The Capitol Christmas Tree

Saturday the Forest Service cut the Christmas tree which will go in front of the Capitol in Washington. The tree came from our forest so all were excited. I decided to go and help out where needed. Over 500 people showed up and we had Christmas carolers, bondfires, hot chocolate and cookies. It was really neat but took a really long time. They held up the tree with a crane so it wouldn't fall when they actually cut it. (Apparantly a couple of years ago they cut the tree and made it land on the truck. Well it ended up breaking a lot of the branches and they had to use their back up tree.) Then they layed it parallel and put it on a huge truck. I didn't stay for the whole thing because it was taking FOREVER and the Fl/Ga game was starting. (I may be living in Montana but my priorities are still back home!)The truck for the Christmas tree. The entire truck is over 100 ft long. I'm just really glad I didn't have to drive it down that mountain road!
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....
The tree being carefully laid down before it gets on the truck.
I'm ready for Christmas! (It's cold enough!!)

Not related to the Christmas tree at all...just a beautiful view heading out to do some work. The golden trees to the left are the larches.

Callista hard at work in Montana

Callista came to work with me Monday which I of course loved (my theory is: more people = more noise = less bears!). It ended up being a beautiful day and I saw my first moose in the Bitterroot and up close! We drove around a corner and there she was. She ran off pretty quick and didn't let us get too close but it was still neat. Mrs. Moose.We had some awesome views of Trapper Peak. Last week when I was driving around this was COVERED in snow, even though it still has quite a bit. Callista in her stylish orange vest.

Callista and Nicole's Visit

My two best friends from home, Callista and Nicole, came up to visit last weekend. We had a blast staying around the Bitterroot area as I tried to show them the highlights of the area. I took them on my favorite hike, Bear Creek, where we had a late lunch sitting by the river. We also hiked out to the Blodgett Canyon overlook which had just an amazing view. I tried giving them the best pie in Montana but the restaurant closed early. Even still it was a great time.

Hiking at Bear Creek. Not river, creek. (Floridians, what can I say?)
The view of Blodgett. The view to our backs was the valley which was also gorgeous.

Trying to stay warm and not blow away at the top of Blodgett. Coming down from our last hike we saw some amazing aspens changing color.

October Hiking

Well not much new to post but my sister was begging for some more pictures. Here are some from the latest hiking of Bear Creek and Camas Lake. I went to Camas Lake in June but never found it because I got lost in the snow so was glad to finally get there. You can see the larches in the background changing colors. My boss informs me they're the only evergreens to change color and lose their needles. (Don't ask me why they are then called ever"greens")

Glacier in September

The last weekend my parents were in Montana I had to take them to Glacier. The weather was a little rainy but it worked out fine. Saturday we hiked to Avalanche Lake. It was raining when we wanted to stop at Logan Pass but Sunday it cleared up so we just went back then. We stayed at Many Glacier and did some short hikes to some of those lakes. The last thing we did was have ice cream by Lake MacDonald (even though it was cold outside- that's dedication!).

At a stop on Avalanche Creek. The water is so clear and green.
Before the hike to Avalanche Lake.
Avalanche Gorge. Again- the water is just amazing.
My Mom and I at the Many Glacier Lodge deck. We saw some grizzly bears...wayyyyyy far off on the mountains.
Mom and Daddy at Lake MacDonald.

The Grand Tetons

After Yellowstone we headed to the Grand Tetons where we stayed at the Jackson Lake Lodge. We spent a lot of time relaxing in the lobby, reading books, drinking coffee and looking at the wildlife. The lodge overlooks the Tetons and has a large grazing area where elk and moose like to hang out. Last time we didn't see any moose, but we actually saw TWO this time! Besides hanging out at the lodge, we did some hiking and went into Jackson Hole where Daddy enjoyed a day of shopping. The weather got really cold and it even sleeted on us coming home.

Mr. Moose #2, seen from the Lodge.

