It was a day for turnarounds, a day of check points, a day of gusts, a day for snowy trails and cow pies, and a day for Susan to reach her 20th peak in 2020!

We left Great Falls at 7:45 a.m. to head across the Rocky Boy Reservation to Beaver Creek Park. We had two checkpoints to cross, having to give our name for COVID-19 contact-tracing purposes, just in case. We also were told not to stop on the reservation for any reason, which we already knew. As we drove across the reservation, we noticed quite a bit of snow on the ground and wondered if we should have brought snowshoes; too late now, we thought.

At about 10 a.m., we arrived at the park, at the Bearpaw Lake section to hike a loop trail.  Rising from the foothills and nestled in the Bears Paw Mountains, south of Havre, the Park covers over 10,000 acres and  17 miles along highway 234: the Beaver Creek Highway.  Established in 1916, it is the largest county park in the United States.  Normally, it costs $10 per person per day to recreate at the park; however, Tom read at the drop box that there was no charge for day use right now, probably due to COVID-19.  As a side note, one of the gals had given her $10 to one of the checkpoint workers. Who knows what they thought about being handed $10.On another side note: Tom and Katie turned the wrong way to begin with, necessitating everyone to turn around.  This happened twice more on the way home! We all know our turning radii of our cars now.

The road over the dam, where one would normally drive to the parking area, was drifted over with snow, so we parked and walked over the dam instead, being careful not to slip on the ice. Luckily, there is an outhouse, so we all used it while contemplating which way to start hiking the Rotary Canyon Loop trail. Tom and Mike, Katie and Camille's husbands, would hike the opposite direction of the gals. The two guys started out, while we all waited for the bathroom, but they quickly lost the trail, so turned around and decided they would go the other way.  

While this hike ended up in a bit of a bust since we got snowed out quickly, we went around the icy sections by gaining a ridge with wonderful views over the lake and the surrounding mountains, so all was not lost.  Gail and Jo Ann gave up earlier and had already driven away by the time we did a small circle back to the cars.

Then we backtracked, driving the highway to the Mount Otis trailhead; however, the road into the parking area was very snowpacked and icy. Beth braved it a bit but the rest of us turned around-- again--and parked along the Nature Trail roadway, deciding we would hike off trail and attack the mountain from the west instead of walking around to the south where the trail lay about a mile down the road. Going this way was very steep, but only one mile, so we all made it easily, if slowly, especially in the wind. Gusts hit us head on at times, knocking us down or making us dig our poles in for purchase. One interesting find was a blooming and budding flower: a phlox!

The top was worse for wind, coming from all sides it seemed. We all let Susan get to the top first with the rest of us cheering her on. On top is a bench, which our lady of the hour quickly sat in like a queen, forming a number 2 and a 0 with her fingers for a pictures. After a group shot, we scurried down, deciding to take the trail and walking the road back. The trail is gentle switchbacks, but several curves were drifted with snow, forcing us off trail for skirting the icy; otherwise, the trip down was uneventful until Amber slipped at the end, right where a field of cow pies lay. She narrowly missed disaster.

The road walk was a combination of ice, snow, mud and cow pies, so the cars were a welcome sight.  We drove back across Rocky Boy to Box Elder, going though the checkpoints again, and back home. We arrived home around 4:30, before dark.
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Who went: Susan, Camille, Amber, Beth, Suzie, Carol, Katie in one group and Jo Ann and Gail in another, .

A cold day, a windy day, but a gorgeous day and beautiful drive to Helena headlined the GiG hike to Scratchgravel Peak. 
Four gals left Great Falls and met up with Henny, who lives on Hauser Lake now that she and her husband retired and moved from Great Falls to the Helena valley. 

As we headed up the mountain, even more social trails zigzagged up the sides of the peak, confusing the official trails; Susan chose one that Katie worried would take us around the mountain but not up it. However, Susan chose correctly, it took us first to a little knob and then around and up to the very top, even a better way than the true trail to the summit. 

Along the way, we enjoyed scurrying up some boulders on the knob to gain some views and take a bit of a break before tackling the last elevation gain. We also saw many old mining digs. We did keep moving as standing still sent the chill to our bones; it was that chilly.

After enjoying an early lunch at the summit (we reached it by 11:15), we hurried down the trail, encountering quite a bit of snow in places and catching ourselves from falling on the ball-bearing type rocks on the trail. Luckily, we stumbled a bit, but no one fell.  And again, we saw some huge holes, remnants from the days of mining.

