Montana Winter Sunrise

In late December, my hubby and I journeyed to Montana to visit our son for Christmas.  The western U.S. had been having an unseasonably mild and dry winter thus far, so there was no snow to be found.  I didn't even get to go skiing, since the ski areas that were open didn't have much snow.  However, the clear skies made for some fantastic sunrises and sunsets.  

Color beginning in the east

Too lazy to get out of bed early enough, I usually miss out on photographing the sunrise.  But here in Montana, the winter sun didn't crest the horizon until just after 8 am.  Always awake before 7, I told myself I needed to go out and capture some good sunrise images at least once while I was visiting.  No excuses!

Some pink in the opposite direction too

In daylight, my hubby and I scoped out a deserted campground area on the shores of nearby Canyon Ferry Lake.  It looked like a good, wide-open spot to capture the sky.

Streaks of pink

The following morning, I rose at the appointed time, bundled myself up in winter clothes, and headed out towards the prior day's sunrise spot of choice.

Icy shoreline

It was a bone-chilling 9 degrees F on the lakeshore.  Emerging from my car, it didn't take long for the warmth of the heater to wear off.  Shivering in the frigid pre-dawn, my fingers were already beginning to feel numb.  Hurry up sunrise!  

Sky colors reflected on the lake ice

I noticed the lake's water had partially frozen - only a small amount of open water remained in the middle.  The predawn sky colors began to reflect on the icy surface.

Fog rolling in

The sky was a lovely shade of pink.  Streaky clouds began to fill the eastern horizon.  A small fog bank clung to the opposite lakeshore.  Although cold, it was a breathtakingly beautiful morning.

Lovely pink reflections

The previous night's full moon still hung in the sky.  It's bright orb cut through the pink morning skies, illuminating nearby frosty hills.

Full moon in the pre-sunrise sky

When the sky colors began to fade, I hopped back into my car to warm up.  Although the sun was yet to rise, I'd seen enough already.  Blasting my car heater, I drove to a nearby coffee kiosk for a hot latte.  Success!  What lovely colors - such a beautiful morning sky!    

Maybe this will give me the incentive to get out of bed for sunrise when I'm back home?

Close Encounters of the Kim and Linda Kind

 After journeying together to Ireland last April, Kim and I realized we made good travel buddies.  So when planning my summer family visit to South Dakota, I asked her if she'd like to tag along.  Kim had never been to many of the states in the midwest, and she'd always wanted to see Mt. Rushmore, so was all for it.  To sweeten the deal, I proposed a detour to Yellowstone National Park on the return trip.

Soldier Monument, Little Bighorn Battlefield

It's a two-day, 1200 mile drive from Portland, Oregon to Rapid City, South Dakota.  Although I've traveled this route annually for the past 35 years, Kim had never been on such a long car trip.  As for myself, I was excited to show my long-time friend the place I'd grown up (and she'd heard all about).

So one sunny day this past late May found us cruising down I-90 in Eastern Montana, destination Rapid City and the Black Hills of South Dakota.  To break up the time spent inside the car, I stopped at a couple places of interest along the way.  One of these places was the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Eastern Montana.

Gravestones indicate where soldiers died

In history class you probably heard about "Custer's last stand."  Well that took place right here at Little Bighorn Battlefield.  This National Monument memorializes the conflict between US soldiers trying to control the Indians and the Indian's last armed efforts to preserve their way of life.  On June 25-26, 1876, 263 soldiers of the US Army's 7th Calvary died fighting thousands of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors.  The commanding officer, Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, famously perished in this battle.

There were gravestones for the Native warriors also

Coincidentally, the battlefield lies on the Crow Indian Reservation.  For years this area was called "Custer Battlefield."  But the eyes of history have shifted and the powers that be decided it didn't make sense to name a battlefield after the guy who lost.  So in 1991, the monument was renamed "Little Bighorn Battlefield."  Along with a large granite monolith commemorating the US soldiers that fell, there is now an Indian Memorial honoring the Native American warriors that fought and died here.

Loved this sculpture honoring the Native American fighters

I really liked the huge sculpture depicting three warriors on horseback charging off into battle.  It is transparent so one can also take in the surrounding grassy hills and wide-open skies.

National Cemetery honoring those who died in US wars

In addition to the battlefield memorials, we found the place also had a National Cemetery.  Custer National Cemetery provides a final resting place for veterans of the many US wars.

