Montana Fire Season, from quiet to busy in one week!

Fire at Holter Lake 9/9/09

Is that tiny bucket of water really going to do much good?! 9/9/09

The big news around here is about fires. We had been enjoying a very quiet fire season this year, but not anymore! Wednesday of last week a large fire broke out near one of our most popular lakes. Holter Lake, formed by a dam on the Missouri River, is a sportsman's paradise. The lake is usually dotted with boats of all types and the surrounding land is dotted with many campgrounds and private cabins. On nice weekends, folks flock to the lake from Great Falls (to the north) and Helena (south of the lake) to fish, hunt, boat, or camp. During the week, especially now that school is in session and summer is unofficially over, there aren't many people playing in the area. That was a good thing last week. The fire broke out in or near a campground in the late morning and burned out quite a few camper-trailers before taking off into the wooded hills. The pine beetle had killed enough of the trees to allow the fire to take a quick jump in size... 2400 acres in only one day! The good news? The fire was on the 'far side' of the lake, where there are fewer cabins. The state had fire crews in place quickly, but the flames were too high and fast for men on the ground. By Wednesday evening the fire was being fought with chemical drops from airplanes and water drops from helicopters. My photos were taken Wednesday evening as I was driving home to Helena. **For you locals out there... my vantage point was the Augusta Exit. Now, five days later, there is hardly any smoke rising from the valley and roads into the area are reopened. I hope it is all under control BECAUSE... only a relatively few miles to the south:

Helena North Hills Fire 9/14/09

....Today, Monday, a fire broke out in the North Hills of the Helena Valley. This is a much more populated area, and the smoke plume could be seen clearly throughout the valley. I figure my house is, as the crow flies, about five or six miles from this fire. I can smell the smoke drifting into my windows as I am typing. I don't know anything about this fire yet... like how it started, or where EXACTLY it is, but looking out the window and seeing the smoke is a bit unsettling. As I watched from my driveway (where the photo was taken) I could see the setting sun reflecting off of two firefighter planes. I am sure this fire will be attacked from all sides and put out quickly. Our wildfire crews are awesome, and with many houses in danger they won't be getting much sleep until the entire thing is contained and totally out.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature is not planning to help out any time soon. The afternoon temperatures are supposed to be in the mid to high 80's, lows in the 50's, and no rain.

The best laid plans....

I was planning on writing part two of my Washington trip, and adding some more photos last night, but Mother Nature had another idea for me.
We have been having some pretty severe weather passing through the Helena area and last night was no exception.
Like many of natures shows, this one was beautiful! The sun was setting through the rain storm making the west glow orange with the occasional lightning strike for punctuation. As the storm quickly moved to the east my home was in it's path, causing some power flickers, so I shut down all the electronic stuff. I did look out the window and saw a full double rainbow, but the rain was coming down too hard to take my digital camera (or cell phone) outside. I love rain storms so I stood at my front door and watched.
The storm moved on, the clouds reflecting the sunset, which made them a brilliant mixture of pinks and oranges.
As the sun set, and the weather cleared, I once again turned on the home computer to write a post.... then I heard sirens in the distance. One, no big deal. Two, must have been an accident. But by the time I registered there were four or five emergency vehicles I just had to look! I could see some smoke rising from a forested hill about four miles from my house and a stream of flashing red lights heading towards it. One of those lightning strikes had started a fire.
With Brooke (my dog) "singing" along with the sirens, and the curiosity that is human nature... I abandoned the blog post and sat on my porch watching until it was full dark.
I will finish "part 2", and also "What I did on the 4th" this weekend. I promise! I have tons of photos to share!

Summer Storms and More Garden Sprouts

My drive from Great Falls to Helena last night was awesome! Many might not have thought so, but I LOVED it!

Right after leaving Great Falls, heading south on I-90 (Big oops! I mean I-15! Thanks for the catch Mountain Man!) to Helena, I could see a major storm only a few miles ahead of me. By the time I got to Ulm (a tiny community 10 miles from Great Falls), I was picking up a few raindrops on my windshield, and the ionized smell that is associated with thunderstorms was coming in my open window. I breathed deep... that smell is one of my favorites. It has a way of calming AND energizing me at the same time. I know that sounds weird, but my troubles and thoughts all leave my head, and feelings of... how do I describe it... I guess of Life, unlimited energy, natures power... all that and more... energize my very soul.

