Navigating a late May heat wave: Skidway, Swift (again), Highwoods, Kings Hill

Arrowleaf Balsalmroot on Center Ridge in the Highwoods

Swift Reservoir with Badger-Two Med mountains, the Poia complex, in the background

Lady Slippers along Swift Reservoir

Jones Columbine in the Little Belt Mountains

 If there is any clearer marker for climate change than what we experienced at the end of May, I'd like to know about it.

On Saturday (May 31) we had temperatures on the Rocky Mountain Front as high as 95 degrees!  That was after days of heat in Great Falls and in the mountains.

In year past there were a couple of rules we followed strictly:  don't put in your garden before May 31 (Memorial Day weekend), and keep your skis handy for a Memorial Day snowstorm.

I don't do gardens anymore and I put my skis up three weeks ago.

Since then I've been dealing with the heat and the ticks as I've enjoyed what seems like mid-summer hiking.

We've been on the hunt for wildflowers at Skidway in the Grassy Mountain area between White Sulphur and Townsend, enjoyed the balsamroot bloom in the Highwoods, checked out the calypso orchids in the Little Belts, took a second hike along Swift Reservoir near Dupuyer on the Front (Lady Slippers), and got an eyeful of bright blue/purple Jones Columbine in the Little Belts (I've never seen so many!).

I particularly enjoyed the Highwoods and Swift Dam hikes.

The Highwoods, because the grasses were so bright green and the balsamroots were so bright yellow and the sky so bright blue.

Swift Dam because the lake was an unearthly bright turquoise.