We were able to spend a few days staying with our friends, Deb & Lori, just outside of Helena, Montana. We managed to pack in a lot despite having some unusually rainy weather, which they needed badly in this area. The Fall colors were just arriving and it made for some truly beautiful scenery.
Their place has gorgeous views, from the house as well as on evening walks with Pickles. I love seeing the low clouds move around the hills.
One day we hiked the 1906 trail and absolutely loved the various views as you climb Mt Helena above the city and then around to the other side. Near the start we passed through a recently burned section that is right below the "H" and we were sure glad they quickly got the fire under control because it would have roared right down into the neighborhoods in the foothills! You could tell they were doing some heavy cleanup around the entire area.
It's a steady ascent with views all along the way until you reach the top.
They are fellow birders so it was fun to spend a day exploring some of their favorite spots. Even though we were too early for the migrating winter birds we saw lots of cool species in gorgeous settings.
At our first stop, at the regulating reservoir, we saw a group of White-faced Ibis feeding with some gulls. We didn't see any of them with the white on their faces which meant these were all non-breeding/immature ones.
On the Missouri River we watched a couple of loons (which refused to come closer) and walked out for some very pretty views around Hauser dam.
Then we visited a couple of areas, right in town, to see various geese, mergansers and wood ducks.
It was fun to catch up and spend time together.
See ya next time, Lori and Deb!
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