Schwabacher Landing and Teton Range Beckon

Schwabacher Landing is an area along the Snake River that lets us wander through the Snake’s floodplain and along the braided meanderings of the river. This area can change dramatically depending on the time of year primarily due to the amount of precipitation and snow melt. Sagebrush dominates the view along the dirt road that leads us down to the Landing, but once there, the landscape is a wonder of plant and animal life, marshes and wetlands, all indicative of a rich floodplain. Best of all, it is autumn. Today we are walking below the Teton Range not long after sunrise on a sparkling blue-sky day (I have not modified that blue sky, in case you were wondering). The beauty just takes my breath away! Let’s explore.

Swabacher Landing

Continue exploring . . .

Hiking to Cold Lake in the Mission Mountains–At Last!

Driving north up Montana Highway 83 we see the Swan Mountains on the right and the Mission Mountains to the left. Gorgeous scenery as we drive up the Swan Valley. There is a hike that has been on my mind for two years and today, finally, I will make it to Lower Cold Lake. Look, there’s Swan Mountain, the rocky peak between the tree-covered mountains. It is the second highest peak in the Swan Range at 9,289 feet and it even has glaciers, but today we hike in the Mission Mountains. It’s only a little further to US Forest Service road #903 which begins our climb to the Cold Lakes’ trailhead. It’s a beautiful day and I know you’ll enjoy this hike with me!

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To the trailhead . . .

Ride~About: Montana’s Unique Pryor Mountains

pryor mountain road

What a great idea. We have the maps and a free day, so leaving at 5am we journey three hours east to the unique Pryor Mountains. They are very different from what we expect in Montana that boasts of the Rocky Mountains in the west and the Great Plains in the east. Rather than the glacier-carved granite of the Rockies, the Pryors are an island of sandstone, shale, and limestone reaching up from the prairie high enough to including spectacular limestone canyons. The Pryors are not only geologically unique, but culturally, ecologically, and meteorologically as well. What an unexpected and beautiful landscape!

You’ll love this drive . . .

SNAP*Shot: Mountain Goats

There is one thing about mountain goats; they really blend into their surroundings. Considering they were about 10 yards off the road down a slight slope with a nearby parking area, it didn’t seem possible that no one saw them, but no one stopped. I don’t think people knew what we were photographing so intently as they drove by. We loved it!

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Continue . . .