It right before Memorial Day and each grave had a flag

It was interesting to walk among the rows of uniform, bright-white headstones.  Each section of the cemetery was reserved for casualties of a certain war.  There was an area for the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.  There were even older graves from soldiers fighting Indian wars of the frontier.  We visited on the Friday prior to Memorial Day, so each headstone had an American flag placed at its base.

First glimpse of Devils Tower

After spending over an hour touring Little Bighorn Battlefield, it was back in the car for a long drive across the rest of Montana and into Wyoming.  But I had a second stop planned.  Northeastern Wyoming is home to another famous National Monument, one of my personal favorites - Devils Tower.

Looking up the tower

Anyone who lived through the 1970s has probably seen the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind in which Devils Tower is prominently featured.  As a matter of fact, I couldn't stop myself from humming the movie soundtrack's famous five tones as we drove towards the monument.

Close up of the rock formations

Rising 867 feet from summit to base, Devils Tower is a lone igneous formation made up of distinct vertical hexagonal rock columns.  Geologists theorize that the tower was formed by an intrusion of magma into an area of otherwise sedimentary rock.  Over time the surrounding softer rock eroded, leaving this igneous plug standing alone.  The columnar jointing on its sides are unusual, and Devils Tower has the largest and most spectacular example of this fascinating geologic phenomenon.

Local Native American tribes also had stories on how Devils Tower formed.  Several versions feature children being chased by a large bear.  The children pray to the Great Spirit to save them and in response, the Great Spirit made the rock rise into the sky.  Trying to climb the rock, the bear made claw marks in the sides, creating the hexagonal columns seen today.

A thunderstorm foiled our hiking plans

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt declared Devils Tower the first US National Monument.  Although the tower and surrounding forest are now protected, hiking trails abound, including one path that circles the tower, and climbing Devils Tower is allowed.

This viewpoint, down a gravel road, is the best

Kim and I had planned to walk the 1-mile trail around the base of Devils Tower.  However, as we started out on the path, I noticed dark clouds building in the sky.  We hadn't gone but a quarter mile when thunder began to rumble.  Not wanting to get caught in the rain, or struck by lightning, Kim and I decided to turn around and head to the visitor center.  We had had just reached the parking lot when the skies opened up in a furious burst of rain.

Almost looks like a spaceship is coming

So we sought refuge in the gift shop, and in the process met a new alien friend.  Kim took a selfie, posted it on Facebook, and dubbed it "close encounters of the Kim and Linda kind."  (And I liked it so much I stole it for the title of this blog post!)

We found an alien in the gift shop!

With more dark clouds on the horizon, our hiking plans were not gonna happen.  On to Plan B!  From previous visits, I remembered a place down a gravel road that gave visitors nice views of the tower.  So I took Kim on a quick drive.  We both marveled over the big sky panorama here, especially of the ominous storm clouds hovering above Devils Tower.  Kinda looked like those aliens from the 70s were coming back!

On the road again!  Destination, Rapid City.  Next up - taking Kim through some of my favorite places in the Black Hills.

Christmas in Montana

Since my son's work keeps him busy over the holidays, Hubby and I always journey to his home in Montana for Christmas.  This year was no different, except we didn't arrive until two days after the actual holiday.  A series of ice storms in Portland and the Columbia River Gorge kept us home two days longer than planned.  When the weather finally cleared enough to travel, we braved torrential rain, snowy roads, and ice storm remnants on our 11-plus hour drive.

Snow-covered mountains

But once we arrived, all travel woes were forgotten.  It's always good to see my son!

Walking by a photogenic scraggly tree

There's a wildlife management area on the outskirts of where my son lives.  It's a great place to spot birds, deer, and other critters.  Hubby and my son wanted to check out the adjacent lake to see if there were any ducks around.  My son had a hunting license and was interested in getting a few waterfowl.

Golden grasses

I never mind walking through a wildlife area.  I grabbed my camera and big lens in hope of spotting some birds.  Although temps weren't cold by Montana standards, it was still below freezing when we began our trek along an icy road.  It was an overcast day, and the light wasn't great for photographs, but the surrounding snow-clad mountains and golden vegetation were still pretty.  Good enough for some images in my opinion!

