Author: BradinMontana

That’s a wrap!  My final walk of the year has occurred. So, these are my stats for 2023. I am up in 2023 when compared with 2022, but not by a lot. I am hopeful that I can make 6 million steps and 1,000 miles of hiking in 2024.  I might even try to slip…

December has been unseasonably warm (and just a bit wonderful). When I woke up this morning, I had 76 miles (122km) of hiking for the month of December. I decided it might be nice to try to break the 80 mile mark. As a point of refence, I was able to get 157 miles (252km)…

The latest website that I have been working on is live. It’s incomplete, and I have a lot of work to do on it, but it’s out there. HelenaOutdoors.com The Greater Helena Area has better access to trails, including over 15 miles (24km) of accessible trails, than does any other city in Montana. If you’re…

This little vignette of color and texture stopped me as I was walking the Labrador up the Quarry Trail on Mount Helena today. We have about five species of cactus in this area. This one is always nice to find. Missouri Foxtail Cactus- Coryphantha missouriensis

The full moon rising over the Big Belt Mountain pulled us all out on the deck this evening. This valley can be stunningly beautiful.

August has come to a close and with it, most of the opportunities that I will have to see new species. Our annual counts are decent for this time of year. Since January , we have seen a minimum of 196 birds; at least 209 wildflower species- not counting invasives; and at least 27 butterfly…

I really like the third week of August. I like it especially when it snows. I’ve experienced August snow 4 or 5 times since 1990 (when I moved to Montana). Snow, either in the valley or just in the hills ringing the valley is such a non-sequitur when there previous week often sees highs of…

This was a terrific day. SMR and I took the pup and headed to Bozeman for a day of ‘other’. We walk, eat meals, and all that stuff in Helena every day. Somehow, doing the same things a few miles away feels special. And it was special.   On the one hand, Hyalite canyon is…

At my latitude, August reclaims 28 minutes in the morning and 51 minutes in the evening through later sunrises and earlier sunsets. The benefit is that the sunrises and sunsets are easier to observe in August- and the weather patterns add to the scenery with a bit more cloudiness than we have in June and…

July was a lackluster month for birds. We added a paltry two species to the annual bird list- Clark’s Grebe and Caspian Tern on the first of the month in the Island Park area of Idaho. Yearly total stands at 186 species. We missed the opportunity to add several ‘rare’ species that we learned about…