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.

Squaw (Ch-paa-qn) Peak Hike

As fire season has not yet begun, half-way through the catch-up week at home between weeks of camp nursing, Judy & I spent a day climbing 7,996 foot Ch-paa-qn Peak. The 3.5 mile ridge trail that borders the Flathead Indian Reservation, starts in meadows of blooming Beargrass. Trail 98 climbs 1,836 feet through sub-alpine fir & lodgepole pine forest & through meadows with slate talus slides until it meets trail 707 & trail 746 at this tree marker 0.6 miles below where the talus-covered peak begins. Along the trail, we saw Huckleberries, Lupines, Indian paintbrush, Spring Beauties, Missoula Phlox & several new varieties of blooming plants that I need to identify. Deer, chipmunks, rabbits, 3 hummingbirds & zillions of mosquitos & flies also shared our hike.

After three hours of steady hiking, we reached the summit of Squaw Peak...now called Ch-paa-qn Peak to be politically correct. Judy & I always pray-hike, so she pulled out her cell phone & called to check on the relative who was having an adrenal tumor removed surgically that morning as we rested at the summit. The view is a 360-degree delight. To the NW is the Cabinet Range, N is Flathead Lake & the Bison Range, NE are the Mission Mountains, E is the Rattlesnake Wilderness, S & SW is the Bitterroot Range & SE are the Sapphire Range, Flint Creek & Anaconda-Pintlers.

Two alpine lakes lie at the foot of the talus-covered peak on the north side. A few snowbanks were hidden well on the north side. We saw no snow on the south side trails. What a blessing our good health & this gorgeous scenery continues to be.

Drama/Fear episode at 7th Grade Camp continued...

A pair of yellow-green eyes stared at us from the other side of the campfire area as the low hiss & high scream sounds continued. My flashlight beam didn't go far enough to see more. J was trembling as we brought her into the nurses' station, gave her some Motrin to swallow & bedded her down. When it appeared she was napping within 5-10 minutes, I left to wake up the director & inform him of what was happening in half of the camp. He walked to the girls' tabins area with me. Unbelievably, everyone in tabins 1, 4, 6 & 7 were still asleep. Tabins 2, 3 & 5 were more frightened than ever, having heard the same sounds as they were trying to drift back to sleep. They were discussing that some of the boys had seen yellow eyes in the dark the night before. Two of the boys' counselors from tabin 5 arrived. One came to tell us the sounds had been caused by the old sprinkler system that he had just turned off. The other, the young man with the guitar on the previous post, had brought his guitar to aid in softly singing some praise songs to calm the campers & overcome their fear. This music particularly helped T, who had become rigid, gasping & "blind" again upon hearing the "mountain lion" sounds. By 3 a.m. the campers were all nodding off & I had returned to the nursing area. J was sound asleep & I was too, as soon as I climbed into my sleeping bag & my head hit the pillow. The next day, at the morning chapel pictured above, half of camp was very sleepy but happy to hear that the eyes that had been seen during the past two nights belonged to the camp director's big cat. T's parents were called about her behavior & given the choice of taking her home or letting her stay with the nurse at night the rest of camp. They decided to take their "drama queen" home. T evidently had a history of creating situations that put her in the center of attention. J was over her migraine & fully enjoyed the remainder of the week.

7th Grade Camp @ Camp Utmost

Temperatures around 80 degrees made the 7th Grade Camp comfortable, especially at the swimming hole. While I was Camp Nurse for the 69 7th grade campers, Ron was creating a brick fireplace at the Camp Director's house. I would see & speak to him at mealtimes. The second photo was taken one of those times. Next week when I return to nurse for the 4-5th grade boys, I'll take a photo of Ron's work. He says this may be his last fireplace to build.

Behind the Songleaders at chapel time, you can see the huge rock fireplace Ron created for the main lodge at Camp Utmost. The nursing area is on the other side of Ron's gorgeous rock fireplace.

I will remember this camp week for the fear & drama that reigned Wednesday night. Around midnight a couple of the girl campers knocked on the nursing area door, saying I was needed at one of the four girl tabins. (A tabin is a cabin with roll-up canvas sides.) One of the campers awoke from a nightmare & started screaming because she couldn't see anything. She was now in hysterics & the other girls in the tabin were getting hysterical as well. I threw my coat on over the surgical scrubs I sleep in while at camp, grabbed my flashlight & hurried out of the lodge, past the girls' bathrooms & to tabin number 3. The counselor, Stevie - the long-haired blonde on the singing team above - was praying with the camper as I entered. The camper, I will call her "T", was gasping for breath & making dramatic statements about not being able to see. Many of the other girls were wide-eyed or quietly sobbing. The assistant counselor was talking with them. We decided to carry T to the lodge so the rest of the tabin could return to sleep. After our transport, T slowly returned to normal in her breathing & posture as we continued to pray for her out loud. She resisted staying in the nursing area, so we compromised by letting the other girls move into tabin 2, whose girls had all awakened when T was screaming. T's best friend & the main counselor stayed with her in tabin 3. We had a general conversational prayer-time with the campers all crowded into tabin 2. "J", another camper from tabin 3 who gets migraines when stressed, was found dry-heaving in the girls' bathroom. Her assistant counselor, the lifeguard in the first swimming photo, & I walked J over to the lodge so I could give her something for her migraine & let her sleep with me in the nursing area. J is the red-head with the braid - the second camper from the right in the third picture. As we left the tabin & circled around the bathrooms, we started to hear a hissing sound accompanied by a high-pitched scream. If you have ever heard a mountain lion, that is exactly what we heard from the outskirts of camp. We hurried our walk & the assistant counselor started to quote II Timothy 1:7 out loud & to rebuke Satan. (More to follow on the next post.)

Return to Como Lake - Last hike 'til Fall?

Summer has arrived with its heat & our last hike for awhile. The 8+ mile trail around Como Lake was one of our favorite hikes from last year, so we returned. We started at 7:00 a.m. on the south shore trail, catching glimpses of the snowcapped mountains mirrored in the lake whenever the forest opened up.


Wild Roses were numerous along the south shore trail, Queen's Cup appeared near the falls & fragrant Buckbrush was everywhere on the north shore trail.

We saw squirrels & ducks. This mother Maganzer & her ducklings swam close enough for us to watch. Mom even carried one of her ducklings on her back. Kind of how God carries us when we desperately need a respite.

Although the rainbow does not show as well in this picture, it highlighted the falls. It shows a little about a third down the left side of the photo.

Our lunch break was along the north shore, where we watched several butterflies flitting from one wild flower to another. Did you know that butterflies were first named "flutterbies"?

By the time we reached & crossed the earthen dam, which tripled the size of Como Lake back in the early 1900's, a breeze was creating small waves. The mirror effect was gone, but the breeze felt wonderful as the temp. had climbed to the 80s. We may hike once in the Flathead Lake area in August, but other summer activities will pre-empt our hiking now. I head for a couple of weeks of nursing at Camp Utmost after July 4th.