When we were in sight of the cars, we met the only other person of the day, a man just starting up the trail.
We arrived back to the cars at around 12:30 and back in GF by just after 2. Sheila stayed in Helena to visit her brother who had just moved to town while Henny drove back to her lake house.

Who went: Susan, Henny (Sue H), Debra, Sheila, Katie

As we left Great Falls at 7:30 a.m. and headed through the canyon to Helena, we couldn't help notice the howling wind, making us a bit anxious about our hike up Mount Helena. We were also a bit nervous about the amount of snow and ice we might encounter on the trail, but we were so glad to be getting out that we put those concerns in the back of our mind. With COVID-19 and the over two feet of snow we received the last two weeks, many of us were feeling cooped up and in need of an outing.

On the way, we also encountered a herd of deer crossing the freeway, two of which darted out in front of Judy's car, necessitating a quick braking. Then two turned into three, four, five and six, with a seventh--and maybe more--crossing after we proceeded! As we stopped to let them cross, we were worried about a semi coming and not being able to stop since we had been passing trucks the whole trip. Luckily, nothing like that happened; we were safe and so were the deer.

Katie, Camille and Judy arrived at the trailhead at 9 a.m. and met Sue from Helena (she lives on Lake Helena now, although she used to live in Great Falls. She told us her tale of moving from her home to her cabin on the lake, a big move for her husband who was born and raised in Great Falls).

We chatted for a while and introduced ourselves as not everyone knew one another; we hit the trail by 9:30 a.m..  Katie and Camille's husbands had tagged along, planning to hike in the area as well.

Right away, we had a snow-packed trail, icy in spots. Some opted to put on ice cleats right away while others relied on poles to keep from slipping and sliding. The plan was to take the Prospect Shafts Trail up and then take the 1906 or Prairie Trail down; however, those two are on the north side of the mountain, in the shade of many trees and prone to holding snow and ice, so we changed our plans to staying to on the southside of the mountain both going and returning.

So we meandered up the Prospect Shafts trail, while the guys went off trail avoiding the snow and ice.  We went past the memorial to a music teacher who loved the trail, reading the plaque about him and then went past the trenches that remain from WWII training as we handled the steady climb to the top. We were pleasantly surprised that the trail wasn't crowded and that there wasn't any wind. We passed two parties who were going down; one man passed us going up. Otherwise, we had the trail to ourselves. The trip to the top is 1.65 miles with about 1100 feet of elevation gain.

At the top, the sweeping panorama was amazing; the Sleeping Giant came into view as well as the dreaded Colorado mountain that Katie and Judy had hiked earlier this year--truly a hike from 'you know where' with swamps and hundreds of dead-fallen trees to climb over, scurry under or plow through, an adventure well forgotten. As we gals sat and ate our lunch we did have to bundle up as the wind picked up, but not overly so. Then we saw the two guys making their way to join us. As we sat, Katie's husband explained about how Mount Helena was used as a training ground for WWII combat in the Italian alps as well as pointing out many of the mountains and MacDonald Pass. We looked down on the Capitol, Carrol College, the Helena Cathedral and Fort Harrison.

Then it was time to descend. We retraced our steps on the Backside trail, took West to McKelvey to Hanging Draw to Dump Out Trails, a total of 5 miles on the day.

We arrived back at the cars around 1 p.m. and arrived back home by 2:30.
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We expected snakes might be an issue, but we faced some pesky cattle instead. They had just been moved to lower pasture but wanted to go back to their former pasture, greener grass and all, but luckily, we had several former ranch gals not afraid of shooing those cows away from the gates as we entered Rancher Brad's land for a hike up Square Butte by Cascade, a gem of a laccolith out on the plains.

We left Great Falls at 8 a.m., despite predictions of 60 mph gusts. Canceling due to wind wasn't even considered; we didn't want this opportunity to slip by us as Katie had tried for over two years to get permission to go up Square Butte. The stars aligned this year: Rancher Brad Hamlett got his cattle moved; it wasn't raining (gumbo roads), and the election was over (unfortunately, Katie's friend and representative didn't retain his seat, so she felt a bit sad as we approached his spread). Usually, Brad comes out to greet us but probably due to COVID-19 and the election, he told us to call instead when we reached the gate.

