Skywatch Friday: Spring Hike

Yes, it's springtime in southwest Montana. That means it's below freezing at night, above freezing during the day, and with skies that fluctuate from stormy gray to blinding blue several times over the course of the day. Here's a moment of stormy gray from a recent hike in the hills along the Big Hole River (old telegraph pole, note the wooden insulators below the cross arms):

It was a great hike and we saw two big herds of elk, a few bighorn sheep, antelope, and mule deer. Only these two mule deer people were close enough for a photograph:

There are some genuine signs of spring, too, such as these bitterroot rosettes:

Friend Dave Carter and I brought the dogs along for this hike in mostly open, snow-free country. The hills here are riddled with dangerous mines and a lot of collapsing shafts like this one in the distance over Dave's head:

If you fall in, the state can always claim, "Don't say we didn't warn you:"

We cut over the top of the ridge on our way back to the truck, encountering a little snow in the trees along the top. This is new, sheets of wire mesh bolted into a steep rockface, probably to protect the home on private property below us from a tumbling boulder:

This is a "shoulder season:" good snowfree hiking in the hills along the riverbottoms, but there's still good cross-country skiing on the hills above town:

And it's about time to wade into a local river for some early spring troutfishing. Next week?