Pioneer Mountains of Montana--A Hike and a Bear, oh my...

My retired friends Dave Carter and Leroy Friel kindly let me tag along on a hike in the Pioneer Mountain Range, an hour or so south of our home in Butte, Montana. Leroy, who taught engineering at Montana Tech for many years, is now working on a book about the Pioneers. On our way back, we saw this rangy yearling black bear (maybe lost his Mama?):

To get back to the beginning, here we are setting out through a horse gate at the trailhead:

There are, of course, lots of mining ruins in the area. The hills of southwest Montana were much more populated a century ago than they are today:

We hiked up to a chain of small lakes such as this one:

And continued on up to a ridge with a view of more (and larger) lakes below (and below the lakes lies the town of Polaris):

The area has lots of Rocky Mountain Goats as evidenced by much shed hair in the meadows:

As well as fresh tracks (note they are much blockier than the heart-shaped tracks of deer):

In a meadow along the scree at the head of a small lake, we stumbled upon this lovely spring-fed pool:

In the woods, parks, and meadows, wildflowers are at their prime:

I seldom hike in the Pioneers, having abandoned the area a decade or more ago when it was being over-run by rogue ATV ("four wheeler") riders tearing up the landscape. The Forest Service has been gaining some control over the motorized users of late and we saw few signs of use in off-trail areas. Though only 50 miles as the raven flies from where the Pintler Range that I frequent, the Pioneers have a somewhat different floral community. Leroy was an excellent guide and helped me realize that the popular wildflower identification guides I use denote only a fraction of the diverse species in our mountains. A few new-to-me species included Tweedy Snowlover (Chionophila tweedyi), a penstemon:

Cusick's Speedwell (Veronica cusickii):

Red-stemmed Saxifrage (Saxifrage lyallii):

Storm Saxifrage (Micranthes tempesitva; not a 100% certain ID--there are many saxifrage species and of course they hybridize too, just to complicate things):

There were also the first white Pygmy Bitterroot (Lewisia pygmaea) that I've seen:

Along the way we also noted many familiar (to me) species, including Parry's Lousewort (Pedicularis parryi):

Twin Arnica (Arnica sororia; this ID is also complicated, since not all the stems were twinned, and many appeared to be hybridized with Mountain Arnica):

Lewis's Monkeyflower (Mimulus lewisii):

And Sticky Geranium (Geranium viscosissimum):

As we ate lunch up on the ridge, storm clouds began building and we could hear lightning a few miles away (Leroy w/ his fine camera and JackTheDog):

Cutting the hike a bit short, we ambled back to the truck though the storms passed around us.

SkyWatch Friday: Rocky Mtn Thunderstorms & Rainbow

The dog days of August at 6,000 feet along the Continental Divide in southwest Montana bring warm 80 deg F days, pleasant 40 deg F nights, clear sunny skies and -- some afternoons -- rousing thunderstorms. The sun's energy creates big thermals along the ridges:

The clouds tower up and form storm cells in the late afternoon/evening with rain, hail, and lightning:

And usually it's followed by a rainbow:

Good days--for people as well as dogs.

Back Home Again: Montana Priorities (trout fishing, backpacking)

I loved Hawai'i, I really did. But not as much as I love my home along the Continental Divide in the Rockies of southwest Montana. It's a tough place to leave in summer, and first two priorities upon arrival: troutfishing and backpacking.

Check the first one off, on day 1:

The Big Hole River fished well on dry flies, lots of brown and rainbow trout rising to small caddis flies and a white aquatic moth. Still, when you want to bring one fresh trout home for supper after a morning of fishing, tie on a stonefly nymph (this beautiful imitation was tied by friend Don Kieffer I think. Or was it Mike Morris? Or Chad Okrusch? At any rate, THANK YOU you guys for feeding my habit.):

Next day, a few nights of backpacking. Strangely enough, although I can see it to the south from my house, I had never backpacked into the Highland Mountains:

We hiked up from Hell's Canyon, above the old Forest Service Guard Station (it's available for rent):

This area is dry and therefore below treeline--sagebrush prairie, ideal habitat for this big-eared Mule Deer doe:

MollyTheDog & I found a campsite on an elevated point of dry ground, near the creek but breezy so the mosquitoes (the air is thick with 'em this year, following that long wet spring):

We built a fire and cooked a good supper:

And fell asleep cooled by the breeze from a snow cornice on the ridge above our camp:

Hiking upward through the twisted krumholz and avalanche chutes, I could see the cones of Whitebark Pines shining dark against the blue sky:

 A squirrel had cut a cone but not harvested it, so I enjoyed the pine nuts, a tasty if sticky treat:

In the woods, Heartleaf Arnica (Arnica cordifolia) carpeted the ground and Fritillary Butterflies find these flowers especially tasty:

Also in the woods, the occasional Pine White Butterfly:

There was lots of elk sign (such as this big wallow) and though we sent one huge bull crashing from it's bed I was not quick enough with the camera:

Several other widlflowers bloomed in the woods, including Trappers Tea (Ledum glandulosum):

And Green-flowered Wintergreen (Pyrola chlorantha):

As we began to rise above tree-line, wet meadows were still full of spring flowers such as these Shooting Stars:

In transitional (between wet and dry) areas, there was Arrowleaf Groundsel (Senecio triangularis ):

In drier areas, Silvery Lupine (Lupinus argenteus) dominated the floral community:

In the driest and rockiest areas, the star of the moment was Lanceleaf Stonecrop (Sedum lanceolatum):

Froma meadow leading to the saddle between Table Mountain and another, unnamed, ridge, you can see why this mountain deserves its name:

We surprised a herd of Rocky Mountain Big-horn Sheep. There were 12 in all (8 ewes and 4 kids); here are some of them:

Pausing to watch the sheep, my binoculars found a flock of robins mobbing something on the meadow past the roll of the ridge where we could not see. I thought maybe it was a Peregrine Falcon or other predator, so we hike closer. It was a Coyote, mousing and seemingly oblivious to the pesky birds. MollyTheDog and I hunkered down into some krumholz where I plucked a blade of grass and used it to make a high-pitched "dying rabbit" squeal. Coyote approached steadily but cautiously, coming to within about 60 yards before it scented us and bolted:

We continued our steep scramble up Table Mountain, pausing for breath occasionally, and taking in this view of Red Mountain:

When MollyTheDog finds a snow field, she KNOWS what to do. Oh the joy of life's simple pleasures!:

In the Alpine meadows and "rock gardens" of Table Mountain, I was pleased to find some new (to me) varieties of wildflowers. Who would think that the flora would be so different from the Pintler, just a few miles to the west? New species included Alpine Buttercup (Ranunculus eschscholtzii; lower left yellow flower):

Globeflowers (Trollius laxus):

A variety of Phlox probably kelseyi var. Missoula:

And Old Man of the Mountain (Tetraneuris grandiflora):

Familiar, though always welcome, were  Moss Campion (Silene acaulis), shown here with a Tortoiseshell Butterfly:

Tiny Alpine Forget-me-not (Eritrichium nanum), shown here with a buttercup for size comparison:

 Cushion Buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium):

Cushion Phlox (Phlox pulvinata) shown here with a humblebee:

Once on top, it was time to hang out at the peak monument, enjoy lunch, and engage in soulful contemplation. Great views of course, including a view north to Butte (left) and the Berkeley Pit/Continental Pit copper mines (right). That's my house in the upper left of the photo ;-)

A hike down and back to camp, a good night's sleep, then the hike out. Back in Butte, were treated to an evening thunderstorm and a rainbow:

I think I already found that pot o' gold...