Just over a year ago, a rancher put a conservation easement on land, which allows hikers to enjoy the Birdtail and Lionhead Butte area.  So, the GiG decided to check it out.

Birdtail Butte can't be climbed without rope, so our plan was Lionhead. We left Great Falls at 7 a.m., thinking an early start would be good since the butte has no shade and we would be exposed the entire way.  But Josy's car had other ideas: it took a rock to a tire, splitting it.  Susan, Katie and Judy didn't notice at first that Josy wasn't behind us as we were all driving our own cars, due to the coronavirus outbreak, and also practicing distancing between cars to keep the dust down.  But when we arrived at the trail head and Josy didn't show up for over 10 minutes, Katie called as we did have one bar of service. But Josy didn't answer. So, Judy drove to find her, returning in 20 minutes to say she had a flat but was having trouble getting the spare off from under the vehicle. She said she would return to help as she could.

Susan and Katie got a few steps walking the road and just talking. A couple in a pickup came by and said the gals were just about finished changing the tire, so Katie and Susan had hope.  A few minutes later and first Judy and then Jody's cars came down the road.

So we put our gear on, rolled under the barbed wire gate and were on our way.

Then it was up, up, up the side of the butte, just after crossing the creek, which was pretty low. A few cows bellowed at us, keeping a leery eye at us humans, since they all had calves. Bushwhacking all the way, through service berries, sage and roses, we battled a beating sun; Susan, coming off a cold, tired and overheated a bit, so we stopped under the few pine trees that there were on the way up.

Then we continued on, rounding the far end of the butte to take the easy way up, a nice ramp that even had a game/cow trail. The grasses were high, making our walking slow, especially since under the grasses were many rocks, some fairly large that must have tumbled off the butte or been pushed down by spring runoff and snow. So, we had to watch our footing. We also kept an eye out for snakes, but we didn't see any.

As we neared the final ascent, Susan was really over heated. Katie sent Josy and Judy to climb the high point  while she took Susan slowly up the easy side, so that they could get some views and hopefully a breeze on top.  Susan rested some more, but we made it and enjoyed looking across at Josy and Judy as they did some rock hopping, circled around the butte and came up to join us for lunch.  Two limber pines provided a bit of shade to eat under, while Judy said how the rock ledges were a bit scary and that the top had some sort of big bugs flying at them, so that's why they came down fast.

We enjoyed the views of the surrounding buttes, Josy using her peak visor app to ID many of them (Fishback, Black, Cecilia, Skull, Haystack)  and the views of the Rocky Mountain Front with Caribou peak and Castle Reef really showing.

After lunch, Katie hurried everyone along, reminding that the day was to get into the mid-eighties. She did not want to be out during the heat of the day with no shade. So off we went, down, down, watching our step for hidden rocks.

Josy led us down quickly with one rest stop under the same pines from the way up.  Then Josy went ahead as she only had a donut tire and wanted to start getting back to town as she would have to drive slowly.

Judy needed to get to work, so she went quickly too, while Susan and Katie tailed each other, making sure the other two weren't broken down on the way back.

We got back to town around 2:30, about one hour later than expected, but we thought it would have been more with the heat, rests, and a flat tire. Josy called to say she made it to Westside Tirerama, and they were taking good care of her. We felt bad that she would have to get all four new tires, but she said she was grateful that she didn't have a blowout on the highway. All in a day.

On a clear blue-sky day, but with much wind, three Giggers headed out for an orchid-finding expedition in the Sun River Canyon area.  For part of the trip, we had botanist "Ranger" Wayne Phillips along, to help us locate these elusive beauties.

We first stopped to see lady slippers, an area that has both mountain and yellow versions, sometimes crossed.  Wayne told us it was the only documented place in Montana with the white and yellow together. He also said that the Sun River Canyon hosted more orchids than anywhere else in the state. The lady slippers were a bit beyond their time and not as plentiful as usual. We noticed many cottonwood trees had been felled as well as weed spraying. We surmised the habitat had been drastically changed as well as the weed spraying possibly killing the fragile plants. We did find one northern green bog orchid in this area.

Then we continued down the road to find some more. We found more green bog orchids as well as the dainty, pink-spotted round-leaf orchid.  It's such a special variety.

Then it was off to Hannan Gulch to find the giant hellegorine.  After peering down to spot the round-leaf orchid, we were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to find the giants, the plants being 2-3 feet tall and the flowers 10 times the size of bog orchids.  We didn't see any lady tresses or white bog orchids as we had hoped, but a few of us had appointments, so we cound't muck around too much in the boggy swampy areas.

