Hieronymous Park Canal, Hamilton, Montana

By the time you read this, I will be a fair bit down the road on a holiday that includes 12 hours of driving north to Canada - and the same back at next week's end - with three teenagers. A family reunion and other relative visits en route mean that, realistically, I won’t have any time to myself, so I’ve decided to re-post some old favourites that I hope you’ll enjoy - for the first time or perhaps again. Off we go!

Holiday RePost:  28 January 2012

If you visit Hamilton, Montana, plan a stroll through Hieronymous Park, and bring your lunch - just across the bridge is a picnic table, near the fish pond.

River Access, Hamilton, Montana

Squint a little at the upper right quadrant & you’ll see cattails, which hint that this ditch ends in a backwater of the Bitterroot River.

Winter Sluice Gate, Hamilton, Montana

Water to many ditches is cut off at summer’s end, but this branch retained enough to create pleasing reflections and ice patterns.

Homesteader Hope, Missoula, Montana

Irrigation ditches have been the lifeblood for generations in many Montana counties, bringing a coveted resource within reach. In “Prairie Nocturne“, Ivan Doig touches on the importance of these manmade waterways. Since they’re often picturesque, I’ll feature a few in series this week.