Harvest and field work are finally coming to an end. This year weather impacted most of our fields, but even with the damage from hail and severe rainfall, the crops turned out ok. These pictures were from back in July during one of the many thunderstorms that rolled though

Many of our friends ask what we enjoy so much about Montana’s mountains, especially in the winter. A election year like this is a prime example of why. When you are up on the mountain you lose your worries of all the BS that is happening in the country. The solitude is so comforting and peaceful. Yes we live in an area that receives a lot of snow and you just have to deal with it. Yes we share our environment with bears, mountain lions, and wolves, but you learn to be cautious. The atmosphere here on the mountain is just pure serenity, and I would much rather deal with a few bears than listen to political ads or deal with all the two legged predators we seem to have in the world today.

The isolation and tranquility that you have up on a mountain may not be for everyone. I know many people would not function well in this environment, but for us it is ideal. I am fortunate to have a partner that shares my love for this lifestyle.

Connie and I will have been married for 35 years this December and these days we have on the mountain just bond us closer. When folks talk to me about doing something similar to what we’ve done, I stress the importance of having a shared interest, and the ability to work side by side.

Life on a mountain is not for everyone, but for us it is perfect.

The longer I work with horses the more I see the way they soften for these precious young ladies. Tanner the horse in this picture is the boss of our horses, but when given the opportunity he is quick to reach over for a pat on the nose from Mady. I don’t know why it is but all of our horses seem to be on their best behavior whenever they are around the girls.
It’s as though these young ladies have some type of telepathy with the horse
And these guys know when they have precious cargo aboard.

All of our granddaughters ride and you can see in their eyes when they are really connecting with the horse. It’s special to see when these young ladies lose their fears to being around these big animals and start to bond.

It’s pretty sweet when these little girls grow up to have a love for horse adventure 

We will do our part to help this fondness grow..

Because when they grow up they may find a great friend and companion

A big thank you hug for a great ride. What a way to make him feel special.

We had a short summer on the mountain this year, but it was still one of the best. The horses were exceptional, taking us on many backcountry trips with little or no issues. Our last morning ride up Teakettle Mtn before I left, capped off the season. 

Although it was a cloudy rainy morning, the views were still fantastic. The horses were perfect and neither of us wanted the ride to end. But we had to return because we had a couple of granddaughters that were anxious to ride

Cowgirls in the making.

We covered an exceptional amount of backcountry miles this summer. I always carry a GPS and record trails and miles ridden. I had the horses on the mountain for 33 days this summer and covered 268 miles. 

We had many exceptional views

The fishing was terrific. Both in the lakes and in the rivers

We had some trails that were slightly challenging, but had great scenery and no mishaps.

And we had great horses that were so much fun

We’ll soon be back

It is a joy as a father to help my children experience the mountains. To see the absolute joy on their face as they see new country is something I’ll always cherish. My children have long been exposed to Montana’s mountain country. This past week has been full of new areas explored and experienced. My daughter Angela and I were on several horseback rides. We were up on Teakettle Mtn, up McGinnis creek, and up Big Creek.There are magnificent views from the top of Teakettle Mtn. We rode up here one evening amidst very ominous clouds. We didn’t take any raingear along and just as we started down it began to pour. Lesson learned!

Another trip was to explore a new area up McGinnis creek. All the country up the North Fork of the Flathead is magnanimous. Huge valleys with beautiful views. The many old logging roads in this area have been closed and abandoned for vehicle travel so they are excellent areas to explore on horseback.

Cody was able to fly in from Minneapolis for a quick 3 days.  He got off the plane and stepped into the saddle. We took a overnight trip up to Badger cabin – a forest service facility up the south fork of two medicine.

Twelve hours earlier Cody was home in Minneapolis. Now he was catching cutthroat in the backcountry. We stopped at a hunting camp just short of Badger cabin to spend the night.

The next day we rode up big river trail to the Long creek trail crossing to fish the middle fork of the flathead. Fishing the river is always fun and I enjoy riding into the back country on this trail.

Gotta love Montana’s wilderness!!

I was fortunate in my youth to be raised by a father that loved the mtns. He loved to fish, hike, hunt and recreate in the mtns of Montana. He shared his love of adventure with me throughout my childhood. I will always be grateful. Today, (July 5) marked the 20th anniversary of his death while camping in a favorite little national forest campground. One of the areas that we often explored in my youth was up the granite creek drainage to granite cabin. Connie and I took a ride up this drainage today to check on the river crossing accessing castle lake.