Hidden Falls at Jenny Lake. (Lauren we missed you!)
Daddy at Jenny Lake the second day. The hike was on the edge of the water with The Tetons behind it.
From Summit Mountain. You had a great view of the mountain range and Lake Jackson.
Mom and Daddy in front of the mountain range. The cloud on your left is cover Grand Teton and decided to do so ALL day. (notice how my Mom is wearing pants and a sweater, while my Daddy is wearing shorts and a long sleeved shirt! I dressed more like Mom)

Yellowstone

My parents came out to Montana for a couple of weeks and we started their trip by going to Yellowstone. We only spent a day there but got to see lots and hit our favorite places from the first trip.

Grand Guyeser. There were a bunch of guys sitting there telling us that it was surely going to erupt in the next hour or so...we saw them half an hour later somewhere else. It was still neat watching it boil and spew.

Morning Glory- hot spring.

Old Faithful was true to its name. We only waited about two minutes!

Daddy and me at Inspiration Point with the falls of Yellowstone River behind us.

Excavator Work

Today was Reece's last day at work so I helped him load the excavator to be sent back to Missoula. We had a few extra minutes so he taught me the basics of running the excavator and helped me move some slash around and break a big log. I must say, it was really fun (and hard)!

Wildlife

These pictures aren't too exciting but just some wildlife Bri and I saw in Glacier. This little guy was at Dawson Pass and would NOT leave us alone until Bri gave him her apple core. He had no qualms about coming right up to our bag. When I threw little rocks at him, he chased after them because he thought they were food. The thing I like about these two pictures is the rams were far away but we managed to still get some decent shots.

Glacier, Part III

Bri (my most recent roommate from UF) came into town for almost a week so once again I took her to my favorite place on Earth, Glacier National Park. We camped at Two Medicine, luckily with no water logged tents this time. Our first day we hiked up to Dawson Pass. I'm not sure why I thought climbing 2500 ft would be fun, but the views were spectacular and well worth almost dying. At one point some fellow hikers told us it was "right around the corner"...they lied. We saw a black bear on the trail at one point but by the time we got the camera out, he saw us and ran away. Considering how terrified I am of bears (second only to frogs) I composed myself quite well. (it may have helped Bri was between the bear and myself)

Dawson PassSunset at our campsite.

The next day we hiked to Grizzly Medicine Lake which was not well frequented by other people so it was our own quiet lake. Luckily no grizzlies decided to visit either.

Our last day we drove across the park and stopped at Logan Pass. This time it was not covered in snow (like it was in July with Amber) and we were able to hike to Hidden Lake. We saw lots of animals (pics to come later) and once again the view was amazing.

A view on the Going to the Sun Road. That's an "island" in the middle of Lake Mary.

Sheafman Creek

I went hiking a few weeks ago on Sheafman Creek. After getting lost a few times (I'm turning into my Father!) I was able to find this pond and lake. The lake was formed from glaciers so was just beautiful. There was another lake somewhere nearby but the trail was unable to be seen so I never did find it. But this lake was beautiful and made the hike worth it. I especially liked the rock leading into the water (and yes! that's ice!)

(the pond)

Work is going well. I had this taken after a day of monitoring old fuel reduction sites. That is Painted Rocks Lake in the background. Check out the hard hat...look real close! (Thanks for the contribution Hughesie!)

Catching Up

Jeff came in from Iowa towards the end of July. We went 4 wheeling and had a hawk following above us. We also went down to Painted Rocks and then checked out the West Fork of the river (picture above) where Jeff tried to catch a fish with his bare hands (notice there's no picture...).







Hamilton had a Brew Fest that weekend and we met up with my roommate Asia.












Shiloh came in from Missouri for a few days. I took her to Bear Creek, one of my favorite hikes. We found lots of berries, some of which were delicious and some of which were not.

Shiloh and I went to the Lee Metcalf Reguge and sat by the river for a while. Right before sunset we saw this bald eagle and followed him till the sun set and the mosquitos ran us away.
The Montana Western State Fair was in town so we went to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert. We walked around and had some fair food- the best of which being the corn on the cob and the Wisconsin fried cheese curds!