Skywatch Friday: Montana Autumn Skies (and 'shrooms and supper)

After a cool, wet summer, September has been our finest summer month. It began cool and clear, then became hot and clear with near record temperatures in the 70s (deg F). Moist air clings to the Butte valley, forming a cool layer of fog beneath the warm morning sky, the fog highlighting the Anselmo Gallows Frame:

Early in the month, some snow fell one night on a remote mountain ridge:

Cascade Mountain Ash (Sorbus scopulina) berries glow bright red against the cloudless sky:

On a hike in the nearby mountains, white limestone cliffs reflect the hot sun:

On another hike, some late afternoon cumulus clouds build up along the Pintler Range spine of the Continental Divide:

A rare cloudy morning contrasts with the fall colors of deciduous shrubs, with the Quaking Aspen (lower right) just beginning to turn color:

Mushrooms

Hey, EcoRover is a fun-guy! Hiking around the hills while scouting for Bull Moose (see previous entry about the moose hunt), mushrooms (fun-gi?) were much in evidence. Some are shaggy:

And some are scallopy:

Life on a cowpie:

Or life on a stump:

And some with a funnel to drink life in:

Oh, wish I knew more about mushrooms and which were edible!

These things, I know are edible--tiny but sweet Wild Strawberries (Fragaria virginiana):

And these--deliciouly puckery Chokecherries (Prunus virginianus):

MollyTheDog says this Mountain Grouse is edible, too:

Good dog, you deserve a treat (with your buddy JackTheDog) on the way home:

Supper

After all that hiking, we're hungry! What's for supper? Stir fried veggies:

Along with grilled grouse, moose steaks, and potatoes:

There's plenty of food & an extra plate, just in case you're in the 'hood.