....

Gros Ventre Wilderness

... and walk. It was actually a very beautiful morning. The road, not surprisingly, followed along Flat Creek. Fall colors were much in evidence and the air was crisp and clear. Billowy white clouds scudded across sapphire blue skies. The sky is pretty big in Wyoming too!

Flat Creek - Gros Ventre Wilderness

 Kinsey loves photographing trees, especially when they are in full fall color.

Cottonwood -Gros Ventre Wilderness

She also likes to photograph dead trees. Can't imagine why. But, then again, she does many things I have no idea why she does them. In this case the sky was certainly worth recording.

After a while a convertible Camaro  drove by us and a nice couple waved merrily as they sped by. That was when Kinsey started to think we had been snookered by that sign. Three miles later we got to the trailhead and sure enough there was a lot full of cars, many of which were street cars. Sometimes I really think I should be the one managing this outfit.

Needless to say we can't report much on the trail as we only went about two miles up it. For that distance it was a gentle trail through a draw.

I guess you can tell I like to make fun of Kinsey. She does some pretty silly things and I often wonder how we get by. In this instance little was lost as the walk was beautiful and we both agree that being able to be out experiencing so much beauty is a gift not to be taken for granted. We were surrounded by simple, yet elegant beauty, the whole time.

National Elk Range From the Gros Ventre Wilderness

We always try and make the best of whatever comes our way. It wasn't hard to do on this day. Although, next time we'll drive to the trailhead.

Molly Montana - Gros Ventre Wilderness

Maybe now that I have Kinsey back on track I can get her to give me the photos to the rest of our trip!

Ciao for now,
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

Bridger-Teton Grizzly Attack

Well, at last, my next installment on our Fall trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons.

My last story took us into the Gross Ventre an incredibly beautiful area you don't want to miss if you are visiting Teton National Park.

This day September 21, 2014, we headed for the Bridger-Teton National Forest. For those just joining us we don't do much inside the national parks on accounta they don't let my kind hike on their trails. What a lot of people don't realize is, surrounding most national parks are equally beautiful places without the crowds. Forget I told you that.

Up and at 'em early we headed out. From the RV park we were staying in it was a pretty good distance. Kinsey has decided when we go back we will plan ahead and make reservations at Colter Bay, inside the park. It's a much better location to reach the places we want to go. Kinsey is generally all about planning but this year she was out to lunch. I duh know, maybe it's her age. Thank goodness she's doing that Luminosity thing. Maybe it will save some brain cells.

From Moran Junction we headed east to Road 50 which takes you to the Buffalo Fork trails, north and south. Kinsey had her eye on Buffalo Fork South which looked on the map as though it was a nice walk along the creek. The trailhead is a major staging area for the outfitters and the place was packed with horse trailers not tourists.

Off we went. As soon as we cleared the initial rise we saw that the trail headed down for about a quarter of a mile and the drop off was a good one. The trail was nice and wide as trails go but Kinsey, rightly, doesn't trust me not to get excited about something and yank her right over the side. It was a long way down. You might wonder why she didn't just let me off the lease. The problem with that, remember Taylor Creek? If some riders were coming up whilst I was headed down, my irrational exuberance could very well get somebody else hurt. the only sensible thing we could do was abort.

Buffalo Fork Trail

Kinsey had hoped to get a little professional help with my exuberance this past summer but the trainer took her money and skipped town. And, get this, a neighbor recommended the trainer!

As luck would have it there was another trail nearby, the Clear Creek Trail.  Kinsey didn't realize you cloud drive over to the trailhead so we walked to it through a meadow. I didn't mind because I got to get off leash and stretched my legs. There were bear warnings everywhere and Kinsey has a hard and fast rule, no running free on mountain trails where visibility is limited.

The Tetons

The trail was a pretty good aerobic exercise and the views, like the one above, were beautiful, but, to get anywhere really cool was about six miles. Me, I coulda done it easy peasy but you know who has her limitations. The truth is, neither one of us really cares if a trail turns out to be a beauty gold mine. We just love being out in the wilderness. We saw some bear scat and a couple of tracks but no bears.

