[katarine]

Rode from Beaver Creek Cabin to Hilgard Basin and back out, beautiful weather last week. About an hour NW of West Yellowstone.

Thought I'd share.

Spring flowers in August. A cool wet summer equals ridiculous August flowers.

Crag Lake, our front porch Wed AM



Tuesday's camp by Expedition Lake. Crag Lake is behind me...

Drake's new chaps. They are gorgeous...

Chick aka Peanut, the wonder mare. I rode her all week and love her to bits. NICE mare.
me

if you're still looking, I'll explain this one....


Heading to Expedition Pass:


<p>
Up and over Expedition Pass...

Fishing in Expedition Lake

Drake and Wizard checking out the weird elk lick way up in the burned out forest. We aren't sure what's in the dirt, not salt, but the locals seem to love it. That's a steep drop off just below them, overlooking the valley we had just climbed.


Chaps appreciation picture- That's Mr Katarine

and finally...a Montana guardrail. Cowboymom took this while I reapplied my lipstick and read the map

[jazzrider]

OMG Kat, can we come next year? Very nice mare, and very nice butt on Mr. Kat (the chaps were good too! ). Were those your horses, trailered out there?

[katarine]

We fly out every summer and spend a week with our best pals, CBM and Mr CBM, this was our fifth summer. Met her on the internet, talking horses. We are like longlost soul mates, the four of us. Crazy.

Those are their horses- The appy is a doll, was foundered by a farrier and is now sound as a dollar, you'd never know he'd had an issue (carved out his sole to create concavity and NOW)....he is their son's horse... the bald faced mare is a TWH/Barb mix, as is the chestnut with a blaze, they are sisters...the yellow horse is off the Navajo reservation in N MT, and the dun is her good QH, Drifter. We had a great time.

The thought is that next yr, maybe....I can work it out to take my two walkers and go west, and Mr Kat and his chaps would fly in to join us. We'll see. I'm not totally sure he gets that I'm serious!! I have time lol

We just love it out there, and love them to bits.

[jazzrider]

Lucky you -- it looks like a fabulous trip and it's just so great when you can find a couple that you (as a couple) just click with. It's hard, particularly with us horsey folk. It's nice when you have the time to make the most of it!

Love that bald faced mare!

Hubby and I volunteered at a charity ride here in May and met a couple from South Carolina (retired) who have a huge rig with living quarters. Each year they pack up and travel with their horses (Rocky Mountains, gorgeous, gorgeous) for two months, riding trail and visiting friends. This year they were headed up the east coast but last year they did out west. We could have just sat and listened to them for hours. Decided that's what we're aspiring to in 20 years.

[katarine]

LOL us too. I bought more truck than I need, in anticipation of paying off the house and buying a nicer LQ in 8-9 years or so. Nothing crazy, but roomier and bigger (mine's TINY). Then, we're off, at least part of the time

[mp]

Awesome pics, katarine. That's quite a trail. But I don't think the "guardrail" would pass OSHA regs.

[Raleigh's Mom]

Wow!!!! That looks like my sort of vacation! I really enjoyed the pictures. Wish I could find some friends like that....

[katarine]

We are blessed and we know it! Guardrails or no, that's my kind of riding

[cloudy18]

You suck! Looks awesome, that is my idea of a vacation. Definitely something you wouldn't get bored doing every year.

[springer]

You guys are weeners! Try coming out here in February! HA HA

[katarine]

You guys are weeners! Try coming out here in February! HA HA

HA! Ain't no way! Right now I'm cipherin' can I get them HERE to Alabama in February, thaw 'em out, then send 'em home for 5 more months of winter

[Beverley]

I admire Mr. K's chaps. But I want the app.

We saw Expedition pass in the distance but didn't go that way.

I don't see the promised explanation for the 'if you're still reading' picture.

[katarine]

Last yr we saw tons of wildlife: bighorn sheep, mtn goats, etc. This yr, only a lone moose (our first) and a grungy coyote. Oh well, let's go home.

So we're back at CBM's place and Friday dawned cool and breezy. We cancelled our river float plans, loaded up a cooler, grabbed several bags of chips, and headed, literally, for the hills. CBM's in a broad, flat valley, the Missouri runs through it and the hills behind her are beatiful and rolling. We headed out in her SUV and off to a neighbor's spot high on a hill. This guy somehow got a huge Airstream up on top of this hill- some 40 years ago or so, and a smaller truck camper. It's a neat place to sit and watch the weather roll in. The mice own the Airstream now, too bad- it's a neat old thing.

