Tentatively on trail during a break from smoke

Walking through the Blackleaf Canyon 

With my sweetheart at the Blackleaf-Teton Pass

A Sticky Geranium leaf that Jack Frost got ahold of

Fireweed gone red

Looking east toward the Canyon walls

The clouds put on a show

In a narrow Blackleaf Creek canyon

We got a break Tuesday and Wednesday from the smoke that has shrouded our mountains.
We could see them for the first time in a couple of weeks after a shot of rain and snow that dusted the tops.
We made a break for it Wednesday to the Rocky Mountain Front and the Blackleaf Canyon west of Bynum, climbing to the Blackleaf-Teton Divde.
There was some smoke that we guessed was coming over from the Paoli Creek Fire in the Great Bear just south of Glacier Park.
At least we could see the mountains, although my smoke-sensitive wife still choked on the stuff.
The drop in temperatures has caused the ground cover to begin turning colors.  We witnessed brilliant reds, oranges and yellows in the vegetation, pre-saging the coming Fall weather.
We hiked in downslope wind.
Most folks walk through the high canyon walls on Blackleaf Creek, a short distance, and call it quits. Nothing wrong with that.
The advantage to walking to the divide, a distance of four miles (8 miles roundtrip) are the spectacular aspects of Mount Frazier, which dominates the landscape west of the canyon walls.
There are great views of Mount Wright from the divide, but we didn't linger because of the winds.