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Sometimes a hike doesn’t go as planned. This one was thwarted by wide, cold creeks. I removed my socks and shoes and crossed one only to find another one just around the corner! Then I remembered that last fall these two creeks were tiny and also, there were many more tiny creeks so after just an hour on the trail I turned back. I could still go to the lake that I had bypassed to save for later. Ready to cross the creek again, I saw a group of friends who I’d seen at the trailhead with their three dogs. They too, had been thwarted when they tried to get to the lake. One of their dogs was old and could not make a necessary log crossing. Three of their group had gotten across the same creek where I was and upon hearing it wouldn’t be the last one, they turned back too. Not before we attempted to get a photo of the five dogs. It was probably the worst circumstance for a group dog photo. Two of the dogs are black; two are blonde and one is a light colored basset hound. And the lighting was mottled shadows in the forest. Oh well. It was a fun attempt.

After the photo attempt, we parted company and I took a short spur trail that went to the near side of the lake. It had some hard packed snow on it and then there was some mud that I tried to skirt around. Well, that was a bad idea. I slipped and found myself ankle deep in mud with my socks and shoes soaked and dirty. The dogs, in the meantime were at the lake wondering what was taking me so long! I was able to rinse the mud off and left the socks and shoes in the sun to partially dry while I ate my sandwich and threw sticks for the dogs.

It was a beautiful day and the dogs had fun and the scenery was lovely.

June 25 and what have I done this month? One hike. Two sets of visitors. Designed the cover for Ken’s soon-to-be-released CD. Walked my dogs. Two weddings that you can see here and here. Time flew by and now it’s nearly July.

We had one week of hot weather and then it returned to often windy and cloudy and even some good June rains. The grasses on our hill are taller than the dogs. Lupine continues to bloom along with the beautiful mariposa lilies that I cannot quit photographing. Bluebirds and swallows have fledged. A raven family spent a couple of weeks terrorizing the nesting birds. I do admire ravens but really I wish they did not eat eggs and other baby birds. Smokejumpers from the airport across the valley trained in the hot weather and in the windy weather.

On Saturday there was a lot of rain and I was able to finish up most of my work inside. Sunday I worked outside. And so that gave me a free day yesterday to go for a hike! What a relief to get out in the mountains again. Isn’t that what summer should be all about?

I guess today is the first day of summer and yesterday didn’t feel particularly summer-like, but on this hike, it is good to have a cool day. The trail climbs steeply, going pretty much straight up the north face of the mountain. It’s not a long hike – five miles round trip but for me it seems grueling even going down. My knees complained with every step on the downhill stretch.

But the views. They are terrific. And that’s fitting for the site of a historic lookout that continues to be staffed in the summer months. The trail also provides lots of opportunities to look at wildflowers early in hiking season. Later it will be dry and dusty. And there was lots of old snow to satisfy the dogs.

For more information about this hike the WTA website.

I am very pleased to announce that one of my encaustic pieces was accepted into the 2016 National Juried Photo Encaustic Exhibition at the Sage Gallery in Portland, Oregon! It was a very competitive field with over 500 entries and only 27 selected for the show. If you are in the Portland area this month, I hope you can find time to see the show.

morninglight

We left the Big Hole Battlefield and stopped at Jackson (home of Bubba the nearly fifteen year old basset hound at Rose’s Cantina) before our final destination – Bannack.

Bannack was Montana’s first territorial capital and the site of Montana’s first major gold strike. You just imagine its wild and woolly history. It is now a well-preserved ghost town along Grasshopper Creek with over sixty buildings to explore. Being a holiday weekend we found the parking lot to be quite full. However it never seemed crowded while we strolled through the town and poked around in the old buildings. Many visitors brought dogs. Not us. Mary and I took many photos and Ken enjoyed learning to pan for gold along with a bunch of kids. Volunteers were leading tours and demonstrating gold mining and performing music of the era.