This was one of those days when things don’t always go well. We took Banjo and Freckles cuz Tanner and Harley needed a rest. There is a stretch of this trail that goes through a burn area from last year and for some reason both horses developed a real attitude and neither wanted to be the leader. After a few rodeo’s in some precarious trail locations we finally got lined out and made it to the river. It was late in the day so after a quick lunch we headed back. Rounded a corner and uh oh there’s a grizzly. Thankfully Banjo didn’t freak out and the bear jumped off the trail and up a ravine. I walked banjo into the ravine carefully watching but no bear so I signaled Connie to head over. As she was heading by where the bear was sighted I spotted him about 20′ above her behind a large stump. He had been there the whole time and I just missed him. We were lucky and he just watched us pass by without incident.

A friend from ND came out for a visit and some backcountry riding and fishing. We spent a day up the S. Fork of Two Medicine and the fishing was great.

The next day was a trip to elk lake. The trail hadn’t been cut yet, but the horses did a great job getting around all the deadfall. Luck was with us and a trail crew came in behind us so the ride out was easy.

I always love the views from Devils Hump

The fishing was fabulous. I haven’t had that kind of fishing at elk lake for many years.

Such a beautiful lake

Definitely an adventurous last few days. Thanks Dad for teaching me to appreciate this country.

Glacier Park is starting to get busy. We got the horses loaded up early and tried to beat the traffic. Lincoln Lake was our destination today. The trail takes off from Going To The Sun road just a couple miles short of the Lake McDonald Lodge. This trail is a pretty steep grade and it doesn’t usually get much use. It is a little over 8 miles to the lake. You travel up and over Snyder Ridge and drop down into Lincoln Creek. From there its 3.6 miles further to the lake.This lake has a beautiful waterfall coming out of Lake Ellen Wilson which is right above. – Beaver Chief Falls.

Lunch at the lake edge

Today we rode the south boundary trail of Glacier Park down to Harrison Creek. This is the site of an old homestead belonging to Dan and Josephine Doody. Supposedly Dan kidnapped Josephine from the railroad boom town of McCarthyville to become his wife. Another story is Josephine had killed a man in Colorado and had moved in with Dan to hide out. Josephine became famous for her moonshining and bootlegging. The old cabin is falling down now and nature is reclaiming the area, but it is fun to visit and view the history here.

The old Fordson tractor at the cabin

It is a beautiful ride down the south boundary trail to arrive at this site.

The horses were very well behaved on this ride. The trail is somewhat precarious. One misstep in the wrong place and you will definately have a problem.

From the trailhead at park headquarters it’s about 8 miles to the Doody cabin at the junction of the Harrison creek trail.

Great weather conditions for a ride up the South Fork of Two Medicine. This trail is part of the CDT trail system. We were just out for the afternoon and spent some time fishing, but it was such a nice day we still ended up close to Badger cabin. Be prepared for multiple creek crossings if you’re heading down this trail.Sometimes the cutthroat run a little small. Still a lot of fun.

Couple mule deer and lots of elk tracks were all the wildlife we saw.

Nice scenery with Summit Mtn. in the background.

Ouch!!! Connie accidentally shut her fingers in the pickup door just before leaving at the trailhead. Wrapped with cotton and vet wrap she went on the ride. What a trooper!

On Fathers Day evening Freckles and I took a ride up our mountain. This offers some fantastic views from up on Teakettle. 

Horses just seem so much happier when they are in their mountain pasture. They don’t get to spend a lot of time out here, about 2 hours early morning and late evening, but they sure look content.We rode up to long creek on big river trail yesterday. Connie had never been up to spruce park or beyond and its sure a nice easy trip. Great for a early season ride. Banjo (the bay) is the most inexperienced horse we have, so he gets training time on easy trails. I took him over to Glacier Park to ride the Old Flathead ranger station trail. There he experienced meeting up with strange horses, and new people. It’s good for him to meet hikers with bright colored backpacks on, and other trail hazards in a somewhat non-treacherous area. This is a pretty trail ride that follows along the flathead river on the Glacier Park side.

It is beautiful up on Teakettle Mtn. this spring. While excess rainfall has caused substantial flooding damage in the area, it has also led to a rich lush forest this year.

We took a nice ride up McGinnis creek today with our neighbor joining us. This is a beautiful area for a spring ride. Easy riding up old Forest Service roads that are closed to motorized vehicles till July 1. Every little waterway or drainage seemed to have water flowing, and the forage was exceptional, but we only saw one lone elk. From the pass you get great views looking toward the camas valley and Glacier Park.