Arnold Palmer day...

Seem to be waking at 5:55 every day! Laurie is usually up before me, already transacting business over coffee. I enjoy some coffee, then catch up on Wimbledon happenings. Let's see if ol' man Andre can defeat the young whippersnapper Nadal - seems doubtful!

This morning I wanted to see what new things were happening up at the mountain, and with clear blue skies, it was a great morning to take the short drive up there. The views were spectacular, with lots of wildflowers along the roadsides. Steamy clouds draped the lower slopes en route, but the summit shone in the morning sun. Still some snow on the upper reaches. The Swiftcurrent lift was running; they shuttle mountain bikers up so they can come careening down the slopes. I haven't done that little adventure. Yet! There was one new building going up near the base, but otherwise it seemed fairly quiet.

After talking with a number of locals about the mountain in summer, we're quite happy we have a place in the meadow. The Big Sky Town Center is really coming along, with new buildings, boutiques, restaurants, etc. opening all the time. Yet we are isolated from the traffic of that.

Kevin and I had a date with the Arnold Palmer designed Big Sky golf course at 11:10. He rented clubs. I used the old ones stored here in the owners' closet. This has to be the most scenic golf course I have ever enjoyed. In fact, golf is really a difficult, trying, game. But played in this unbelievable set of surroundings, even golf is really fun! I had no pars in 18 holes, but several bogeys and double bogeys. Hey, if it has a name, I'm happy! I lost 2 or 3 balls and found 4, so I was ahead in that department. Anyway, check out this scenery. Please ignore my horrible form. I love Big Sky!

Hike to Lava Lake

Need some exercise (:))! Off to a local favorite hike, which we've never done before. A 6-mile round trip hike to Lava Lake, off 191 north of Big Sky. After watching Wimbledon for a couple of hours, the kids finally emerged from sleep to join the expedition. A short drive later and we arrived at the trailhead. The gradual steady uphill hike was just what the doctor ordered for our exercise starved crew. Nice wildflowers. Nice birds. Hermit thrush. Swainson's thrush. Possible western tanager, but couldn't make it out. After 1.5 hrs of near nonstop trudging, we arrived at Lava Lake to whoops and hollers of other hikers jumping into the 50-some degree water. We watched an immature bald eagle flying from tree to tree along the lake's edge. Fish were rising all over the lake. Beautiful scene. We ate lunch and watched while Colin slowly submerged himself as slowly and painfully as possible into the water. The rest of us were not so bold. We did some botanizing on the way down - yellow columbine, indian paintbrush, engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, baneberry, arnica, numerous vacciniums, and a host of other beautiful flowers. We highly recommend this hike for visitors to Big Sky, and this is a nice time of year with all the flowers and birds. Pictured above is your reward at the end of the trail!

Down Day

Today we had gorgeous weather here in Big Sky - mid 70's to mid 80's and mostly sunny. But it was time to do some errands that had been building up. Washing windows is always fun; the view always sparkles that much more after 1.5 hrs of hard labor. And the garage door track was malfunctioning, so that had to be fixed. Then we met with our property manager to put some additional pressure on to do more rentals. Then some grocery shopping. You get the picture. So I'll give you a picture from the other day's rafting fun. And, as you can see, we did have fun! Until tomorrow...

A Typical Summer Day in Yellowstone

A typical summer day in Yellowstone begins with an early morning croissant and coffee from the local bakery, followed by a short 45 minute drive through gorgeous scenery to the honky tonk of West Yellowstone. The left turn into the park takes you into another world. The Yellowstone patch of NW Wyoming attempts to be a preserve of the pre-settlement west with natural wildlife interactions and minimal human effects. But with 3 million visitors annually, you can imagine this is hard to achieve. The extent to which NPS is able to preserve Yellowstone's character is remarkable.

After visiting Yellowstone many times, one has to work not to get sanguine about what you see nearly every time: bald eagles ('the' nest on the entry road had two young, with parents hanging around nearby), bison (the massive heads of big bulls never fail to make an impression), elk by the dozens (we've decided females are a bit homely, but males with a full rack - wow, hardly a more majestic ungulate anywhere!), osprey (testimony to the abundant trout!), and the steaming, seething landscape of the geyser region. One never knows what other delights you will encounter around the next corner. Yesterday it was 2 sightings of black bears; one lone male (we think; it was large and by itself), and two bears - a mother and cub about half a mile away. The cub was adorable. Colin won the sharp-eyes contest of the day in spotting the first bear; it was about 100 yds away in deep dark woods. I was probably a close second as I spotted the cub running across the hillside 100 yds above the road as I was driving! We also spotted two coyotes yesterday to add to our list. We really enjoyed birdwatching at blacktail ponds along the Mammoth-Tower road, as well as the discovery of a new (to us) 6 mile one-way parallel road out that way with superb scenery and an off-the-beaten track feel.

To top off the day, we flyfished on the Madison at one of the pullouts. Chelsea Jean showed us all up by catching a small brown trout on a fly (with bobber!). Trout were jumping all around, feeding on an impressive hatch. Photo above was taken yesterday.