So we've been there an hour or more, just putzing around, taking pics and eating chips. Mr CBM says quietly 'well there's a bear'. Not 20 feet from me, coming aroud the end of the Airstream is this bear. Grab camera from beside me on the steps, click on, snap.

We do the collective math of we think he's last yrs cub, so where's his twin, are they still travelling together??? and he's likely not still got momma in tow...

hmmmm..now remember there's 30' of metal between us and the view of where he popped in from, and he's between us and the SUV....and there's 4 strands of barbed wire too, between us and the SUV. hmmm.

So he sits down and licks on himself and I take the pic I posted. He wants those chips! But we're 4 to his 1. Turns and walks off behind the AS again, we look around the other end and there he goes, walking on the brow, studying on how he can come down and get those chips. Frustrated, he stands up and scratches his back on the outhouse, lol, and bites a chunk out of it. Finally, he huffs off and disappears.

Now then, where we had been sprawled and talking, we could all now fit under one small umbrella LOL! We gathered our things and headed for the SUV- it's kinda close up there all of a sudden and not a lot of open space between us and the thick woods around. Let's go! We had great fun watching Mr CBM pop his bull whip before we left, big old long snaky thing- he's good with it, too bad it was IN the SUV the whole time.

so that's the bear story. Not out in the wild, just up in the hills. FUN! We SHOULD have made noise and run him off, I get that. He shouldn't be at ease pressuring peeps, I don't want him shot. But it was an out of this world surprise and one I really enjoyed experiencing
_______________

Beverly- I'm all ears about places you've ridden out in those parts. I am considering hauling two of mine out there next yr, a one time big trip type deal- but don't want extreme elevation, just great scenery to accommodate their Alabama roots here at 700' feet above sea level

[Rachel L]

Beautiful! You sound like a lot of fun, come packing with me in Yosemite sometime.

[arabhorse2]

Gawd, those pictures make me homesick for Jackson Hole, WY!!!

If I were 30 years younger I'd sell the farmette, pack up the horses, and move to Jackson Hole or thereabouts.

I can barely tolerate the cold here in Virginia in the winters, so I know I'd never survive a Montana or Wyoming one now!

I have to say that Montana, the area around Jackson Hole, and parts of Idaho are some of the most beautiful places on the planet. Le sigh....

We saw lots of moose, elk, and coyotes when we were riding in the Grand Tetons, but the closest we came to bear was their scat and tracks.

It looks like your hubby is wearing chinks, and not chaps. I could be wrong, but they look too short to be chaps. Nice butt though, no matter what they are!

I has a jealous!

[katarine]

yeah, they're chinks. Easier to say chaps. Especially in mixed company LOL

[arabhorse2]

True, true.

I remember some folks had a conniption on COTH a few years prior about someone saying 'chinks', and how it was soooo derogatory to Chinese people!

[Beverley]

Beverly- I'm all ears about places you've ridden out in those parts. I am considering hauling two of mine out there next yr, a one time big trip type deal- but don't want extreme elevation, just great scenery to accommodate their Alabama roots here at 700' feet above sea level

This was my first year up there, definitely going back next year- but the trails we took both in W. Yellowstone and in Lee-Metcalf were definitely suitable for flatlander horses (I'm from Houston originally so 700 feet seems so high!) Elevation change of 2k+ feet, to be sure, but gradual, nothing extreme. No guardrails, but good footing on the switchbacks (and good width) and soft terrain if one had a notion to go rolling down from one switchback to the next.

Have the map of the route we took in Montana on my home computer, and I'll need to look at a map to find the trailhead we used in W Yellowstone- but of course if I send the info to you you have to shred and eat it after reading!

[Sentry Chick]

That is my kind of vacation too. And you get to do that yearly? So lucky. Maybe someday I can get DH to find some time so we can do something like this.

Took me a while to see the chaps/chinks in the "Chap's Appreciation" pic though. LOL. Lucky gal.

[Lady Counselor]

Fabulous!
I'm jealous...but glad for you!
Great pics, and it looks like you had an excellent time! Thanks for sharing!