Trail work, larch, hoodoos again

Rampage Mountain pokes its head through the clouds in Glacier Park above Middle Fork 

Our Wednesday old guys hiking group clearing brush along Belt Creek north of Neihart

The larch in color at Swan Lake

Steve Taylor and Gordon Whirry clearing Trail 747 on the west flank of Porphyry Peak

We've been getting out, but I haven't been posting as frequently.
Our Wayne's Wednesday Walks redid the hoodoos at Rock City north of Valier last week, and this week did some trail work in the Little Belts.
The week before Katie and I took three days in the Flathead to see the height of the larch color and enjoy some down time at the Laughing Horse Lodge in Swan Lake.
The larch were particularly colorful and plentiful this year with the usual suspects ---- Salmon Lake near Seeley, Swan Lake, and the area around Essex the best.
We did a couple of short hikes in Glacier Park --- Fish Creek Campground to Rocky Point through the 2003 Roberts Burn, and along the Boundary Trail outside West Glacier.  The colors there were impressive as well.
Most of our group had not seen the hoodoos at Rock City and we did a bit more extensive walking than I had done previously, covering some of the bench on Birch Creek above where it comes into the Two Medicine River, and getting down to the Two Med itself.
Our trail work Wednesday was a result of a request from Neihart Mayor Steve Taylor, in cooperation with the Forest Service to start some initial work on Taylor's Dream --- a trail between Neihart and Monarch along Belt Creek.
Despite Highway 89 running alongside the creek we found the area gorgeous because of the granitic rock canyon walls, the fast rushing creek and the country it opens the hiker to.  Steve envisions it a great place to ski or snowshoe as well as hike.
We did a section between the Harley Creek Bridge and the Neihart Cemetery.
Lots of work to do here, folks.
Then, we drove some of the logging roads south and west of Porphyry Peak and ultimately took the road to the Trail 747 trailhead from the road.
We cleared brush and cut trees (Steve did), and hiked to the Porphyry ridgeline.
This trail has become a wintertime favorite for a backcountry ski loop including a climb to the top of Porphyry, down 747, down the road to the intersection with the O'Brien Creek Trail and back to our starting point,  Kings Hill Pass.