We usually see sheep in this area, but no luck today. The other notable flowers of the day were mock orange, owl's clover, wintergreen, lupine, bergamot, and buckwheat.

We left Great Falls at 7 a.m. and arrived home by 3.

Who went: Gail, Jo Ann, Katie and guest Gigger, Wayne

Up, over or through was the saying of the day, as the GiG bushwhacked their way to the top of Colorado mountain from sheer determination. We could not believe how much deadfall was on the trail.

It all started from Great Falls at 7 a.m. with us arriving just after 9 a.m. at the Moose Creek cabin trailhead. We had two groups, one going a shorter distance to the lunch spot, and those wanting to summit A family was staying at the cabin; they asked where we were hiking and we proudly said, "Colorado Mountain," not knowing what a challenge this eight-mile 2,200-feet-of-gain hike would be.

The beginning of the hike is a bit steep; Bonnie J, just coming from living in Vegas for two years, felt it, but then the trail leveled a bit to a reasonable incline. The forest was pretty, with green grasses underfoot and a few flowers, especially lupine, and showy phlox.

After all the rain we had had the last few days, we expected a muddier trail, but we only came across one boggy spot on the way up--more on that later.

We had a fun hike to just below the ridge, our usual stopping point for lunch; but before the ridge, we came across quite a few downed trees--and may cut ones. In years past, there have been a few downed lodgepoles that were easy to step over, but there seemed more this year.

After a few log hoppers, we gained the ridge, took a break and had lunch. It was now 11:30. After lunch, we said goodbye to Karen and Bonnie J, who planned to just do four miles. Paula had considered it but decided to soldier on. And that is when the bushwhacking really began. At first it was a few more logs, then bigger logs, then logs crisscrossed over each other. Katie led at first, breaking off branches with her poles and stepping on them to break a path so that no one got impaled while climbing over. We also belly crawled under, necessitating taking off our packs at times. Sometimes, we pulled back branches, as many of the trees were still green so the branches would not break. And it was slow going. Josy took over lead after Katie injured a leg on a poking branch. Beth and Amber coined the term “barking bronco” as we straddled these fallen pines.

After about a full hour of bushwhacking and only getting one mile up the trail, Sara and Paula decided they had had enough. If they had only known that they only have a handful of trees left after the hundreds we had already conquered, but there was no way to know. Susan left her pack with them, just taking a water bottle.

Then Katie said we had about an hour to go. Amber wondered if they knew if would take that long. She and Beth decided to go back to get Susan's pack so they could head back if they wanted to. The other four kept forward progress toward the peak. In this area in particular, we saw tons of bear and elk scat plus elk prints. We wondered through wildflowers and sage brush until we could see the top, a very welcome sight about now.

On the top, we were greeted with 360-degree views: the Big Belts, the Elkhorns, the Bridgers, Adels, Tobaccoroots, Bridgers, the Lewis and Clark ranges, Absolutely amazing. So, it made the bushwhack worth it, not thinking we had to do it again. On top, the standout flowers were buckwheat, wall flower and biscuitroot.

Amber and Beth thought we might be able to skirt some of the deadfall if we stayed right, on the leeward side of the mountain, so we decided to try it. And we did avoid some deadfall; however, we got into a bog. Beth almost lost a shoe in the muck; Amber and Judy may have ruined theirs. At this point, Katie and Beth compared leg gouges. When Beth showed hers, we noticed how deep it was. As she pulled up her legging, the scab came off and it really started bleeding. We could really see the flesh; it didn't look good. So we got out the first-aid kit, disinfected and bandaged, but it was still bleeding.

But we soldiered on. Since we skirted around, we now had to get back to the trail, Katie checked the GPS, We had dropped too low into a drainage, so up we went to get back on trail, of course, through thick downfall, Josy still leading.

By this time, some gals were getting blisters from wet feet, but they didn't want to stop to change socks. Amber had a big hike the next day. She wondered how she would make it with wrecked feet and wet boots, but she was hanging tough and planned on two big hikes in a row.

So we soldiered on again, through tons of brush to regain the trail. Josy spied cut logs, yay! We were back on trail, but back on bushwhack too. Then Katie saw a way around some of the logs on the left side. It was smooth sailing with only a few trees, but Josy saw a cut log way off to the far side and followed up. Sure enough, we were off trail again. It had swung to the right while we had gone left. A quick look at Katie's GPS confirmed it. So, we backtracked uphill a few hundred feet. This time, we really were on a good trail with only the occasional log to cross. Home free, or so we thought.

