Good tidings in the Rockies

After leaving Augusta we spent a few days in Banff National Park. We have been here before, but the scenery of the Canadian Rockies always amazes us.
We decided to spend a day in the mountains to receive their good tidings, as John Muir would say. A ranger recommended Cirque Peak so that's where we went. It felt good to be slogging up a mountain slope again.

A view south. The geology of the range is stunning.

We gained a great view of the Wapta Icefield where Matt and I did a spring ski tour several years ago. The lake was frozen then, enabling us to ski across it.

Soaking up the sunshine and fresh air.

This mooching marmot summited too, hoping to receive good handouts. We refused to give in to his charms. I suspect he enjoyed the tramp up the mountain as much as we did.

An evening drive

One of our favorite things to do in Augusta is to take drives. (This was a favorite activity of Matt's Dad, Aunt and Grandparents too, so we're sort of carrying on the tradition.) There are numerous dirt roads that lead up into the mountains. The landscape is very different from the Pacific Northwest, but its beauty has grown on us over the years.
Haystack Butte, a prominent landmark in the area, is in the distance above.

We caught the dumb ones

I have a distinct childhood memory of fishing on a river and having a trout steal my bait over and over again. It annoyed me greatly and left me with the impression that trout can be rather clever, considering their brain size. Yesterday Matt and I spent the day fishing a few holes on the Sun River, and once again the trout outwitted us many times over. Our combined years of higher education amounted to nothing. We did end up taking two trout home for dinner, but we think we only caught them because they were lacking that trout intelligence. You can tell the fish in the photo below is a bit slow because he is missing part of his upper caudal fin. He must have done something pretty foolish to have had that happen.



So, we've been enjoying our time out here in Montana. It's been warm and sunny. We find the act of fishing very riveting. We never thought we'd be so into it, but it puts us absolutely in the moment. It flows and makes the time speed by, and is a great excuse for being outdoors.

We would have taken photos of the fishing hole where we found our gullible trout, but we are keeping that a secret.
Instead you get a photo of one of the many small lakes found on the Rocky Mountain Front.

Big Sky fishing

We are spending a few days out in Montana before we head north again. This evening we decided to try a bit of trout fishing. We had only one bite but nothing was caught. These fish aren't being as obliging as the ones out on the coast, but the fishing was really just an excuse to get outdoors and soak up the fabled big sky of Montana.

Nilan Reservoir at sunset

Juneau reconnaissance

The past few days have been spent exploring Juneau. We walk and take the bus a lot.

A few days ago we visited the Mendenhall Glacier. It makes us giddy to know that there is a huge icefield right outside of Juneau.
On another day we hiked from the marina up to Gastineau Peak, then rode the tram back down to town. This photo is looking north up Gastineau Channel.

This photo is looking south at Stephens Passage which we came up.

Looking east towards Canada from Gastineau Peak. The mountains here remind of us of the Olympics - the coastal climate keeps the vegetation lush and free of forest fires.