A Fourth to Remember

On July 3, our good friends Rollie Taylor and John Jay pulled in for a weekend visit.

We celebrated the Fourth of July by driving to Sex Peak Lookout, in the Kootenai National Forest, about 20 miles from where we live. This lookout was established in the 1920s. It's no longer staffed, but the Forest Service makes it available for single-night rentals to whomever wants to go there. Because of the name, it's a popular getaway for outdoorsy couples celebrating anniversaries and such, but it's also used by families and elk chasers. If you like real solitude, this rocky eagle's nest is a cozy escape.

We spent about an hour climbing on the rocks, exploring the interior, and wondering what it would be like to be up there in that wood and glass shack during a violent thunderstorm. The consensus was that it would be fantastic!

On the way back down the mountain we made several stops to watch wildlife. We saw a mama bear and a watermelon-sized cub. Mama went up a tree and we watched her wait patiently for us to leave. Finally she fell asleep up there, undoubtedly muttering something like, "Damn tourists!" under her breath. We had the binoculars with us so we got a close-up look at her sleepy eyes.

We also saw several flocks of wild turkeys and about 40 deer here and there, including young ones still in spots.

The wildflowers were in full bloom too.

Oh yes, and we saw eagles.

We met only two other vehicles on the whole trip up and down the mountain. Both of them were pickups full of firewood.

That night, back at Shorthorse, we walked down our road to a good vantage point for the neighborhood fireworks display. We have several well healed neighbors who each put on extraordinary ($$$$$) shows along the shore of the river. Rollie commented it was the best fireworks display he'd ever seen....even better than at the fairgrounds in Yakima.

We capped it all off with some homemade strawberry shortcake and called it a night...and a fantastic Fourth of July. What a country we live in!

Hay in the barn!

Our barn now has Montana hay in it, fresh from the field.

Finding small bales of horse hay is no easy task here. The growing season is short, so there's only one cutting. No one (hardly) irrigates, so there's not much alfalfa. And everyone around here is into the big, round bales, which we can't handle without special equipment.

Oh, how I appreciate that wonderful alfalfa/grass mixed hay we got from Mike Drury down on Rutherford Road in Yakima last year for $100 a ton!! Around here, the equivalent would have to come from south of Missoula, and it would run about $180+ a ton, IF we could even get it.

We were fortunate enough to hook up with someone who buys hay from a guy just four miles down the road. He introduced us to the farmer, and we were able to get three tons last week. It's brome hay (low protein, good for our older horses) in nice little 70-pound bales. We picked it up right out of the field. $85 a ton. We still need to find about 3 more tons but think we have that lined up too. However, if Mike Drury wants to haul a load up here on his way to a hunting or fishing trip, I wouldn't turn it down!