Summer's begun ---- A month's worth: Priest Butte, North Shore, Rogers, Falls Creek, Indian Head, Otter, Scratchgravel, Kings Hill, CDT, Mount Wright

The Falls Creek Gorge

Bitterroot, Montana's state flower, galore on Scratchgravel Hills hike

 Summer has begun and I kicked it off with two favorites --- the Continental Divide Trail from Lewis and Clark Pass to Rogers Pass, and the second day of summer, Mount Wright.

I've been so busy hiking that I haven't had time to keep up with this blog.

To summarize, the weather leading up to the first day of Summer has been superb, punctuated with more moisture than normal, which has kept things Ireland green.  It has been as good a wildflower year as I can remember, but it seems as though the blooms have come earlier than normal.  The Little Belts and Highwoods have been particularly green and flower-filled, but the snow has left the Front earlier than usual.  

The moisture resulted in several hiking trail casualties:  there was a rainfall that caused a rock slide on the Willow Creek Trail in the Front that resulted in us having to cancel our annual Wild Montana climb of Fairview Peak.  And, the rainfall was so severe in Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, one of our favorite spots, causing the park to temporarily close.  I'm not certain of the extent of the damage there.

I continue to struggle with the hammer toe on my left foot and some circulation problems in my legs. I think this has resulted in me slowing down on the trail, and has hampered my endurance, although I did the CDT-Mount Wright hikes back to back with not much problem.

The black bear we encountered on Otter Peak trip

Of note, I got three small grandchildren up Priest Butte, had some exceptional hikes with my daughter from Portland (Rogers Pass, Priest Butte, Indian Head and the North Shore hoodoos), viewed a gorge on Falls Creek above the falls, saw a good size black bear on the way to climbing Otter Peak in the Little Belts, saw more bitterroot wildflowers on the Scratchgravel Hills than I had ever seen on all wildflower hikes combined over the past 50 years, and figured out a new way to climb Kings Hill Mountain from the cabin at the pass.

I was "collared"

On the CDT hike between Lewis and Clark and Rogers Passes I found a grizzly bear collar just below Green Mountain in the red shale where we had seen lots of bitterroot in the past.  No luck this year.

While it has been a great wildflower year and the beargrass is blooming, I'm sad that the lupine bloom just isn't up to standard.  Oh, and there's been plenty of ticks, and I got nailed by one that has taken more than two weeks to heal.  No, it hasn't healed yet.