MONTANA REDDNECK EVENING AND WE MADE IT HOME

We stopped in Malta at the dinosaur museum and had a great time there.  The Palaeontologist who runs the place was very knowledgeable, and we had many interesting conversations with her.  She has been involved in a number of finds in that area.  After Malta, we headed down 191 where it crosses the Missouri and spent the night at the Kipp Recreation area.  And that is where we had the "Montana Redneck Evening".  You make sandwiches, take some beer and chips along with lawn chairs then drive down river to the elk viewing area.  What a show.  It is the mating season of elk and they are bugling and trying to get as many cows as they can in their harem.  We spent a couple of hours there watching the show along with some locals and tourists.

Then we headed further south and west.  Stopped in Martinsdale at the Bair Family museum which should be looked at if you are ever in that area.  Spent the night just east of Townsend at a nice Forest Service campground and came on back to the Bitterroot the next day.  There had been a pretty good storm come through and the smoke has cleared out of the valley - that was a very welcome development.

A young lady working on getting the dirt away from a dinosaur bone.

This is Leonardo which is a famous find and some say the most important find in the history of Paleontology because he was all intact.  The Discovery channel did a special on this which you might have seen.

This spring the Kipp Recreation Area was flooded by the old Missouri.  They haven't got all the campsites cleaned up yet.

The floodwater silt dries and cracks up.  You could have stacked these up and made walls with them if they had been more uniform.

And this was our favorite character in the Montana Redneck Evening performance.  He was the dominate bull that is for sure.

This is only part of his harem.  I would estimate that there were at least 40 elk in this bunch and that included at least two other bulls that had 5 points on each side.  This guy had six - a "royal" head has seven on each side.  There were also spikes and what we call "rag horns" meaning they have 3 or 4 on each side and are not very big.

On our way back we came upon these Mule deer fawns who were waiting for their mother to catch up.

KAYAKING ON FORT PECK

Fort Peck is a lake formed when the Missouri River was damned in the 1933's.  Shoreline is some where around 1600 miles long and is the largest earth dam in the US and maybe the world.  Some good kayaking also!  We camped at the Nelson Creek recreation area and just about had it to ourselves.

Sleeping in.

Putting in.

Lots of birds.

Interesting formations along the shore.

Paddling up to our campsite.

Moonrise.

This guy could really jump.

DUCK BANDING AT RED ROCKS

A few pictures that did not make it into the Red Rocks post.

The ducks are also adorned "jewelry" so they can be identified in the field from afar.

A year old duck just about to be put in the box awaiting release.

They are released in groups.

Weighing the ducks.  I was surprised at all they recorded on each duck.  They measured the length and width of the bill, the length of the primary flight feather on the left wing, and a couple more that I now have forgot.

YELLOWSTONE AND BEARTOOTH PASS

Have a little time this morning so thought I would update our time in Yellowstone Park and coming over Beartooth Pass down into the Redlodge area of Montana.  If you have never driven this pass, you should.  It is a great drive.  This is the first time I remember going over it although I may have when I was a little kid. 

We entered the park on the west side at West Yellowstone and drove to Lewis Lake where we kayaked over to where the river from Shoshone Lake comes in.  We are thinking of kayaking up the river to Shoshone Lake next fall and spend a few days in the back country of Yellowstone.  The wind came up so we didn't go all the way as we were a little worried about getting back to the other side of Lewis Lake. The next day we drove out of the park in the northeast corner and dropped over Beartooth Pass.  Got to see lots of buffalo in the park and to the obligatory pictures of them follow.

Crossing Lewis Lake.

Lots of steam vents by Yellowstone Lake.

Young bulls play fighting and running.

These guys were fun to watch.

Just hanging out at the water hole.

More young bulls fighting and playing down with the main herd.

One herd was hanging out by a steam vent across the Yellowstone River.

A group by the river.  The large bull was one of the largest we saw all day.

You can get an idea of the size of this bull compared to the cows and calves.

The colors in the park are just amazing and photos (at least mine) don't do justice to them.

Lots of alpine lakes going over Beartooth Pass.  

Still a little snow hanging around up in the high country.

It would be great hiking here above timberline.  We did a little walk, but would like to explore more.  Need more time in the days, weeks, years and in my life!

Spring flowers are just now blooming.

RED ROCKS LAKES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

We are traveling around in Montana right now and this is the first time I have had internet access.  Got a lot to post, but I will only get the first part of our trip done this time.  We started by going to the Red Rocks Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley which is where the ranch summer pasture is at.  In fact, some of the ranch borders this refuge.  Here are a few pictures of our two days of kayaking on the upper and lower lakes.  Click on any picture to enlarge.

We had some nice water to start out on our first day on the water.  We did get some rain when some thunderstorms passed by.

Of course there are a lot of ducks on the water.

Connie after the first day telling her dog she won't be gone as long tomorrow - yeah, right!

A few trumpeter swans paddling by.  The refuge is known for these birds.

Getting ready to launch on the second day on the lower lake.

Ducks taking flight as we came around a marshy area.

Some sandhill cranes taking flight after we spooked them.

Lots of young ducks.

Some pretty calm water.

Yellow headed black birds were gathering up in flocks ready to head south.

Lots of shore birds hanging around.

And a couple of swans that flew over the kayak.

Will post more when I get internet again.