When we left Great Falls, a very dark ominous cloud was overhead and moving east toward the HIghwood Mountains, but we took a chance we could outrace it and get an hour or so of hiking in before it started raining.

Were we surprised when not a raindrop fell on us for the entire six-mile round-trip trek up to the saddle on Windy Point trail.

What did surprise us was the abundance of flowers--we counted 44--and the greens of the hillsides.

We had five or six stream crossings, all without incident; luckily, the water levels weren't high so we could skip across on a few strategically placed rocks without much trouble.

We climbed the 1,000 feet to the saddle in a couple hours and had a nice lunch on top, looking out over the Highwood mountains with a view of HIghwood Baldy and military communication and cell tower on top.

Besides the cow pies, we saw coyote and elk droppings, but no animals besides birds.  And we didn't run into anyone else on the trail and heard no motorized vehicles, a bane of the Highwoods at times.

The temperatures were perfect for hiking, not too hot or cold, while the cloud cover was high enough to afford gorgeous views.

On our way home, we took a wrong turn so we had a scenic ride back home, completing a loop that took us on a high plateau of bright green wheat fields and quaint farm houses mixed in with new construction.

So what promised to be a very wet day turned out to be one of the best hiking days of the year so far.

Who went? Gail, Kathy M, Jeanne, Roni, Katie

Update: Katie and Kathy headed back up to the Highwoods, hubbies in tow on Sunday. We went up the North drainage and saw even more flowers. The husbands took a detour and saw calypso/fairy slippers on their sojourn, which disappointed the gals since they didn't see them.

Link to Katie's pics

Link to Kathy's picsLink to Kathy's pics Day 2

Only one spot of open water on Two-Medicine Lake shows how much more snow we have this year than last. In 2013, we visited on Cinco de Mayo, and the entire lake was ice free. Amazing difference year to year.We left Great Falls at 7:30 a.m. and hit the trail just over three hours later after stops in Conrad and Browning. 
On the way into the park, we were treated to our first sightings of glacier lilies, those yellow beauties that have become our logo. We did stop on the way home to snap a photo or two.

 A brief stop to hike into Running Eagle/Trick Falls found it was flowing over the top and through the cave, unlike last year that only had water coming from the cave. However, the bridge wasn't in and no logs presented themselves for easy crossing so we viewed the falls from afar.

At Two-Medicine Lake, we strapped on our snowshoes for a hike into Aster Falls and hopefully Aster Park.  The views of Rising Wolf, Painted Teepee and Sinopah mountains were stunning. Aster Falls was mostly buried in snow, but the bottom section made an impressive splash.The American Dipper or Water Ouzel pair were making their distinctive dipping motions from on top of the snow, eyeing the moss-covered rocks that they nest in.
Although we only saw little critters (chipmunks and squirrels) and birds, we did see some cat tracks and scat and other unidentified scat.

We weren't able to make it to Aster Park as the snow was too steep and tree wells too deep, so it wasn't safe to continue after about a quarter mile.

On our way back to the boat dock, avalanches broke way on the side of Rising Wolf, creating quite a scene and a lot of noise.

We finished the day with dinner at Serrano's followed by fudge at the Two-Med Mercantile, always a great way to end a hike, but one last thing happened: We were treated to double rainbows for most of the way home. (we arrived home by 8:30)

Who went: Sara, Kathy M, Susan, Katie, Jeanne, Catherine, Toni
Katie's Pics
Kathy's Pics

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 limes, juiced
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
red pepper flakes if desired
1 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, 10-15 min. Set aside to cool.

Whisk olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt, red pepper flakes together in a bowl.

Combine quinoa, tomatoes, beans, green onions, celery in a bowl. Pour dressing over quinoa mixture, toss to coat. Stir in cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or chill in refrigerator. 

We woke up to rain in Great Falls, and cancellations, but five gals (down from the original nine) braved the elements and trusted the 30-percent chance of rain in Helena not to come--and the weather did hold--not one drop fell all day.  And the temperatures in the 50s was perfect for hiking, unlike the chilly 30s in Great Falls.

We saw 11 different flowers: shooting stars, fritillary (yellow bell), kittens' tails, nine-leaved biscuit root, pasque flower, buckwheat, arrowleaf balsamroot, douglasia, phlox, cut-leaf daisy and one yet unidentified white flower.

We arrived at the trail head at 9 a.m. taking the Prospector Shafts Trail up, stopping to read about the violinist Fred Kuphel, who played music as children planted trees on the mountain. Read More as well as look at the old limestone smeltering kiln and shafts from the gold rush days as well as the military exercise pits. It took us about one and a half hours to reach the summit of 5,468 feet, a gain of 1100 feet.

On the way down, we took the 1906 trail, stopping to explore the Devil's Kitchen, a series of shallow caves carved into the limestone that people, mainly teens, light bonfires in. Too bad the main cave is covered in graffiti now.

For wildlife, we saw a doe and many bluebird, but thank goodness not the mountain lion that they said was lurking around according to the warning sign on the trail.

We reached the cars at noon, perfect timing for a lunch at Benny's Bistro downtown.

Gail recommended this lentil soup recipe, since we did much around food on this trip

After lunch, we walked Last Chance Gulch, stopping in various stores, including the Parrot for some chocolate and Panhandler kitchen store. Then it was onto the new Just Tapped oil and vinegar store before heading back to Great Falls.

After this hike, we welcomed Catherine into the 100-miler club with her mug.

The weather was perfect: not too hot and not windy.Who went: Sara, Catherine, Gail, Sue and Katie

Link to Katie's pics