Molly Montana on the Clear Creek Trail Bridger-Teton NF

You will note from the above photo I was still looking trim in my Naked Girl cut. Boy, I sure hope I get that hair do again next year. Just not at Petco.

On our way back, as we crossed the meadow, we ran in to a Forest Service person. Whilst Kinsey flapped her gums I took the opportunity to run around like a banshee. Wheeee! From her conversation Kinsey learned there had been a very nasty bear attack just the week before. According to this person, all they'd found of the guy were a few body parts. The man was a researcher and known to the forest service. He apparently didn't believe in either bear spray or guns. What was that Forest Gump said? "Stupid is as stupid does". That guy was just asking for it. Kinsey carries both. Her plan to defend an attack: Hit the bear with spray. If that doesn't work, let the bear get as close has you've got the guts to let him and empty the gun close range. Thank goodness we've never had to test her resolve. But, we don't doubt for a second that it could.

The Fall colors this year were exceptional. On the drive back out we saw this pretty, bucolic scene of horses in a pasture. Truthfully, the only interesting thing in that photo are the horses. I bet they'd love to run with me! Can't you just see it?!

Ranch Along the Buffalo Fork

The colors were so beautiful we even had a great view at the RV park. If you like color you gotta come here in the Fall if you not done it. It's really amazing or so Kinsey sez. :)

Teton Fall

Ciao for now!
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

On the Road to the Tetons

Friday Kinsey packed us up for our move to Jackson Hole. It had rained the night before and I could hear her outside grumbling about getting wet. You may recall we ended up in a back in space upon arrival in West Yellowstone. The reason Kinsey likes the pull through is because you can just pull up to the RV, hook up your toad and be off. There's a lot more jiggering around with the back in arrangement. She's constantly looking at me and asking "Why aren't you giving me a hand here?" Well, duh, I'm a dog!

The Eagle Has Landed

Well, Kinsey and I have landed. Which means we made it home from our latest adventure.

We had a super duper time of it. I think Kinsey is a little pooped out. I'm not a lot of help accept for supervision and getting under foot. This was my longest road trip ever and I'm beginning to appreciate that solo RV'ing is a lot of work. Thank goodness Kinsey really loves it despite the work and responsibility. The old girl is pretty handy I'll grant her that.

Our trip took us down to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We mostly just drove through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks. US national parks don't allow dogs on the trail so we explored the surrounding national forests. What adventures we did have. We even met a movie star fly fishing on the Madison River in Montana.

So, stay tuned. I kept notes on all our travel experiences and as soon as Kinsey recovers I'll be after her to process the photos of our trip so I can show you as well as tell you about all the cool stuff we saw and experieinced.

The below photo is just one I got her to do for me. It's a picture of our rig at the Yellowstone Holiday RV park on Hebgen Lake in Montana. It was a very cool place to end our trip. We were right on the water!

Clementine (Winnebego View) & Shadow (Ford Focus) on Hebgen Lake, Montana

The photo was taken at sunrise. I don't seem to be in it so I musta still been snoozing.

Ciao for now.
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

WILLITS, CRESCENT CITY & THE DREDDED TURNAROUND

Well, thank goodness. The tax stuff is done and we are on our way again. Our first stop was at Willits. We were going to spend some time there but it was too wet and rainy so we spent the night and pushed on to Crescent City.

Crescent City is the last town on the California Coast before you get back into Oregon. The town itself is not so much but it is surrounded by some of natures best. There's a harbor, we love those, and there is access to forests. We love those too.

We thought we had a place picked out to stay, Hiouchi, but mom didn't pay enough attention to the location and in route she realized it was going to be a long way from the harbor. We were headed up 199 when she decided to turn around. She picked a road thinking there would be a place to turn around. Well, she picked one and it wasn't a good one.

