A Pleasant Day.

Just for fun — Montana, our black cat, had this rug all the way off the step, and then somehow put it back with himself under it!

We went for a hike in the foothills around Missoula, off the Blue Mountain Road. There are myriads of trails in the valley and over the hillsides. It may take us all summer to explore even a small portion of them. Here's something I'd never noticed before, the male strobili on a ponderosa pine. I'm guessing the pine cone forms on the end of the branch after the flowering part falls off. I couldn't find an exact description of the process when I 'googled' the tree.

I liked this old snag with a birdhouse attached.

Here is a shot of the Missoula Valley looking northeast, taken from the trail we were hiking. The water tower in the center is in old Fort Missoula, restored as an historical monument. You can barely see the 'M', a white speck on the hill slightly left of center, and the 'L' on the hill to the far left. Also, the Bitterroot River is showing as a light spot right below the water tower. It's truly a beautiful valley.