A few moments later, the first bright flash of lightning.... then another, and another... all around me. The rain increased from a few sprinkles to a torrent in a matter of seconds, creating a loud pounding sound inside my vehicle overpowering the thunderclaps outside. I know they were loud, because I could actually feel the rumbles. By this time, I had closed my window most of the way. I was still getting some rain in the car, but I didn't want to close out the smells of the storm. I was driving along, big grin on my face, passing other drivers who looked like they were annoyed by the storm. They must have thought "Look at the Crazy Lady!" Hahaha!

The rain began to let up, then the storm was off to my left... then the sun came out. I looked in my rear view and I knew I had to stop and get a photo of the storm (please be kind enough to ignore the dust or hair that seems to have been over the lens.):

Looking North:

Looking North West:

And, finally, I turned around and THIS is where I am headed! Blue skies and sunshine!

Once I got home, I checked on the garden. The ground was still damp, but no longer soaked. The evening was beautiful, and the sun was still pretty high so I dropped my keys in the house and went back out to finally thin the row of radishes. I have to say, I did this with mixed blessings. I was so happy to see all these little plants popping out of the ground, and now I was about to yank about half of them out before they really had a chance to grow. I know that if I didn't, the final product wouldn't be as good, so it had to be done. I couldn't help but laugh to myself about the irony. Me, who can't keep anything alive, is pulling green shoots.

After I finished that chore... Ok, not much of a chore as the row is only 7 feet long... I took a good look at the rest of the garden. Oh Joy! The lettuce is dong great and will need it's own thinning in a few days. The majority of the lettuce plants are about an inch tall already. There are tiny green feathery sprouts where I planted carrots, and half inch tall green onions! Now, I am only waiting on the peppers and the parsley to show.

I am a little worried about my pansies, though. I think the deluge of water and the soaking of the soil has taken it's toll. Many are limp, and some of the leaves are turning yellow. I am going to keep them away from the next few waterings to get all the extra water out. The drain holes in the bottom must have plugged up and the pots were unable to drain properly. Pansies seem to be pretty forgiving, so they may make a comeback.

After playing in the dirt, I fed Brookie-Dog and noticed she was nearly out of kibble. I washed up and headed into Helena (10 miles from home) to Wal-Mart. I couldn't help but notice the cool cloud formations over the eastern mountains. It was getting dark, but there was enough evening light to get a photo:

All in all, a pretty good Monday evening, wouldn't you say?

What happened to spring?

This is what I see as I look out my work window. *sigh* This is NOT normal end-of-April weather! What the hell??!!

It has been snowing steady since 6pm Monday evening... it is now nearly 5pm Wednesday. The snow is supposed to stop tonight or early tomorrow morning. Do you want to know WHY this is SOoooo depressing? It was 80 degrees only two weeks ago!! The grass is green somewhere under all this snow, the trees were budding out, the neighbors had daffodils and tulips blooming. *shaking my head*

OK, now that I have the whining out of the way-- here are the wonders of this storm:

Great Falls set a new snowfall record of 8.1 inches yesterday. The last record had held since 1970, but I don't know how much snow fell on that day. The town of Saint Mary, which is on the East side of Glacier Park, received FOUR FEET of new snow yesterday, with another foot expected today. The town of Browning was experiencing drifting up to 6 feet deep.

Roads were (are?) closed throughout the North Central areas of the state. This is not a small area. We are talking Interstates and major highways being closed in (approx) a 250 mile X 200 mile area! If the roads aren't closed, then they are restricted to emergency travel only. This area is larger than some East Coast states! This is one Hell of a storm. We are a hardy lot, and we know all about winter driving, so our roads don't close very often. Schools, too. Our school districts don't even plan for "snow days", but this storm closed schools in at least 6 districts. It isn't the snow, really, but the wind causing severe blizzards across the Rocky Mountain Front and the plains. Remember the blizzard in the book Little House on the Prairie? Yep, that is what some areas are experiencing here.

As I look out the window, the snow is still falling, the trees are beautiful covered in the spring snow, random clumps dropping from the tops causing mini-cascades of snow. I am happy in the knowledge that this will all be over by tomorrow afternoon, and spring will return for the weekend, with temperatures in the high 50's (still low for this time of year, but better than the 25-30 degrees we have had these past few days). The snow is helping fill the reservoirs that have been so low over the past few years because of drought, and giving the soil much needed moisture. The snow holds the water in place longer than a heavy rain storm would, so the trees which were tinder-dry last summer will have a chance to absorb more water through their roots.

June will be awesome-ly green and there will be tons of wildflowers. So many people are complaining about this late storm, but they are overlooking the benefits that nature will reap from it. It is beautiful and good for the environment... BUT, I really AM ready for winter to be over.

