Bitterroot Mountains from Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge - Stevensville, Montana

Perfect pockets of sun and shadow - plus a lovely side of laughter among friends! -  made for a gorgeous fall ramble at the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge. 

(I THINK that may be St. Mary's Peak in the background...  not as simple as I'd hoped to logic 

our this peak's location on a map.... please comment if you can confirm or deny.) 

Sharrott Creek Fire Camp Edge - US Hwy 93, Stevensville, Montana

This quote in no way denigrates the seriousness of the Sharrott Creek and other wildfires, especially as relates to people’s safety. But driving past this smokey reminder of possible loss on our way to visit family re-upped my ongoing pondering on what is truly important.

"…Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain…Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go." - May Sarton (1912-1995), from Journal Of A Solitude

(Quote find thanks to Austin Kleon in his thoughtful action-inspiring Keep Going: 10 Ways To Stay Creative…)

Smokey Mountain Canyon - Sharrott Creek Fire, Stevensville, Montana

“Break-through sunlight 

filters through wildfire smoke, and suddenly you see the depth of what you didn’t know existed - there is a canyon and a whole other hill where you thought it was just one big tree-covered mountain. And so it often is under the shining light of truth paired with love - you see what you could not see before, your perception widens.” -Cyndy Hull

Vanilla Smell (but don’t taste…) - Ponderosa Pine - Kootenai Creek, Stevensville, Montana

“…a smell … likened to vanilla or butterscotch exudes from the cracks between slabs of bark on the tree, creating a unique type of Rocky Mountain aromatherapy.” - Katherine Court in Field Notes: Ponderosa Pine Bark. (Learn a LOT more from the Montana Natural History Centre!)

Focus Further - Kootenai Creek, Stevensville, Montana

“It is never quite safe to think we have done with life. When we imagine we have finished our story, fate has a trick of turning the page and showing us yet another chapter.” - L. M. Montgomery (1874-1942), Rainbow Valley, chapter 13

Rooted - Kootenai Creek, Stevensville, Montana

“I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.” - John Muir (1838-1914)

Kootenai Creek, Summer - Stevensville, Montana

Finally! A summertime version of hiking Kootenai Creek that I’ve been waiting for ever since our snowy ramble.

Snowy Spring Day - Kootenai Creek - Near Stevensville, Montana

“…one is inclined to quess that, apart from the acquisition of knowledge and the exhilaration of climbing, more pleasure is to be found at the foot of the mountains than on their tops….” - John Muir (1838-1914)

Sun And Snow Along Kootenai Creek - Near Stevensville, Montana

Watching snowflakes peacefully float past the green backdrop of our juniper tree, I’m mentally basking in last weekend’s perfect snow-sun Sunday along Kootenai Creek near Stevensville, Montana. While our souls (and soles?hah! ) were duly satisfied over a carefully stepped snow-packed mile, other hikers said they were returning from the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness boundary just 3.5 miles from the trailhead. (Investing yet  another 7 miles apparently gets you to a pair of lovely lakes…)

Wild Rose Bloom - Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge, Stevensville, Montana

“In every good tale there is a seed of truth, and from that seed a lovely story grows. Some of what I've told you is true and some ... well , let's just call it the bloom on the rosebush.”

-from This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, page 444

Alliteration Illustrated - Stevensville, Montana

My favourite guest-poster strikes again! Big thanks to Pat Richards for sharing her thoughts and visuals from their recent Montana visit.

 

Alliteration Illustrated

The babbling brook bubbles by.

And indeed it did!

Musically mesmerizing my soul.

Relaxation music courtesy of Mother Nature

While the Bitterroot River can hardly be termed a brook, simply sitting on a rock watching and listening as it flows by is one of my favorite Montana pastimes.   

- Pat

Smoky Skating - Stevensville, Montana

After the long haul toward their skatepark dream, Stevensville skaters are undeterred by the smoky air.

August Weather - Up Kootenai Creek Rd., Stevensville, Montana

"August is apt to bring us fine weather. The meadows are sultry, but there is a wind in the sky and the clouds are great and dignified as they march against the mountains."

-from "Courtship Of My Cousin Doone", ch. 3, by Walter D. Edmonds (1903-1998)

Day's End - Creamery Picnic, Stevensville, Montana

Wildfire smoke makes for a dramatic backdrop to last call for award-winning BBQ at the Creamery Picnic's cookoff.

Bitterroot Ripples - Tucker Crossing, Stevensville, Montana

"Each time a [hu]man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

-Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)

Future Focused - Tucker Crossing, Stevensville, Montana

"We are called to be the architects of the future, not its victims."

-Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), Quoted in Ch. 66 Heading of The Last Days Of Night by Graham Moore

Tucker Crossing Calming View - Stevensville, Montana

"If there is magic on this planet,
 it is contained in water."

 -- Loren Eiseley (1907-1977)

Nice Day - Stevensville, Montana

"Nice day
for a

white wedding."

- Billy Idol, from "White Wedding"

Driving up to the intersection above Tucker Crossing fishing access, the sky opened wide as I topped the rise, crisscrossing jet trails hinting at new adventures about to begin. Another glorious day awaits under the big Montana sky!

(Note: I was not actually fishing at the fishing access - this is not required. Good thing for me. But the "access" aspect is also useful for finding photo perspectives along the river.)

Pebbles To Trod - Stevensville, Montana

"My life is full of mistakes. 
They're like pebbles that make a good road."

- Beatrice Wood (1893-1998)

Wild Rose Season - Stevensville, Montana

Meadowlarks provide 
the quintessential birdsong 
of spring;
wild roses supply 
its fragrance.