August minivacations - Trip to a family wedding reception in Red Lodge

The day after the Flathead Lake area hikes, I drove my parents across the state to Red Lodge, where my cousin was hostessing a wedding reception for her oldest daughter, Annie. They live on a ranch out of Red Lodge, with their own pond. I shot this first picture as the moon rose over their ranch, We were attending the large family BBQ out by their pond.

At the reception itself, all the greatgrand kids roamed the area & constantly kept their parents busy.

Annie & Andy were actually married over north of Seattle close to where they both just graduated from college. They showed a video of their growing up years & their wedding, then cut their cakes for the guests. We had already been served a large meal before the video. In three days, I gained three pounds. If I could only take off weight as easily as I put it on.

The newlyweds, Annie & Andy Scott.

August mini-vacations - Jewel Basin Hike

Our second day in the Flathead was spent hiking in the Jewel Basin Hiking Area Northeast of Big Fork & the lake. The whole area was gorgeous with blooming plants, some of which I had never seen in the Bitterroot.

The slopes were steep so the trail zipzagged up the mountain-side.

As we neared the top of the ridge, we saw this strange looking building that appeared so out-of-place. We walked up to & around it, learning from a couple of signs that it is a Bresnan microwave tower that had been covered with a yellow foam & painted a light grey.

Looking over the ridge, you could see five different lakes. These two were the easiest to spot. Beyond the lakes were rows of mountain ridges, some located in Glacier National Park.

We followed the ridgeline trail to the peak of Mt. Aeneus.

All types of alpine flowering plants grew near the remaining snow. We have seen this lavender Milkvetch plant on several of the mountain peaks.

You can see the ridgeline trail all along the mountains to the side & in back of me in this photo.

Two small peaks from the actual summit ...

...we sited a nanny mountain goat & her kid. She had been nursing her kid right on the trail, but nimbly walked along the rocky face of the peak a ways until she felt safe again & lay down. I used my telephoto lens to get the close-up.

Elderberries were ripe, as were the Huckleberries we picked & ate as we climbed. Fireweed in full bloom is in back of the elderberries in this picture.

This was a new plant & flower to me. Do you know it? After looking over my Montana wildflower books, I think this is Elephanthead (Pedicularis groenlandica) with some similarities to the Lousewort or Alpine fernleaf we saw at Como Lake.

Here's another unknown, but oh so pretty. After researching this wildflower, I'm fairly certain it is Orange Hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum), which originally was a native of Europe.

August mini-vacations - Wildhorse Island in Flathead Lake

Some of the Hallelujah Hikers returned to Laura's lodge on Flathead Lake in August to explore the north portion of Wild Horse Island one day & the Jewel Basin, in the mountain range northeast of the lake, the next day.


We didn't find the larger Bighorn rams this trip, but saw around 50 ewes with their half-grown lambs sprinkled across the hillside. Some of the ewes horns stuck straight up, while others curved. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

As it was a hot day, nearly every tree sheltered a small grouping of Bighorn sheep in one portion of the island.

When we hiked up some of the hills, we could look back at the wildfire near Hot Springs, MT. that has been contained but continues to burn. We watched some planes skim water from the lake & then fly it over to dump it on the fire.

In the forest of the island, we saw many squirrels & deer. This squirrel is "laying down on the job" as he eats away at the fallen tree bark.

Oregon Grapes were loaded with berries along the lake shore.

We walked around an old homestead that still stands.

Several doe with twin fawns were close to the trail, but were strung out enough that I could only catch one fawn, like this one, at a time with my camera.

As we returned to the boat, we saw this large buck getting his drink from the lake.

August mini-vacations - Lolo Peak & Carlton Lake Hike

Yesterday, we Hallelujah Hikers proved ourselves a hearty group. A cold front moving into Montana brought rain & temperatures in the 60's to the Bitterroot Valley, that had basked in near 90 degree weather the day before. We proceeded with our 10 mile hike to Lolo Peak & Carlton Lake, as planned.

We layered our clothes, leaned into the blustery wind that brought first rain & then snow at the higher elevations and learned why the trees along Carlton Ridge are all twisted like the one I am sitting on in the photo. The cold wind prompted us to keep moving along the trail.

Yet, we stopped at times to watch a buck in velveted antlers or to sight squirrels, chipmunks & a variety of birds - including this pair of Grouse trying to sit as still as possible so they could blend into the tree trunk.

Sheep Wrangling.

Recently, when Louis got home from DirecTV, I took a break from gardening, picking cherries & apricots, processing all the garden & fruit tree produce & the other end of summer chores that fill my days. We drove to Mom & Dad's to retrieve our sheep. We call this procedure of rounding up our eight sheep into the horsetrailer, "sheep wrangling".

My parents, now in their 80's help by standing post near the horse panel fencing. Louis & I run the sheep around the pasture until they & we are tired. Usually the sheep head for the trailer as we close-in on them. They have learned that we have some fresh alfalfa hay there. This year a ewe & later the large ram decided to lay down on the incline to the creek so we could not wrangle them into the trailer. Louis was able to lift & move the ewe around by her fleece & leg until she was corraled. The hefty ram was another matter. We finally took up the fencing & moved the Yukon & trailer close enough to the ram so he could see the other sheep were already loaded & eating that delicious hay. Only then did he decide to stand up so we could guide him up the incline & into the trailer.

The Lord says we are so like sheep. Dumb & stubborn about going our own way rather than His. When He, as my good shepherd, needs me to move into another pasture - another phase in my life, I often feel like finding a hole in which to hide or bed down. I am so comfortable in my current setting & am oblivious to the bigger picture. Louis is feeling this way at present since he has only two more days on the escalation team at DirecTV. The powers that be, have decided to reintegrate the team back into the main workforce, at least half-time. He has yet to learn all the changes in work time, work days & roles or tasks that this adjustment will mean.

Photos from the Stevi Creamery Picnic

The Chidwickians & I crossed paths this week-end at the 96th Stevi Creamery Picnic. While listening to the Dairy class, I caught Sherry as she turned from speaking with Elli. Sherry was toting a load of license plates in that backpack & actually sold a pair of them. The second photo was of Elli as she listened to the dairy class. After the class, I found Tano hopping around the park on his pogo stick. Sherry had told me that Tano hopped the entire length of the parade route on that pogo stick earlier in the day!

Second week of nursing at Camp Utmost - 4th-5th grade boys' camp

I had so much fun nursing the youngest boys' camp. Here is the slip & slide tug-of-war between the counselors & one of the tabins of campers. There were 44 campers, so eleven campers were assigned to each of four tabins. Over a dozen of these came to know the Lord for the first time during the week!! Watching the movie, "Facing the Giants", throughout the week before campfire time stimulated profitable discussion & these eternal decisions. I picked up a flu virus from one of the campers & shared it with Louis upon my return home. He had to take his first two sick days in the two years he's worked at DirecTV, to recuperate from this virulent virus. We are just returning to normal health & strength this week-end.

Here is part of the nurse's area at Camp Utmost, where I dispense meds., remove slivers, cleanse & bandage minor wounds, etc. Best of all, I get to know the campers individually here & often get to pray with them.

Photos of Ron's most recent fireplace...

Here is the latest fireplace that Ron designed & built for the Director's home at Camp Utmost. He still needs to finish the chimney when the weather cools down a bit. The other photos show the two rocks Ron incorporated as shelves in the brickwork. I placed the tapemeasure on each rock to better set it off in the picture.

Ron spent the afternoon with us today as we buried Genny, our 13 1/2 year old golden who died last evening, & as we planted a small pear tree over her grave.