East Glacier, Cut Bank, and Shelby, MT

Since we never made it to Kalispell (which is on the other side of those mountains!), Joe and I decided to make the most of being along the High Line of Montana and do some sight seeing. As you can see, Sunday was a beautiful day. This photo is of an old house that collapsed, leaving just the front entry area standing. You can see by the drift that hasn't melted by the door just how much snow this area can get! This was taken about 10 miles east of East Glacier. The mountains in the background are part of Glacier National Park.

As we were driving along Highway 2, we saw a sign pointing to a Historic Point. Joe and I always stop at these! Just off the highway, there was this monument to Captain Meriweather Lewis of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition. The full monument is actually an obelisk about 15 feet tall, but it most of it is covered in graffiti and shot gun blasts. The entire area around the monument was littered with empty and broken beer and liquor bottles. So Sad! This is still on the Blackfoot Reservation, and it seems everything they are given they destroy. I'm not being discriminatory against the tribe, or any American Indians, but of all the reservations I have been on, the Blackfeet seem to have the most garbage, broken down vehicles, and dirty, dilapidated towns. They profess "Native Pride" but I have yet to see any evidence of it. They live in such a beautiful place, too! I am nearly driven to tears any time I drive through Browning, MT. It hurts my own Montana Pride when I see how badly they are treating their land and resources.

Looking up from the Monument, this next photo is the view! Breathtaking!

This is what is known as the Northern Rocky Mountain Front, or the Front Range of the Rockies. The mountains just jump right out of the plains! No foothills, just rolling fields then steep mountain sides. I could go into a geology lesson about the Overthrust Belt, and how these mountains were formed, but if you really want to know all of that, you can do a search on the 'Net. Geologists say there is a large amount of oil deposits along the Rocky Mountain Front, but the environmentalists and conservationists have kept that from being accessed. I have mixed feelings about the whole idea, and I don't feel like being political today, so that is all I am going to say on the subject, for now.

What is the "high-line", anyways? It is the local term for the area across the top of Montana, usually in reference to either the railroad or Highway 2 which crosses the state from east to west, only a few dozen miles from the Canadian border. Anyone who has been along the high line knows the power of the wind, which blows constantly! Finally, Montana has the opportunity to harvest this clean energy source. We are one of the leaders in wind generated power in the U.S. Wind farms like this one are being built across the eastern two-thirds of the state. I think it is an awesome thing, but there seems to be quite a number of people against these wind farms. I don't even try to understand those people! They want electricity, but don't want us to drill for the oil that is known to exist along the Rocky Mountain Front, they don't want Coal generated plants, and NOW they are against wind farms! I just shake my head in frustration. This particular wind farm is located between the towns of Cut Bank and Shelby.

I had to laugh at this guy, and knew I had to share this one with everyone! Cut Bank is in the Guiness Book of World Records for being the coldest place in the Continental US. AND... yes, it was pretty cold on Sunday. I think the temperature was actually in the high 30's, but the wind made it very uncomfortable. I would have to say the wind chill was close to 10 or 15 degrees. Joe and I were geocaching in the area, and my pen became so cold it didn't want to write. (The same thing was happening to my fingers, too! LOL)

Welcome to Shelby, Montana, and the United States of America! This is a HUGE flag. The smaller flag poles are standard, school or city sized ones. Shelby is the first town of any substantial size after crossing into Montana from Canada. By the way, those small mountains in the background? They are right on the US side of the border.

This little farm house is in a field between Shelby and Great Falls. As you can see, the wind has nearly knocked it over. We have many homestead cabins and barns that lean at strange, gravity defying angles! I wanted to get a photo of this one before it finally succumbed to the elements.

Another point of interest: As you can see, Montana is not all mountains! Only the western third has the mountains, while the rest of the state looks much like this photo. One of our biggest crops is wheat, and where the wheat isn't growing we have cows.

SO-- that is what we did this past weekend. After being on the road, exploring places we haven't been to before, I am now suffering from cabin fever! I want it to warm up so we can explore more of the state.

Many things for this Monday

I have many thoughts today, so I will try to keep each one short in order to keep this from being a novella.