My guys looking for ducks

The guys made it over to lakeshore, only to discover the lake was frozen over.  Naturally, there wasn't any waterfowl to be found.  No duck hunting for them!

I caught a magpie sitting still on this fence post!

I, on the other hand, was lagging behind looking for birds.  I spotted a few magpies flying around, but these birds were so fast, it was extremely difficult to get a photo of one.  The only good shot I had was out the car window, when one of them landed on a nearby fence post and lingered just long enough.

Magpie on a tree branch

I did manage to capture another magpie sitting on a tree branch.  But I had to be fast with the shutter!

Partially frozen creek

We hiked by a partially frozen creek that I thought was very scenic.

Townsend's Solitaire

Passing by one bare tree, I spotted a fluffy, gray bird who was nice enough to hold still for several minutes.  Thanks to my friend Debbie, she later identified it as a Townsend's Solitaire.

Another one posed for me

There were a few of these gray birds flitting about and I captured another Townsend's Solitaire sitting in the branches of a tree.

Local deer herd checking us out

Last, but not least, we glimpsed a few of the resident deer herd.  Usually, by the time we noticed them, the deer were already on the run.  But one inquisitive momma with her young hesitated long enough to enable me to capture a few shots.

Although not recorded on my yearly hiking tally, this last "trek" of 2022 was a nice ramble with my family through a bleak, but beautiful corner of Montana.

Hiking Montana's Mt. Sentinel

Ok, time to rewind back to early June.  Heading home from South Dakota, I normally rush through the long 2-day drive.  But this year I took a break on my return trip and stopped in Missoula, Montana to spend time with my son.

Kim Williams Nature Trail along the Clark Fork River

Situated in a valley, Missoula is ringed by mountains.  Hiking opportunities abound - many boasting trailheads right inside the city limits.  With an entire day to spend together, my son suggested hiking the trails on Missoula's iconic Mt Sentinel. 
 

Cool looking mystery flowers

Mt Sentinel is a small mountain that rises directly east of the University of Montana's campus.  A large whitewashed concrete letter "M" occupies it's western face (the "M" of course placed in honor of the University).  Prominently viewed from all over town, the mountain and it's "M" are Missoula landmarks.

Arnica blooms lined the Hellgate Canyon Trail

A steep trail zig-zags 3/4 of a mile up Mt Sentinel's west face to access the "M."  It's a popular route for students, tourists, runners, and folks wanting a good workout.  Throughout the years my son attended college at the University I'd made several ascents of this trail.  But today my son had a different access route in mind. 

Taking a breather

An entire network of trails link Mt Sentinel with nearby mountains and natural areas.  My son suggested accessing Mt Sentinel via some of these trails.  We'd start out following the Kim Williams Nature trail, then climb up Hellgate Canyon via a trail of the same name.  Eventually this trail would intersect with Mt Sentinel's trail, which we'd follow to the top and then descend the opposite side.

Grand views of East Missoula and I-90

The morning of our planned hike, we awoke to heavy clouds and rain.  The day's forecast, which called for showers, didn't look promising.  But we're both from Oregon - what's a little rain?  After grabbing our rain jackets and pack covers my son drove to the east side of the University of Montana campus, the trailhead location.

Crazy Canyon sounds like my kinda place  :)

 Lucky for us, by the time we parked, the rain had let up.  Not one to waste a dry spell, my son and I quickly grabbed our backpacks and headed towards our starting point at the Kim Williams Nature Trail. 

Patiently waiting for mom to finish taking pictures...

The Kim Williams trail started out paved, but quickly transitioned into a gravel road paralleling the beautiful Clark Fork River.  Before long, my son and I had left the city behind and were walking beside this peaceful, forested waterway.  Birds chirped, and I spotted several varieties of colorful wildflowers.

Looking across the canyon to University Beacon Hill

The Hellgate Canyon trail junction was supposed to be a mile down the Kim Williams trail, but it wasn't marked, so we walked right it by the first time.  Luckily, my son quickly realized our oversight, and we didn't have to backtrack too much.

Nice patch of Indian Paintbrush

 Let the climbing begin!  The Hellgate Canyon trail rocketed steeply uphill.  My son didn't have any trouble, but I huffed and puffed behind him, trying to keep up.  Happily, there were lots of colorful wildflowers to distract me from my discomfort.  Copious amounts of sunny yellow arnica blooms lined our trail, brightening the forest floor.

