Scenic View - South Toward Helena, Montana

“Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. 
Wash your spirit clean.” - John Muir (1838-1914)

Easy Climbing - South of Helena, Montana

“The vision must be followed by the venture. 

It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs.” - Vance Havner (1901-1986)

(Tune in tomorrow for the stepped up view. 

Same bat time, same bat channel.) 

Long View - Adel Mountains, Montana

The Adel Mountains present a 40 mile long swath of upstanding volcanic rock. While its geography doesn’t allow much in the way of recreational opportunity, there is a short walking trail at the Scenic Viewpoint pullout, where the view draws your eye off to the restful space of distant mountains and endless blue sky.

According to the observant blogging folks at the Montana Natural History Center, this formation is comprised of “…a rare type of intrusive igneous rock known as shonkinite, which is found only in Montana, British Columbia, Ontario, and the Indonesian island of Timor. It’s similar to basalt but more brittle, and principally contains augite and a type of feldspar.”

There you have it.

Looking Up - I-15 Corridor North of Helena, Montana

“So look up…

Take in your surroundings, 

make the most of today…”

 -from poem “Look Up” by Gary Turk

Wise Saplings - Missoula, Montana

"All the complicated details

of the attiring and 
the disattiring are completed...

Thus having prepared...

the wise trees 

stand sleeping in the cold."

- from "Winter Trees" by William Carlos Williams

Pinesicles - Missoula, Montana

'Tis still the season - for wintry loveliness, that is - despite today's continued power melting chinook.