On my way into work this morning, driving between Helena and Great Falls, I was passed by a young lady. She wasn't speeding or anything, just going a little faster than I was. About a half mile from where she passed me, she blew out a tire. I pulled up behind her to see if she was alright, had a spare tire, whatever... since we were in an area where there is little to no cell phone coverage. As she walked back to me, I could see she was a bit shaken, and only in her young twenties. When I asked if she had a spare and a jack, she really didn't know! So I had her pop the trunk.. I saw she did have a spare AND the jack! (So many young people take them out and forget to put them back in). I handed her the lug wrench, and she just looked at it with a quizzical expression. I knew right then she had no clue how to change a tire. I personally think that should be part of the drivers exam. The Written, The Driving, The Changing of a tire. SO, I showed her how to loosen the lug nuts, position the jack and showed her how to crank it up (lovely scissor jack), I finished removing the tire (I was late for work, and I could tell she wasn't a girl who likes to ruin a good manicure) while I had her grab, position, and re-tighten the tire into place. All said, it took only about 15 or 20 minutes. The young lady thanked me over and over again, while telling me that she had no idea that changing a tire was SO EASY!

I smiled the rest of the way to work.....

Superbowl Sunday was yesterday. That is pretty much the only football game I like to watch. I was hoping the Arizona Cardinals would win, since I usually side with the underdog team. SO Close, but no cigar. Joe was happy that the Steelers took the title once again since he grew up in that part of the country.

I got a bit off track on the dieting thing, and gained one pound since mid-January (for a one month loss of only four pounds). I knew these past few weeks I wasn't sticking to eating right, with a pizza party one weekend, Superbowl treats, and eating out a few times... and yes, that lovely piece of cheesecake from the other night! It is time to get my (big) butt back in gear for February.

I did 15 loads of laundry this weekend! Washed, dried, folded, and put them all away! I think I need to stay home more often so this doesn't happen again. And to those people who really know me... yes, I even matched up the socks! LOL

I am putting five paperbacks onto http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php. If you like to read, check it out. Very cool idea.

Joe and I went out yesterday afternoon (before the big game) to the National Forest to go target shooting with Joe's new Taurus .40 s&w. My dad is an excellent marksman and has trophies to prove it. I am not! Out of 30 shots, I hit the board the target was attached to only twice. I totally missed the target!

Still no new snow. Everything is brown and dirty. We have had some pretty awesome winds though! We are talking 40-60mph, with gusts to 70mph. If this happened anywhere in the Eastern half of the US, entire cities would be shut down... emergency procedures in place...BUT, here in Montana, we just deal with it. It is just hard to drive in!!

AND-- I picked up my crochet hooks for the first time in many, many years. Here are the results: This one is a white yarn heart that really didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped, so the photo is from a bit of a distance.

This one is worked in #10 thread, and is a small doily. The hooks I used are shown, too. The white one was my grandmothers and is made of ivory. OK, I know... don't get all environmental on me! I didn't buy it, and when Grandma did (way back when) the tragedy of ivory harvesting was unknown to the public. That hook has made many, many items; and I couldn't bear to throw it away. We went to visit my parents Saturday night and I took these hearts to show mom. She thought they were nice and kept them!

So... that was my weekend! Hope yours was fun and productive as well.

Emergency Travel Only? Who knew?

Well, 2009 has started pretty much the same way 2008 ended-- cold and snowy! The drive from Helena to Great Falls this morning was not something to be tried by the feint of heart! I arrived in Great Falls only to hear I-90 was closed to all but emergency traffic. How was I supposed to know this? Unlike other places in the U.S., we do not have those fancy LED reader boards telling us current conditions at every overpass, we do not have barriers that get lowered to close off the highways, and most of our radio stations are "Voice Tracked" (sorry Program Directors, your secret is out) so there is very little up-to-the-minute information even there.

I'm not saying that I didn't know the roads were bad... I was VERY aware they were, and visibility was right around, oh, I don't know-- 1/8th to 1/4 of a mile. The passing lanes were filling with drifts so you were pretty much stuck behind anyone you caught up to. Yes, this did slow down the manical drivers who feel they are invincable, but us "normal" drivers were slowed by this person who decided the rest of us were not to exceed 35mph until he became so intimidated by the tanker truck on his ass he pulled off onto an exit ramp. Our little group of intrepid travellers averaged speeds of 45mph to the whopping high racetrack speeds of 60mph in a few clearer areas. It took me over two hours to traverse 80 miles! And the best part of all this? I get to do it all in reverse at 6pm! YIPPIE! At least the snow has stopped falling (for now) and the wind seems to have died a bit.

My little 1997 Toyota Rav-4 is quite the little trooper! I haven't had any troubles with it in the snow, on the ice, or even not starting in sub-zero temperatures. I have owned it for a little over a year now, and I am sold on the product line. When I upgrade once again, I will look for another Rav-4 (if I can't get my hands on one of the new F-J's at a reasonable price).
**I just tried to upload some snow photos of right outside of our shop, but the server wasn't working right. I'll try again later--**