Sleeping Giant hiking tuneup

Plentiful Douglasia everywhere on the ridge

Surprise cairn on the ridge

Jim Heckel on ridge line 

Lovely remains of a ridgeline tree

It has been so gloomy with rain that it has been difficult to start the hiking season.
With so much snow in the high country there is that pull to keep skiing.
However, we got out Monday for a hiking tuneup in the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area south of Great Falls.
It was worthwhile to stretch the legs on this hike's steep pitches and to see the abundant alpine wildflowers blooming amidst the colorful red and green rocks that mark this area.
We gained about 2,500 feet of elevation and walked roughly 8 miles on the ridgeline that leads to the Sleeping Giant.
The area is just east of I-15 above the colorful Wolf Creek Canyon and the Sieben Flats.