We spent last weekend at a forest service cabin near Holland Lake, about halfway between Missoula and Glacier National Park in the Swan Valley.
Saturday we did a 12 mile out and back hike to Upper Holland Lake. The hike had about 2000 feet of elevation gain, which ended up being the difference between fall and winter.
The Mount Vernon Dredge is an old mining relic located in Nevada City at a history of mining museum. It is a massive structure, kind of reminds me of a brontosaurus when I think about it.
This was my first visit to West Thumb Geyser Basin near Yellowstone Lake in the southeast corner of the park.
Our second day we drove over the the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and walked over to Inspiration Point on the north rim. The road was closed and we had the place all to ourselves.
We also did a 5 mile out and back to Cascade Lake, where we saw a couple of mellow looking bison hanging out under a tree.
In the evening we ended up checking out the geothermal features at Mammoth Hot Springs. I hadn’t been there all summer and it was interesting to see how the area changed.
Hilary and I just got back from a weekend trip to Yellowstone. Cold weather finally hit Montana and everything was looking rather wintery.
Our first evening we ended walking around Norris Geyser Basin as darkness set in. In the low light the rising steam from the geothermal features combined with the barren landscape made for a surreal experience.
On Tuesday my friend Steve and I did a 5-pitch climb up the Original Route on the Drip Buttress in Blodgett Canyon. It is 3 pitches of 5.9 followed by two of 5.8. We had some awesome weather for October in Montana, sunny all day and the windiest part was at the base of the climb.
It was definitely a long day, taking us about 3 hours to walk off the route once we had finished climbing and get back to the car. I am really sore now but it was well worth it.
From Wikipedia
Stevensville is officially recognized as the first permanent settlement in the state of Montana. Forty-eight years before Montana became the nation’s 41st state, Stevensville was settled by Jesuit Missionaries at the request of the Bitter Root Salish Indians.
A few more pictures of Asheville that I took one evening over the summer.