About now, some were running out of water, the 2-3 liters that they had brought for what we thought would be a more moderate hike. But we knew the last 2.5 miles would be fast without many downed logs. So, we skipped along. But Susan was hitting the wall and fell off the trail, perhaps tripping on a twig. We made her sit down and have a quick snack.

Then it was downhill all the way, but we slowed the pace, so no one did any more tripping. The cabin was a sight for sore eyes. We had been on trail for 8.5 hours to hike 8.5 miles stretched to 10 with our off-trail wanderings.

The it was time to head home, most of us in our own cars due to coronavirus. Beth decided to head to the immediate care to get care for her wound. It did require two stitches and a good cleaning to stop the bleeding. Amber and Judy stayed in town for dinner. Josy headed out and Susan followed Katie to make sure they both got home okay. On the way home, Katie about hit another deer. Oh, my.

We arrived home by 8:30 p.m, a far cry from the 5:30 we expected.

Who went: Sara, Paula P, Susan, Josy, Judy, Amber, Beth, Bonnie, Karen, Katie

A cloudy, windy morning, we left Great Falls at 7:30 a.m., meeting Shelley in Simms at 8:05 a.m. We arrived at the trailhead at 9:30 a.m. After getting our gear ready, we presented Bonnie W with a 100-mile GIG mug.

The skies looked ominous. Everyone agreed with Gail that we would turn around if it started to rain. The wind continued, but no rain.

Wildflowers danced in the wind making it difficult to take photos. Our hat chin straps tugged against wind gusts of at least 30 mph. As we climbed closer to the pass, we viewed a large field of bistort swaying in the wind. After reaching the pass, we took photos at the Lewis & Clark Pass sign and found a spot somewhat out of the wind to eat lunch. We took more photos and headed back to the cars.

The wildflowers were not as abundant as last year in late June. But, we saw fields of fireweed that will be lovely when it blooms.

Heather, Bonnie W and Karen headed back to Great Falls. While Gail, Jo Ann, Shelley, and Catherine ate lunch at the Bushwacker in Lincoln. Shelley dropped Jo Ann off in Simms to ride back to Great Falls with Gail and Catherine. Shelley proceeded home to Conrad. The Great Falls group arrived around 4:30 p.m. A windy but fun day in the mountains, and a historic pass that most of us had not visited.

Who went: Heather, Bonnie W, Karen, Gail, Jo Ann, Shelley, Catherine

WILDFLOWERS
Alum Root, Roundleaf 
Anemone, Cut-Leaved, creamy white
Arnica,Heart-Leaved
Arnica, Seep-Spring
Bedstraw, Northern
Blanket Flower
Buckwheat, Suphur
Buckwheat, Yellow
Chickweed, Mouse Eared 
Chokecherry
Cinquefoil
Collomia, Narrow-leaved/Tiny Trumpet
Dandelion, Salsify
Fireweed (fields of it not yet in bloom)
Geranium, Sticky (Pink)
Indian Paintbrush-Red
Jacob's Ladder
Kinickinick
Lousewort, Parry's
Milkvetch, Drummond's
Monkeyflower, Yellow
Parsley, Fern-Leaved Desert
Penstemon, Fuzzy Tongue
Penstemon, Slender Blue
Phacelia, Silverleaf 
Phlox, Cushion-White
Prairie Smoke (past its prime)
Pussytoes
Saxifrage
Sedge, Small-Winged
Stonecrop, Lance-Leaved
Stoneseed aka Gromwell aka Lemonweed 
Townsendia, Parry's
Yarrow

It's a strange year, with the east side of Glacier National Park closed for the season, due to COVID-19 worries for the Blackfeet Tribe, so we need to branch out a bit for places to go. So the hike into the Buffalo Lakes and Lubec Ridge fit the bill: it has pretty lakes, wonderful wildflowers and views into our beloved east side of Glacier.

This area lies within the Badger-Two Medicine area, which abuts the Blackfeet Reservation on one side and lies across the Highway from GNP on the other. It's a sacred place for the Blackfeet, who fought to have the mineral right leases rescinded. This summer, the last potential developer gave up his rights.

Of course, the National Forest trails aren't often the same as the park's: signage can be rare, trails more a braided or less traveled and include more bushwhacking and fall down that hasn't been cleared.  This hike was no exception, except we went off-trail on purpose at times. So, yes, it was a day of bushwhacking!