We arrived at the gate at just after 9 a.m. Katie chatted on the phone with Brad as he explained the cattle situation. We had to be very careful at both gates not to let any cattle out or any into different areas as they would be trying to get back to their old pasture. They were also unsettled due to the not-so-gentle breezes. Carol, Viki, and Katie shooed the cows while Susan manned the gate, preparing to quickly close it if any critters decided to make a break for it.  We all got all eight cars through without any events or runaway livestock, luckily.  

Then we continued on. Katie took a wrong turn by the house as she couldn't remember the way, necessitating another call to Brad.  She finally got us on the right road, which was more of a path though the field, very rutted from prior mud.  At the third gate was where Brad had told Katie to have park. So we all parked there except Carol, who had a car instead of an SUV and thought it best not to drive the last 10th of a mile due to deep rutting and not enough clearance on her vehicle.

The wind was really picking up. We took turns using the "facilities" between cars before heading up the hill in two groups, one of four led by Jo Ann and one of five by Katie. As we continued to climb, Gail decided she just wasn't up to the incline, so she found a place to sit and enjoy the views while the rest of us continued.  And the views were worth it. We kept turning around to enjoy the expanse across the plains, dotted with buttes, clouds swirling above in a blue sky.

Once we reached the gully with the path to the top, the groups broke up as one intended to walk at least part-way around the butte, while the other was going to the top and back down. Once on top, the wind really buffeted us, in fact, knocking us to our knees at times.  During one large gust, Katie's pack blew open and her jacket flew out. Luckily, Viki was alert and was able to grab it before it sailed over the edge. The group hiking around went to the "fingers" area and walked out onto one to get views into Sun River and Fort Shaw. As the group turned around, they saw a lone hiker coming in our direction. We were surprised she was by herself.  She reached the last two in our group but then continued on a different direction, when we thought she was joining us.

This group continued around the edge, turning by the gully to connect back up to the path down, when the lone hiker caught back up to us and continued with us as we went off the butte and took a direct way back to the 4WD track. We were relieved to have her with us as so many have been lost on the butte, including one who needed medical attention. We didn't want anyone to end up in that situation again, possibly from a snake bite.  Katie reminded that we stick together for safety sake.

On the way back down, we stopped on the side to eat lunch, the ravine providing some shelter from the roaring wind. We were happy it was a warm day, so we never felt cold. Then we continued and ran into the other group and then Gail. So we all reached the cars together, traveling by the original homestead buildings and old rusty vehicles and farm equipment as well as a silo. Some of us glanced in and saw old china, furniture and a piano as well as much garbage and ruined items strewn around the old house and silo.

Then we faced the cattle and gates again. This time the cows were really congregated by the gate, Katie led the cars, nudging the cattle along, wondering how we would ever shoo so many away when one of the hired hands came over on his horse along with two cow dogs! What a relief.  Katie talked to him and asked if he needed us to help shoo the cattle, and he said no. He, his horse and dogs would handle the animals while we drove through. So getting through this gate was so easy and so fun to watch a cowboy, his horse and dogs at work.

The last gate had no cattle, but it posed a bit of an issue with the closure. It took quite a bit of arm strength to close it. Suzie and Katie leaned into the fence as Susan did the honors of pulling and pushing until the latch was in place.

Then it was on to the final part of our journey. Instead of driving through Cascade and home, Katie led everyone on a loop drive through Sun River; giving us views of Crown Butte. Usually, one can see others, but clouds covered them today. Still, it was a lovely drive.
However, when we arrived in Sun River, we were one car short. Bonnie wasn't with us.  Katie told everyone to go on to Great Falls while she either called her or went looking, thinking she may have had a flat tire. Suzie and Susan said they would stay too. Luckily, Katie was able to call her to find out that she was okay. She was stopping to enjoy the scenery and take pictures.  So Katie told her how to get to Sun River and the rest of us drove home. 

Our adventure got us away--for a while anyway-- of the uncertainty of the presidential election as the votes at this time were still being counted; however, we couldn't help but notice the Trump Train flags flying in Sun River and elsewhere, showing the red nature of the state of Montana.

And no snakes!  The first time for Katie being on the butte without seeing a rattler.

We arrived back around 2:30 p.m.
Who went: Jo Ann, Gail, Shelley, Susan, Suzie, Carol, Bonnie Jorgensen, Viki, Katie