CLEAR AIR IN THE BITTERROOT

Thought I would post a few pictures of what it looks like now in the Bitterroot after the snows have pretty well put out the fires that seem to have burned all summer.  We are so thankful to have our visibility back and cool, clear, and crisp air to breath again.

click to enlarge and you might be able to see the 5 point bull elk running away from us on our morning walk.

It is just nice to be able to see the mountains again instead of all the smoke.

ROUNDUP 2017

We went over to the Martinell Ranch and helped out with their roundup and weaning.  They are doing it in September this year to see if they can cut down on the number of livestock deaths from predators in the area.  Grizzly bears are getting quite numerous in the Centennial Valley and are causing the ranchers a lot of trouble.  The range riders are seeing more signs of bears every year and documenting kills by them.  Wolves used to be the biggest problem, but it has changed now to bears.

And the weather is generally better in September than October so the stress of weaning and shipping might not be as bad on the calves.  I said generally and it was not so good this year.  We had quite a bit of snow and rain this year in the middle of the month.  And getting the number of semis to haul the calves out of the valley has to be coordinated weeks/months in advance.

We knew we were going to be gathering in the snow when there was snow in the Big Hole.

The snow on the sagebrush made for some wet legs and feet if you didn't have chaps and water proof boots!

Starting to get the cattle together.

The cowboys and cowgirls I gathered with on the first day - Kiley, Macie, Conner, and Dan.

Heath bringing up two pair to a gate.

Cookies and Coffee at the Gobel gate the first day.

Unloading the horses for the second day.

Zeph gathering up a few cows.

And here he is getting a calf gathered up.  Dogs are essential to gathering cows.

Three generations of cowboys: Rowen, Ryan, and Tony Bailey.

Some weird cloud formations.

Coming out of the Gobel and trailing down to the Monte Kent.

At the corrals on the last day weaning the calves.  Marcie and Allen with cattle in the alley.

Zeph waiting for me to go gather up some more cattle.

Connie, Kristen, and Allen doctoring a calf.

Loading up the trucks.

Our pickup and camper were pretty dirty from driving miles on the muddy wet roads of the valley.

ESCAPING SMOKE 3

Here is the last post on our attempt to escape the smoke in the Bitterroot.

Me and Zeph out paddling before it gets light.

A smoky sunrise.

The jeep got really dirty going to Howard Lake as it was really dusty on that road.

ESCAPING THE SMOKE #2

Here are a few more pictures of our get-away to Northwest Montana trying to get away from the smoke.

An immature bald eagle who had what we think was part of a fish on the rock.  The mature one left but this one refused.

These big trees make me feel and look small.

Looks like Zeph is taking a nap.

A piece of cedar in the water.

Zeph and I on a hike that went on a lot further than we had anticipated.

Sunrise.

And Zeph just loves laying in the front of the kayak.

A picture from the walkway over the railroad near Libby.

Part of the Kootenai Falls.

 

The smoke was pretty bad in places.

The swinging bridge of the Kootenai River.