Hayes Point Hike in the Blue Mountain Recreation Area

Today's hike was a strenuous 6+ mile hike up to Hayes Point in the Blue Mountain Recreation Area west of Missoula. At the summit of Hayes Point, we could see snow-covered Lolo Peak Near the summit we also passed this stack of rocks & wood which we called a "bamah" - the Hebrew transliteration for "high place" - because that is what this reminded us of. We have been studying Ezekiel where God was condemning Judah for worshiping at such bamahs.

The Blue Mountain area has Shooting Stars with multiple blooms from one stalk. This one has five blossums, but we found some with seven blooms on a single stalk. Quite unusual.

We hiked through meadows of Arnica & multiple-blossumed Shooting Stars.

Beyond the Arnica & other wildflowers we saw vistas of the valleys around Missoula. This view is looking north towards Frenchtown & the mountains beyond it.

Happy Memorial Day!

Rattlesnake Trail with the Svecs

Thursday, my niece & family visited from Billings & hiked with me 1 1/2 hours on the Rattlesnake Trail to the West & down the mountains from the hike I took the day before. The day was much warmer with no wind, so it was comfortable walking. Five year old Corbyn had a grand time climbing rocks, picking wildflowers for his Mom & playing with the fuzzy caterpillar that he found along the trail.

Oregon Grapes were in full bloom, as were many of the other plants I already photographed for you on earlier hikes this Spring. The only wildlife we saw were a few squirrels that scampered across the trail.

Justin carried Gavin in the backpack & sometimes Corbyn too. Kristin carried Brayden in a front pack & shielded him from the sun as he slept. Gavin slept about half of the hike, as you can see from this picture. He didn't mention a neckache when he awoke, but his position was as you see here for at least 45 minutes.

Mt. Jumbo Northern Loop Trails & Sheep Mountain Hike

Arrowleaf Balsamroot blankets Mt. Jumbo above the Lincoln Hills area of the Rattlesnake. The Hallelujah Hikers' Wednesday hike was around 8 miles of Mt. Jumbo trails & Sheep Mt. Trail. The early Spring flowers were beginning to fade as later Spring flowers were starting to bloom. On Sheep Mt. we even saw the elusive Fairy Slippers in some of the more protected areas of the forest.

Larkspur dotted the landscape with the Balsamroot early in the hike.

Further on, Indian Paintbrush & Lupine were starting to blossum amongst the
Arrowleaf Balsamroot, creating a garden effect.

Our hike was a cool 40-50 degrees with a strong wind making it
feel even cooler. The vistas & wildflowers were worth the

effort, as was the fellowship amongst the hikers. The view below

was taken from Sheep Mountain, looking back at Mt. Jumbo, Mt.
Sentinel behind that & the Bitterroots in the distance beyond Missoula.
We continue to count our blessings in being able to hike such gorgeous

country so close to home.

A Hike in blues

Our last Wednesday Hallelujah Hiker trek was up the face of Mt. Sentinel to look out over Missoula and enjoy more of the Spring flowers. We returned through the forested Hellgate Canyon Trail & Ken Williams Trail.

We saw several wildflowers in blues, such as numerous clumps of Bluebells.

The Larkspur was just beginning to blossum.

Around half-way up the face of the mountain, we sited this bluebird perched on a dead tree over-looking I-90 & East Missoula.His mate joined him out further on his branch. She's on the far right

with only a blue tipped tail.
If you click on any photo, you can enlarge it.

We stayed fairly close to town on our six-mile hike, since you still get into snow at higher elevations, as this broader focus shows.

Lazy & Busy Spring Days

Our severely pruned cherry trees are starting to bloom. Praise God that we didn't kill them by pruning so late.

Our tiny Grape Hyacinth & Tulips are starting to blossum as the peony stalks are emerging from the sheep compost circles in our flower bed.

We've planted 5 rows of early crops & topped 4 of them with the sheep compost.

The remaining row of lettuce & spinach was topped with a special fertilizer mailed with the seeds. The start of gardening always means a lot of work at first. But the vegetables later in the summer make the efforts well worth it.

