we’ve explored a lot of area this week. A couple of excursions up the north fork, a nice ride along the flathead river and a fabulous ride up to Huckleberry Lookout.

The ride along the river followed the old flathead ranger station trail.  This is a fairly easy relaxing ride with some nice river views. Add in a beautiful day and you’ve got a great outing.

We had a couple of rides up the north fork of the flathead. I took Freckles and Banjo one day and then Connie and I took them again to explore a new trail we found. This trail was very overgrown and kept us alert looking for bears. When we broke out on top though we had some terrific views.

We try to always be vigilant with looking for bears. Although we haven’t had an encounter this summer, it’s just a matter of time. They are part of the landscape so if you’re going to ride and explore these mountains you have to deal with bears. Some trails are nice and open so you can see if there are any close, others are very overgrown and this can definately raise the pucker factor.

We then took a trip up to Huckleberry lookout. This is a nice well used trail, but it is a pretty steep grade gaining 3400 vertical feet in the 6 mile trek up to the lookout. A few weeks from now this Mtn will be thick with huckleberries and bears.

If you are on the road much I’m sure you’ve noticed the high amount of a…holes that are out there these days. Back in ND we see it becoming increasingly hazardous to move machinery. We are also on the road in MT constantly hauling horses to different trailheads. When hauling precious cargo you don’t accelerate quickly or brake sharply. You drive in a very safe controlled manner. I’m used to hauling big loads so I can usually travel at speeds that keep up with traffic flow. It’s frustrating though to see those drivers that have no respect or consideration for others on the road. It kind of epitomizes the mood of society today. Consideration for themselves and no one else. For example, the other day we were pulling out of a parking lot with multiple exits. As we pulled onto the hwy, a car (with a couple of young ladies) exiting from the next exit yielded to allow us to go by. A man following them promptly pulled onto the sidewalk to the right of them and onto the road in front of us. As he was bouncing his little car off the curb the female driver he passed let him know he was number one. Frustrating to deal with these kind of inconsiderate people. I think I’d rather contend with the grizz.