The Montana DNR opened a new wildlife refuge on May 15, just a couple miles from our campground. On our Sunday morning bike ride, we discovered an access point through some private land and returned later with our hiking gear. We covered six miles of beautiful terrain in the few hours we had available and plan to get an earlier start next time. For now, we hope you enjoy these shots!
The plants are still trying to figure out if it's time to bloom or not, but the calves aren't waiting. We hiked through a herd of angus that seemingly have never seen human beings and were mostly terrified by our presence. This baby decided that momma wasn't movin' until his belly was full!
The flowers are coming on slowly. We hope to see more on our next visit.
We followed a dirt road onto the DNR land and eventually came to a hiking trail that climbed upward around a mountain.
It's always a good idea to stop and look behind you. Sometimes the view is amazing!
Eventually, the wide trail turned into a narrow path through the pine trees.
When the path disintegrated, we decided to hike up the mountain side to what appeared to be the top. We moved forward leaving markers as we went...just in case. The good news, when we finally reached the top (after a climb of 200 ft! ), we found ourselves in a meadow very close to the dirt road. Although we were nowhere near the top, the view across the valley was spectacular.
We will be returning to explore this area as soon as the weather settles down...soon, we hope.
Standing... surrounded by beauty, we talked about how very special it is to have a life unfettered by "wants" that require money in order to be fulfilled.
This a precious gift!
Until next time....
What are those blue wildflowers? Fantastic color. Thanks for posting again.
ReplyDeleteWe've been missing it.