Mt. Jumbo

We hiked up Mt. Jumbo (4768 ft.) today starting from the neighborhood trail that passes the end of Wildground Lane--a forested and quick way to the south end of the saddle.  The arrowleaf balsamroot and lupine are still blooming.

 


Near the top the Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium), left, and Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum), right, are blooming.

The Clark Fork is looking high and muddy in this view off to the southwest from the top. There's some haze, probably from the controlled burns west of Frenchtown.

But the air looks more clear off to the north--another what-a-day kind of day!

What a Day...

What a day for flowers.  This one is an Erigeron, E. ochroleucus, I think, because of the longish, narrow basal leaves and presence of stem leaves, but there are nearby plants with stem leaves and let's call them stubbier basal leaves that I want to call  E. compositus.  Ok--the news from Lake Woebegone.

I spent a fair amount of time crawling around getting eye-to-eye with erigeron, fritillaries, larkspur, biscuitroot, and arrowleaf balsamroot.


What a day for air.  If only I could post the feel of the breeze and smell of the trees in this place in the forest looking out over town.  Neighbor Gary calls this spot the Lolo Street overlook because that street is right below--in the photo, it's the short straight street parallel to the line of sight to the right of center.  Those leafy plants in the foreground are arrowleaf balsamroot just getting ready to open at this altitude.  

And, speaking of altitude, here is the stone marker for 4200'--the high water mark for Glacial Lake Missoula.

And what a day for sharing happiness.  I met Wally Small and his dog Shortstop.  Here they are walking south from the saddle. 

Flowers on the Jumbo Saddle Trail

With an unusually wet late winter and early spring (6.21 inches year-to-date precipitation instead of a normal 4.02 YTD), we have wonderful spring flowers along the Jumbo Saddle trail. 

The shooting stars are still blooming, and the arrowleaf balsamroot are getting started.  They will turn riotous soon, but they are developing their voices already, some whispering, some singing.


 


We still have fritillaries, some of them turning orange-red, and the bluebells and larkspur have appeared.  

The larkspur with Mt. Sentinel in the background below aren't quite open, but, on the left, here are some that are.

Up on the gravelly part of the saddle, the biscuitroot are still blooming, and the Wyoming kittentails are just opening.

There was a sound track for my walk.  I did not actually capture both pictures and sounds of meadowlarks, but above here is a view off to the west (with rain arriving) and the sound of meadowlarks singing at the end of the brief clip.  Returning home, I found that Eric had been celebrating spring in his own way by building a small stone retaining wall between the concrete steps and new Bob-Derek-and-Marshall-built paver path.

Cross-Town by Bike

We biked across town today on the paved urban bike trail that, for much of the way, follows the path of the Old Milwaukee Road, a rail line that once went from Chicago to Seattle.  Here is Eric just west of the Boone and Crockett Club









and in front of one of the new shade structures at Silver Park, a nice new park just north of the Old Sawmill District.  Until about 20 years ago, there was a sawmill that made lumber from logs that had been floated down the nearby Clark Fork.  The plan is to turn this area to residential, commercial, and recreational uses.

Already there is a lot of new residential construction near the planned development, especially just east and west of Russell Street.

The bike path mostly stays off city streets, and, where it crosses them, signs warn drivers and most of them stop, as at Russell in the photo to the right.

At Orange and Reserve, the bike path crosses under the roads.

At the east end, the path follows the river

and has a sidepath for turning off onto the UM campus, as we did today to run an errand and check on the beach scene as end of the academic year approaches.

What a day!

Biking Up Sleeping Child Road

We drove south this afternoon for an hour and 15 minutes to a whole other world along Sleeping Child Road, which heads southeast from Hamilton--out toward small farms and ranches, along a rushing creek, and up into ponderosa forest and a narrow canyon with steep walls. 


We parked in the dirt parking lot at the Y where
the Skalkaho Highway heads east from Highway 93.

A mile down the Skalkaho Highway, Sleeping Child turns off.

The road trends up at a mostly gentle grade--lots of meadowlarks singing along here,

views of the Bitterroots for the downhill ride, and

hats on fenceposts on a side road.

71 Degrees in April

Lube the chain, pump up the tires, 

and head out Rattlesnake Drive!

Meadowlarks!

I went outside this morning to sweep snow off the front steps and heard spring arrive--meadowlarks!  We'll have more snow, but the returning meadowlarks have faith enough that spring has come.  If you'd like to hear the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's recording of the western meadowlark, click on the green link and scroll down on their page.
  
Brooks Clark and Thoreau went out to see what nature had for them--what a good thing for us all to do to remind us that we're part of it.  We in Missoula were reminded over the last weekend of February that one of the things that nature has for us is death.  An avalanche off Mt. Jumbo hit houses in the Lower Rattlesnake and buried three people, one of whom died.  We listen to the returning meadowlarks with sober ears.