It started off at 6:30 a.m. with three gals from Great Falls meeting Madelon from Eureka, both with a two hour 15 minute drive to the trailhead along Highway 2, tucked into a small pull out. Madelon arrived first; luckily, we met up as there is no cell service in this area.

The trail was fine to begin with. Katie led off the main trail to a field of blue camas for pictures. Then we headed right up the ridge, gaining views in no time.  Then she wanted to take everyone to the shores of the lakes, so we dropped down and had a bit of bushwhacking to get across a creek in the next drainage. The pine trees were in bloom, releasing tons of blossoms when we bumped the branches. Plumes of what looked like smoke erupted every time we hit one.

For a while, we wandered around the west side of the lake, running into two other people at the head.  So far so good.

Then we rounded the second lake, but the going got rougher on the third, with bushwhacking through alders along the side and then going into the marshy bank area. We did see bear and moose tracks and signs in the mud.

Once we rounded this last lake, we were surprised to see a trail leading up the ridge. It was easy going until right before the top. Josy did a great job picking her way and leading to the top, which was very windy.  We lost our balance a time or two, but really enjoyed the flowers: biscuitroot, crazyweed, lupine, larkspur, sticky geranium, lance-leaved stone crop, woolly groundsel, to name a few.

And the views were amazing of the mountains: Summit and Little Dog, Red Crow, Dancing Lady, Calf Robe

The it was back down, with Madelon and Josy scouting the way, this time heading for the east side of the lakes. We did fine until we neared the lake, when we got too low for a bit and got mired in some muck, but once up higher, we were awed by the green rushes in the lakes against the mountains and azure sky, so stunning.

Once we rounded the last lake, Katie took a bad turn through the bushwhack to get back across the stream. Again, we faced alders and pines with their pollen. Then we reached the wide-open area. Katie thought we were home free, but we didn't see the orange trail and gas well signs as we should have, so we headed to the west  The trail started back in the direction of the lakes: more bushwhacking, Katie thought as she figured we were one drainage over before dropping down. Josy, thankfully went ahead, crossing a drainage; however, she didn't find a trail, so we waited while she looked.  Soon, with the wind, we were out of shouting range; we started to worry about getting separated, never a good thing.  And Madelon had a dinner she wished to attend later in the evening so she was aware of her two 'o’clock deadline

Josy, of course, was loath to come back through the brush, hoping to find a way down; We started hollering for her to come back, not sure if she could hear us. We worried some more, but not wanting to bushwhack over ourselves, not sure if we knew where she was anyway, Then we heard a faint voice, but way below us, so we went further down until we could hear Josy better.  We were grateful that we could hear her now! Then there was a place for Josy to more easily move to us through the brush. We all so grateful to have her back with us and thankful that we didn't have to do the bushwhack that she did! And she did it in shorts!  Both she and Madelon, who also wore shorts, will earn their Mountain Mama legs from this trip! After we were back as a group, Madelon said she was so grateful that in normal times she would hug Josy!

Katie figured if we returned to the open area, even if we didn't find the trail, it would be a lot easier going down the grassy open area than bushwhacking through alders and rose bushes. So, we retraced our steps. No one wanted to do any more game trails though bushes today.

When we returned and dropped a bit lower, voila! The trail and the signs appeared.  We hadn't dropped low enough after coming to the opening the first time.  Then it was a hustle down the trail, actually an old road, all the bushwhacking behind us.  Madelon made it back with plenty of time to spare, around 1:30.

Then we went our separate ways. Madelon and the Great Falls gals arrived home at just after 4 p.m. Wonderful day.

​Who went: Madelon, Josy, Susan, Katie

Two groups traveled to Willow Creek Falls. The first group led by Jo Ann and Gail left Great Falls at 7 a.m., and Shelly met them in Augusta. We were delayed a bit by road construction. The second group led by Sara and Viki left Great Falls at 8 a.m., and Viki met them in Augusta. The sky was partly cloudy with temps in the 70s. Perfect hiking weather. 

Upon arrival at the trailhead, the private property owners were exiting the gate and gave us permission to go through, nice that we did not have to climb under the barbed wire fence. Immediately, we were rewarded with a field of wildflowers and took lots of photos. 