Monday

I could only resist the pull of Yellowstone so long! I really wanted to wet a fly, so I rose at 6 AM, and was on the road by 6:30, new fishing gear loaded into the trunk. By 7:15 I was in West Yellowstone, purchased a fishing license from a local fly shop, and entered the park. First, I had a date with a fish in the Firehole River. Lunker rainbow trout 1, Jim 0. I know they're in there, but either I was using the wrong fly, or....I was using the wrong fly. Anyway, four flies and two hours later, I gave up on Uncle FireholeFudd, and drove back toward the NW corner of the park en route back to Big Sky. I pulled over next to Grayling Creek on the south side of the divide and fished a short stretch of that beautiful clear creek, followed by a nice stretch of the Gallatin on the north side of the divide. The Gallatin was much bigger water than it appeared and the current was powerful. Still no fish were eager to jump on my hook, but I enjoyed the casting practice and the scenery.

Then it was back to Big Sky for a nap before making a Bozeman run. Ostensibly we were going to an art show, but Northwest Airlines mag. got it wrong I guess, b/c there was no evidence of such. Ah well, we strolled the streets, then had a nice late dinner at Boodles - good food, slow service. Off to Yellowstone tomorrow. Promise pics!

Sunday

I know. I'm posting this a day late!

What did we do Sunday? The two days we've spent so far have been packed with activities. Sunday morning - duel of the tennis titans of big sky at Ophir school! Sorry, no pics of that. Oh, wait a minute. I found one! Here I am reaching for a forehand... Actually, that was Kevin. With 4 extra days of altitude adjustment and practice on the courts, he eked out a 6-4,6-3 victory. The balls were flying off my racquet (long, mostly) - could it be the altitude?

Our next adventure was one I recommend for all our summer visitors here at Big Sky. That afternoon we went whitewater rafting with Geyser Whitewater Expeditions, an outfit located right near Ophir school. We did the lower Gallatin 1/2 day package, with class III and IV rapids (and II). The Gallatin was at a 'medium' level of 1700cfs. Our guide was Dave, an ex-ski bum turned school teacher, who did an excellent job maneuvering us through the boulders. I was quite impressed with the river, having seen class IV and V on the Gauley in WV, and I'd say they were rating the rapids conservatively here. Wet suits were a must for this trip as we got soaked with 42 deg. water repeatedly. But we had a sunny warm day, so for the most part we weren't cold. The trip was 2 hrs long and the action was nicely spaced out. The longest stretch, called the Mad Mile, was class III and one class IV stretch that really got your adrenaline up! Hope to pick up pictures of our expedition today and we'll try to find a way to post it, although they are 'hard copies'. By the way, with five hard paddling people in the raft, Dave said our crew was ideal - we were able to make that raft zoom toward the right place on the river to avoid obstacles. Colin and Chelsea definitely pulled their weight. Indeed, Chelsea made sure we pulled 'THREE FORWARD!' and 'RELAX!'ed at the right times. Great fun!

Home in Montana!

On the flight from Minneapolis, the guy in the seat next to me said 'Going home?' I thought for a second and said,'Yes, as a matter of fact!' It's really fun thinking about flying to Montana and back to West Virginia and going home both ways!

The flight was the easiest one I remember, made easier by new (cheap) noise-cancelling headphones and my ipod. Left Pittsburgh at 8:30 and was in Bozeman by 1:25 PM, even with a 30 min. delay leaving Minneapolis. A walk around the condo complex looking at the fire damage (almost not noticeable now) at the far end of the complex, followed by Yahtzee, followed by a 2 mile loop run around the golf course, made it a full day. Slept like a log, then up at 6 to take this picture from the driving range back toward Big Sky Dream. K&L saw a bald eagle fighting with an osprey yesterday morning. Nothing so exciting this morning...yet...Kevin and I are going to play tennis at Ophir school, then all will go rafting this afternoon on the Mad Mile. More later from Montana.

Ah well, forgive me, I'm going thru China pics

Here is a picture of an area on a Temple of Heaven complex building that has been repainted recently. This is the way it looked in many places at the summer palace and forbidden city too. The level of detail was astonishing, as you can see. Next post definitely from Montana! Cheers!

OK, OK, another one!

This is the entry to Temple of Heaven in Beijing, a beautiful temple all refurbished for the Beijing 2008 Olympics! Many of the famous sites are being repainted and spruced up for the Olympics. The Chinese have tremendous pride in playing host to these games. My prediction is that there will be a sea-change in China as a result of the increase in tourism and world awareness of China that will result. It is clear that that is what China is hoping will happen!

One more China pic...

Can't help it - you have to have a peak at the karst peaks...

China Trip - Extremely Brief Summary

What a summer! Only the third 'official' day of summer and I feel like it has been one of the busiest and most interesting ever! First was our trip to China in May to visit Ian and Ming. What a trip! It cannot be sufficiently summarized in this blog, but suffice it to say, it was a trip of a lifetime. Most spectacular was the Guilin-Yangshuo area in south-central China; it was so scenic that even the scroll paintings showing steep peaks rising out of rice fields cannot capture it. There were so many of the karst peaks! The river cruise was a great way to see it. World travelers - put it on your list of places to see! The photo shows our traveling party visiting the Great Wall in the spectacular scenery a couple hours north of Beijing. Well, this blog is really starting after that trip, but perhaps we can add more later, or maybe Ann can do a blog on just the China trip (?).

Tomorrow - to Montana!

First blog

Hey All, This is my summer blog...following on Kevin's lead.