When you tow a car on the ground you can't back up. So, you need to be careful you've got room to execute your turn. Well, mom picked a loser and she jack knifed little Shadow who ended up sitting in the road. Thank goodness it was a road less traveled. It had rained all the way up here so everything was wet and muddy. She had to unhook Shadow, move Clementine and then hook Shadow up again. But, good old mom, she just got out there and got after it.

We went back to town and found a place to stay. Over the weekend quite a storm went through and we were without power for about 7 hours. We've done a little exploring as you can see from the photos. Last night's sunset was pretty cool.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Sea Gulls, Sea Otters & Sunken Treasure

Mom gave her talk at Cal Poly. I think it went ok but I can't say for sure as I was stuck in the car in the garage. But, she seemed pretty chipper when she came back.

We ended up back at Morro Bay harbor for the afternoon. Mom really likes this harbor and so do I. There is so much going on and the smells are a doggy's delight! It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

First we checked out the sea otters. They seem to hang out over by Morro Rock. I must admit they are fun to watch. We watched a mother and baby for some time. The baby was riding on the mother's tummy and every once in a while it would fall off into the water and squeal like crazy. I thought otters liked the water. This baby certainly didn't. I don't blame it. I don't like it either!

After watching the otter we headed back to the embarcadero. There is always so much activity there along with great aromas. Mom seems to always find things she wants to photograph. While we were down on a private dock we ran into this guy who was about to set sail for El Salvador. It seems he had been to a garage sale and picked up this treasure book, for two dollars, and in it he found the way to a sunken galleon off the coast of El Salvador. According to him there is like a gazillion bazillion dollars worth of gold bullion on it. We wished him a lot of luck. Really, we did. :)

We kept wandering around the docks until the sunset. It was a pretty nice one. Mom got more abstract photos of the boats in the water. As usual it was another great day!

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

STILL IN EUREKA

Hope you all had a great holiday season. We are still in Eureka, California. We were supposed to be headed out by now. But just as we got ready to go, along came a lot more storms. You know how mom loves to drive the RV in the wind and rain! So, we will wait a few more days before departing. Hoping for better weather.

I thought I might catch you up on some of the stuff we've been up to since I last wrote. One day we took a ride north up 101. The idea was to go to Gold Bluffs and Fern Canyon. We had heard that Fern Canyon was very beautiful. This was where I got my first taste of the California welcome mat for dogs. NOT! Turns out California doesn't let dogs in any of their state parks. Since everything around here is either a National Park (which don't allow dogs either) or State Park we soon found out I wasn't welcome anywhere.

Lotsa driving for not much this day but we did see a bunch of elk. I always like that cuz it gets my juices flowing. :)

And, on the way back we stopped at some wood carving places in a little town called Orick. They had some pretty good stuff. I almost got in trouble though cuz I almost lifted my leg on Sasquatch. Whew! that one was a close call!

We stopped at a few more places but didn't see anything interesting. We had been told by the parks' person dogs could go on the beaches. Naturally, the beach we tried was closed to dogs because of some endangered species type bird. Good grief. What's a fellow like me supposed to do?

© Kinsey Barnard

LAKES & SNAKES MONTANA HIKING

The weather in our neck of the words was perfect today. Mostly sunny and in the seventies. Really perfect hiking weather.

We hiked to Lake Hagadore and Martin Lake . Hagadore didn't have any water. The grass and cattails were about six feet tall. I had a dickens of a time blazing a trail. My nose was working in over drive because I kept coming upon nests in the grass that various animals had made.

From Hagadore we hiked over to Martin Lake . It wasn't much of a hike actually, maybe five or ten minutes. It is a pretty little lake. I bet there is good fishing here. The near the shore there were a bazillion fingerlings swimming around. I tried my luck at snapping some of them up but wasn't quite fast enough and came up empty. My most favorite thing in the world to eat is fresh caught fish. I'll take mine sushi!

On the way back we came upon a snake right in the middle of the trail. At least I thought it was just one. But, imagine my surprise when the snake took off and split into three! Look at the photograph and see if you can find the three heads. It's a snake puzzle. :) The snake puzzle has disappeared along with the photo but here's a snake.

Until next time........