Back Home Again: Sweet Montana

Though I leave part of my heart in China, it is good to be home again.

Car Camping
My friends had a camp-out all planned as a welcome event, out on the Big Hole River sagebrush prairie where the antelope play peek-a-boo:

Where we could spend the evening sitting around the fire:

Enjoying great views and dramatic sunsets:

Start the morning with a pot of coffee:

Then take a long hike, the hills dotted with elk herds:

And beaver ponds for the dogs to cool down and fetch sticks:

Wildflowers blooming (elephant heads, Pedicularis groenlandica):

Butterflies blooming, too:

An afternoon thundershower brought mammatus clouds:

Followed by a double rainbow:

On the way home, of course, there's a stop at Dairy Queen:

Hike at The Moulton

On a hike in the hills just north of our home, I was glad Molly-The-Dog heeled as we watched this curious badger:

We did not see Bear, but did find fresh spoor:

Not that I'm paranoid, but I did take the unusual precaution of arming myself since a human body was recently found in this area, and the murderer has yet to be found:

Montana Folk Festival

Good timing. A week after my arrival, Butte hosted three days of dancing, good food, and music from around the world:

This is the 5th year for this event (the first 3 were as the National Folk Festival). As usual, the Original Mineyard provided a dramatic stage:

With several other stages operating, it was hard to choose where to go (and what kind of music to dance to) at any given hour:

Yes, it's good to be home under the Big Sky: