Heading for Montana

I'm going to Big Sky country again! I talked to Cassandra and the studio is available for me to stay in when I arrive in Big Timber. She has planned a camping trip to the Crazies - leaving next Tuesday. Sounds like 6 or 8 of us will be going - a fun way to spend time with my gal-pals.

I decided to drive up Hwy 88 through Jackson and over Carson Pass. I spent a day and night boondocking near Red Lake, a few miles east of Carson Pass. I love this area, having spent many seasons cross-country skiing all around the vicinity. It's interesting to see the mountain in her summer garb. I found a lovely spot next to a babbling creek, with yellow and purple flowers adorning the hill in front of me. An idyllic campsite EXCEPT... the mosquitos! I got out to take a pee and, in that short time, ended up with about a half dozen bites on my butt.

This was a perfect opportunity to test my new compact screen room. I quickly set it up and furnished it with my chair, a small table, water bottle, a novel, binoculars, and Sibley's bird book. What a joy to be sitting in there enjoying the sights and sounds of nature while the mosquitos and flies were bashing themselves on the screen a couple feet away.

Last night (Friday 7/15) I camped at the free campgound at the Hickison Petroglyph site off Hwy 50 between Austin and Eureka, NV. The temperature driving through the desert was in the 100's and the air is very humid here with a delicious, pungent scent of sage. It was sultry and cloudy coming over Hickison pass and occasional flashes of lightning brightened the sky.