A 78th birthday week: Mounts Helena, Sentinel, Hurricane Ridge hikes and Showdown ski

Early Forget-Me-Nots alpine flowers on Hurricane Ridge

The Glacier lilies are out!!

This will have to do for a 78th Birthday photo at Swift Reservoir on Hurricane Ridge hike

A "selfie" on skis enjoying late, Spring snow in the Little Belts 

 I took full advantage of superb Spring weather and snow-starved mountains to celebrate my 78th birthday week and test my surgically repaired foot.

With temperatures climbing to the high 70s just days after a dump of snow, the alpine flowers were out in full force.  I saw flowers that don't usually appear until early June, like Forget-Me-Nots, Yellowstone Draba, Arrowleaf Balsamroot.  The pink Douglasia dotted hillsides. Climate change?

Yet, the snow at Showdown, two weeks after the ski area closed, was good enough that I was able to ski to the top of Golden Goose run, and could have gone to the top of Porphyry Peak had I chosen.

I had put my skis up last April thinking there was no way my foot would be ready to ski in 2026, but the healing has been so good I could get into my boots, climb and turn without much problem.  It portends well for the next season.  The snow was of Spring quality and a bit thick and uneven to turn in, but I was just thrilled to be out in it.

Sentinel in Missoula is my usual gauge for conditioning and I had no trouble handling the nearly 2,000 feet of elevation gain.

I did Mount Helena twice on different routes, just because I love to do Mount Helena and visiting with old friends in the Capital City. On a Thursday the mountain was empty, but on Saturday it was crawling with people. I treated myself to the scenic Frontage/Recreation Road drive adjacent to I-15, leisurely enjoying the Missouri River and Adel Mountains spires.

On a Friday "rest" day I walked along the top of the First Peoples' State Park Buffalo Jump outside Ulm.

On Sunday, it was off to Dupuyer and Swift Dam for a walk up a section of Hurricane Ridge to look for wildflowers. 

It would be tough to have a better birthday week of outdoors adventures.