Our animals love the warmer weather. Ari lounges near "his humans" whether inside or outside.

Our sheep & horse lounge & graze at ease in the field. Spring brings such a feeling of comfort & promise to our lives.

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day brought some color to our home - Ivy Geraniums on the outside from Louis & bright yellow tulips on the inside from Esther. Yes, my husband & daughter always color up my life!

We took Mom & Dad to Applebees for a Mother's Day dinner before driving up the Southhill to the Missoula Alliance Church. The California Baptist Men's Chorale of 80 young men praised the Lord for 90 minutes. They filled our hearts with glorious music. This chorale of 18-22 year olds included a young man who went to High School with Esther, so she was even more interested than usual in the whole affair.

The week before Mother's Day, our good friend, Ron Smith, gave me a basket of regular Geraniums in honor of the coming day. He & Marilyn stop by for supper occassionally, so I see this kind of like a "Thank you."

Neat Way to Remove a Tick

After picking off so many ticks on a couple of our Spring hikes, I asked around  

about the best way to remove one that had gotten imbedded.  So far I 

have been fortunate to find every tick on me before it broke the skin.  

However, I may have to remove one while being the Camp Utmost nurse.

I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove
a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's some
times difficult to get to with tweezers.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the
soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick
will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift
it away. "This technique has worked every time I've used it, (and that
was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier
for me,"  said the MD.  Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see

that this would be damaging in any way. 

How neat is that?!

Who am I ?

 
      I was born in one country, raised in another. My father was born in
 another country. I was not his only child. He fathered several children
 with numerous women.
      I became very close to my mother, as my father showed no interest in
me. My mother died at an early age from cancer.
      Later in life, questions arose over my real name.

      My birth records were sketchy and no one was able to produce a
 legitimate, reliable birth certificate.
 
      I grew up practicing one faith but converted to Christianity, as it
was widely accepted in my country, but I practiced nontraditional beliefs &
didn't follow Christianity, except in the public eye under scrutiny.

      I worked and lived among lower-class people as a young adult,

 disguising myself as someone who really cared about them.

     That was before I decided it was time to get serious about my life
and I embarked on a new career.
 
     I wrote a book about my struggles growing up. It was clear to those

 who read my memoirs that I had difficulties accepting that my father
 abandoned me as a child.

     I became active in local politics in my 30's then with help behind
 the scenes, I literally burst onto the scene as a candidate for national
 office in my 40s. They said I had a golden tongue and could talk anyone
 into anything. That reinforced my conceit.
 
     I had a virtually nonexistent resume, little work history, and no
 experience in leading a single organization. Yet I was a powerful speaker
and citizens were drawn to me as though I were a magnet and they were small
roofing tacks.
 
    I drew incredibly large crowds during my public appearances. This
 bolstered my ego.
 
    At first, my political campaign focused on my country's foreign
 policy. I was very critical of my country in the last war and seized every
 opportunity to bash my country.
 
    But what launched my rise to national prominence were my views on
the country's economy. I pretended to have a really good plan on how we
 could do better and every poor person would be fed & housed for free.

    I knew which group was responsible for getting us into this mess.
 It was the free market, banks & corporations. I decided to start making
 citizens hate them and if they were envious of others who did well, the plan
 was clinched tight.

    I called mine "A People's Campaign" and that sounded good to all
 people.

    I was the surprise candidate because I emerged from outside the
 traditional path of politics & was able to gain widespread popular support.

    I knew that, if I merely offered the people 'hope,' together we
could change our country and the world.

    So, I started to make my speeches sound like they were on behalf of
 the downtrodden, poor, ignorant to include "persecuted minorities" like the
 Jews. My true views were not widely known & I needed to keep them unknown,
 until after I became my nation's leader.
 
    I had to carefully guard reality, as anybody could have easily found

 out what I really believed, if they had simply read my writings and examined
 those people I associated with.
 
   I'm glad they didn't. Then I became the most powerful man in the
 world. And the world learned the truth.
 
   Who am I?

   ADOLF HITLER
 
   WHO WERE YOU THINKING OF?
 
   Scary isn't it?