She thought about it for years: making it to the top of Mount Wright after stopping short some 20 years ago, but 2015 saw Bonnie J summiting this time! Despite highs in the mid-eighties, seven gals made it all of the way, while everyone of the others made it to the top saddle, a mere quarter mile from the top. All enjoyed fabulous views, some of the best in the nation that reach into Waterton Park in Canada toward the north and into Wyoming in the south.

The day started with nine of the GiG meeting the Mountain View hiking group from Alberta at the Stage Stop Inn in Choteau at 6:30 (The Canadians had come the night before). Forty-five minutes later, we arrived at the trailhead on what promised to be a hot day, so an early start was in order.

Even with temps in the 50s, the sun felt warm as we headed uphill, taking numerous breaks until we hit the first saddle, where we took an extended lunch break (we arrived at 11:10).Some of the gals thought they might want to just stay at this first saddle as it was already a lot of uphill. However, Katie encouraged them to try to reach the next saddle as the views were much better there. So everyone started uphill again.

One group was much faster and wanted to summit, especially Bonnie J who had tried years earlier with her family, but had stopped at the first saddle. This group went on ahead while the others slowly made their way to the upper saddle. One other party was on the trail that day, having passed us going up and now we met them on their way down. They told us there was a nice breeze on top, which we couldn't wait to feel.

Everyone made it to the upper saddle and were amazed at the views, while the others had gone ahead to the top. The group at the saddle thought it best to start down slowly as some were getting tired, one had a bad knee and some were running out of water.

The second group caught up with the others just past the saddle, and many were feeling heat fatigue as the hottest part of the day was upon them.  It was a slow trip down with the some of the Canadian gals offering salt and food to the others.

But everyone did make it, even though it was a bit scary how hot some were. The creeks at the end and the 
Teton river cooled everyone down. And we didn't have to use the Spot Messenger. We were all grateful that Mount Wright didn't turn into Mount Wrong.

We said goodbye to our Canadian friends who were headed back, while the GiG two cars aimed toward Choteau.
The gals in one car decided to get some ice cream and head for home as they were tired and not feeling too well. The other car stopped for dinner at the Log Cabin. 
Who went: Gail, Susan W, Sue, Kuntzie, Mary S, Bonnie, Kathy M, Catherine, Katie
Link to Katie's pics

We had a gorgeous summer evening hike of about two miles exploring the boulders and unique geography of the Shonkin sag. The flowers were really out, even though the soil is mostly a gravely sand made from the disintegrated Shonkinite. We saw threadleaf phacelia, silky phacilia as well as 

The color of the water is bright algae green, but i doesn' keep the birds away. We saw curlew, killdeer and avocets along with one hawk. Thank goodness we didn't see any snakes.

We left from Great Falls College - MSU at 5 and returned home around 9:30. 

Who went: Gail, Kathy, Jenn, Bonnie, Jo Ann and Katie

Unfortunately, our mechanic Mary S wasn't along on this trip, or we may have made it home without assistance, but that's a story for later on in the blog.

Our day started at 5:30 a.m. as we headed to the Two Medicine  valley. After dropping Mary N's car at the head of the lake, we hopped into two cars and proceeded to the trail head along Pray Lake. We hit the trail at 8:45.

The flowers were spectacular, from glacier lilies to speedwell to early coralroot.  The flowers in most abundance were mountain ash, western tobacco root (valerian), buckwheat (sulfur was very pretty),  chickweed and  cous biscuitroot.

We headed up the north shore of the lake and took the spur to Upper Two Medicine Lake. What a gorgeous site to behold as the valley opened up to reveal Lone Walker, the shard of Pumpelly's Pillar and the back side of Rockwell. 
During our rest periods, Katie told the stories of Rising Wolf (Hugh Monroe), Lone Walker and Sinopah (fox kit woman).

After enjoying a half hour lunch at the lake, we hit the trail again, stopping at Twin Falls on our way back to the main lake trail. Then we dropped Brenda off at the boat dock to catch a ride to rest her twisted knee.  The rest of us continued on around the south shore of the lake, enjoying even more flowers and scenery of Sinopah, Painted Teepee, Never Laughs, Apistoki and Scenic Point Mountains. One group, went a bit faster and they shuttled the cars when they reached the camp store, while Mary headed to Seeley lake.

The second group finished at 4:45, at which time we hit the road to dinner at Serrano's, pie for strength at the Two Med Grill and fudge at the Mercantile. We were shocked to get a party of 11 into Serrano's without a wait.

But the real drama started after dinner. On the way to Browning, Gail's check-engine light sprang on. The car seemed to drive okay, but the light was very concerning, so we stopped in Browning at the Town Pump. When we restarted the car, it lurched backward and somehow we thought we might have been driving in four-wheel drive low at highway speeds, although that didn't make much sense.  When we put it in two-wheel drive, it lurched again, prompting a call to AAA. However, a helpful local, who had had a bit too much to drink, kept bugging us for money, giving us an uneasy feeling. We were all relieved when the tow truck came.

Meanwhile, we called ahead to Catherine in the lead car to come back to Browning to pick up as many of the gals as could fit in her van as the wrecker could only take two with him. So with Brenda in the far back lying on top of all the gear and Katie sitting between the back bucket seats on two cases of Corona beer, we headed toward Conrad, leaving Kathy M and Gail to handle AAA and the wrecker. Katie called her husband to meet the gals in Conrad, so we could drive more safely back to Great Falls. We prayed we wouldn't get pulled over as we imagined how we would explain the no seat belts, the gal lying in the far back and the cases of Corona.

We made it back to town just after 10, which wasn't much past our expected arrival time of 9:30, while Gail and Kathy were an hour later.

Who went: Anita, Gail, Toni, Brenda, Susan, Mary N, Katie, Kathy M, Catherine, Sara, Sue, Nancy

Follow up:
It turns out the check engine light wasn't the transmission after all: just something wrong with the temperature control and cost under $50 to fix! A lot better than a $2,000 transmission fix that Gail expected.

Katie's pix
Kathy's pix

Somehow, a blog post never got done on this hike, but enjoy the pictures:
Who went: Colette, Kathy D, Sue, Gail, Bonnie J, Katie