When we arrived at the creek, we were pleased that our water shoes were not needed; someone had placed logs for crossing. Wildflower identification (64 flowers) and photography continued the entire hike. Shelly looked for fossils and the elusive heart-shaped rock. At lunch she and Karen spotted fossils on rocks next to where they were sitting. Jo Ann and Karen each removed a tick from their clothing.

Shortly after lunch, on our return, we met the second group. They stopped for lunch; then headed down the trail and arrived at the parking area about five minutes after the first group.

The second group arrived a little late to the trailhead as Sara, who was driving, took a wrong turn at Scoutana and continued on the road to the Gibson Reservoir. After we stopped to talk to some bicyclists, we realized that we had to turn back. It added about an hour to our drive, but now Sara know the way to Willow Creek!

Only three of the 11 hikers had hiked this trail. All were impressed with the stunning mountain scenery, the waterfalls, and the wildflowers.

Who went:
First Group – Jo Ann, Gail, Catherine, Karen, Shelley.
Second Group – Sara, Viki, Cathy K, Bonnie W, Heather, Paula P.

​WILDFLOWERS WE SAW
Alum Root, Roundleaf 
Anemone, Cut-Leaved, creamy white
Anemone, Cut-Leaved, Pink
Anemone, Cut-Leaved, Yellow
Arrowleaf Balsamroot
Biscuit-Root, Nine-Leaved
Bluebells
Buckbrush/ceanothus
Buckwheat, Suphur
Buckwheat, Wyeth's
Chickweed, Mouse Eared 
Chokecherry
Cinquefoil, Shrubby
Clematis, Purple Virgin's Bower
Collomia, Narrow-leaved/Tiny Trumpet
Daisy, Cutleaf
Dandelion, Mountain
Dandelion, Salsify
Death Camas, Common aka Meadow
Flax, Blue
Gential, Green aka Monument Plant
Geranium, Sticky Pink
Geranium, Sticky White
Groundsel, Wooly
Hound's Tongue (noxious weed)
Indian Paintbrush-Red
Iris, Missouri
Jacob's Ladder
Kinickinick
Larkspur
Lousewort, Parry's
Lupine 
Meadow Rue, female (no males)
Milkvetch, Drummond's
Miner's Candle, Northern
Oregon Grape, Creeping
Parsley, Fern-Leaved Desert
Penstemon, Fuzzy Tongue
Penstemon, Slender Blue
Penstemon, Shining
Phacelia, Silky
Phacelia, Silverleaf 
Prairie Smoke and Old Man Whiskers
Pussytoes, Alpine
Pussytoes, Rosy
Pussytoes, Tall
Pussytoes, Woods
Raspberry
Rockcress, Nuttals
Saxifrage
Serviceberry aka Sarvisberry aka Saskatoon 
Solomon's Seal, False 
Solomon's Seal, Star Flowered False aka Wild Lily of the Valley  
Stonecrop, Lance-Leaved
Stoneseed aka Gromwell aka Lemonweed 
Strawberry
Sugar Bowl
Townsendia, Parry's
Violet, Blue
Violet, Canada
Wallflower
Yarrow
Yellow Owl's Clover
Yellowstone Draba

After three and a half days of rain, Karen, Jo Ann and Katie were aching to get in a short hike, this time to see prairie flowers. We started at the Ryan Dam trailhead but headed west toward Cochrane Dam rather than the usual Morony. We went to the falls overlook and then continued to the Ryan Dam/Great Falls overlook, where some powerlines secure to hoodoos high above the island.

It was interesting to get another vantage point from on high.  On the way going, we marveled at the flowers, the prickly  pear and yucca blooms in particular. On the way back, we took a jump as a rattle snake gave us his warning shake and coiled ready to strike. Boy, did Katie take a leap as she was closest to the little bugger.  He wasn't very big but he gave us a big fright. Luckily, we were steps from the car or we would have been timid on the trail after that.

We saw almost 30 wildflowers on this desert soil, surprising really with how dry it is.

We left at 3 and were back by 6 p,m,

Flowers we saw

Yucca
Prickly pear
American vetch
split pod milkvetch
white penstemon
yarrow
prairie roses
Hymonoxys acaulis
bull thistle
butterfly weed
sulphur buckwheat
cushion goldenweed
cushion buckwheat
sulphur buckwheat
American vetch
Scarlet globemallow
bastard toadflax
dalmation toadflax/butter and eggs
dame's rocket
sweet clover
alfafa
Missouri milkvetch
Miners candle
dusty maiden
daisy
blue flax
leafy spurge
​geyer's onion