Three shades of orange paintbrush!

The clouds began thickening again.  It appeared to be raining on an adjacent mountain.  I was getting concerned we'd get wet.  But the rain stayed north of us.  However, I thought I heard a distant thunder boom, which worried me immensely (last thing I wanted was to be high on a mountain during a lightening storm).  But my son denied hearing anything, so we continued our upward trek.

Balsamroot blooms

After a long climb, we finally arrived at the Mt Sentinel Trail junction.  And unlike our lower trail, this one was well-marked with a large wooden sign.  Noting a "Crazy Canyon trailhead" written on one side made me chuckle.  I'd love to hear how that canyon got it's name!

Flowers decorate this fallen tree

Only a half mile to the top of Mt Sentinel from here.  Piece of cake!  But this trail wound through some of the loveliest wildflower meadows.  Lupine, Indian paintbrush, yellow balsamroot all bloomed thickly on the forest floor.  My poor son had to do a lot of waiting for his mother while she attempted to photograph it all.

Flower-lined path

The Indian paintbrush here sported three different hues of orange - a dark orange, a medium (normal) orange color, and a light peach shade.  It was unusual and beautiful.

Flower-dazzled meadow

 But my son was eventually able to tear his camera-toting mother away from all the colorful meadows (reluctantly, I'll add!).

The best flower fields were right below the summit

The final trail to the top was a extremely steep trudge up a rocky road.  I didn't think I'd ever arrive, but suddenly up ahead my son stopped.  He'd made it to the summit.  I got this great shot of him taking in the view.

Mt Sentinel summit

And what a tremendous view it was!  Looking west, all of Missoula spread out below.  Despite cloudy skies, we could see for miles across the valley.

Smile!

Mt. Sentinel's summit sits at an elevation of 5,158 feet, nearly 2000 feet above the valley below.

Photo op with my son

There wasn't much to see at the summit itself, so my son and I hiked a short distance down the other side before posing for the obligatory "We made it" photo.

Descending the west side

Then.....what comes up must go down.  And down we went, descending another steep trail.  Good thing I brought my trekking poles, they saved my knees!

Lupine was everywhere!

But of course this trail had more floral distractions, in the form of lupine and larkspur.  Oh was the lupine thick and such a deep shade of purple!  My poor son had to wait for me once again.

Abandoned copper mine

My son led me through the wide-open grassy meadows of Mt Sentinel's west flanks.  With no trees, the views were tremendous.  We could see clouds gathering all around us, but so far none of the wet stuff had traveled to our location.  We passed by an old, long-abandoned copper mine, which I thought unusual to see so close to town.

I spied some bitterroot blooms!

Passing by a rocky outcrop, I noticed a few pink petals.  A dozen bitterroot flowers were pushing out from between the rocks.  Montana's state flower, their petals were a lovely shade of pink.  Rare to see - I was psyched to have discovered them.

Views for miles

As the trail descended through Mt Sentinel's grassy slopes, my son and I were treated to birds-eye views of the University of Montana's beautiful campus.  It was fun to point out the dorms he'd lived in, the campus quad, and the football stadium.  Go Griz!

University of Montana football stadium

The University's concrete "M" sits about halfway up Mt Sentinel's slopes.  As we approached this landmark, I noticed clouds to the north getting extremely dark.  It looked like rain was hovering over the adjacent mountain range.  Our dry weather luck was running out.

Bad weather moving in

Upon reaching the "M" I paused to snap a couple of photos, but lacking a wide-angle lens, they didn't come close to capturing the immense size of this letter. 

Extreme close up of the "M"

But a storm was definitely moving in, so after getting my images, I packed the camera away and hightailed it down the remainder of the trail.  The final photo I captured showed clouds lowering ominously over the valley.  Surprisingly, we met quite a few people going the other direction, either not aware or not caring about the approaching rain.

Racing the storm to the parking lot

Timing is everything - we just barely got inside my son's car when the heavens opened up.  It rained hard for the rest of the day.  Lucky us, we got our hike done during the only dry weather window.

It was fantastic to have a day to hike with my son.  Between me forgetting my gps, and his phone battery dying we weren't quite sure of the total mileage, but after consulting his hiking book, I'm going with about 7 miles and 2000 feet elevation gain.  And lots of wonderful memories.