In the beginnng of June, 2002, Lynde Howe and I set off to hike up the Spread Mountain trail. We were hoping to get up to where we could see all over. The day started out fairly nice, but clouds piled in as it wore on.

On our way to the trailhead, we saw a pair of sandhill cranes and a baby at the edge of a meadow / marsh. I didn't get a picture of them, but the next day I saw these two adults along the Dry Creek Road:

As we hiked up the trail, we started to get glimpses of the Monture Creek valley:

The wildflowers were popping, and we found a CalypsoOrchid!

As we got farther up the drainage, we hit snow. We were able to follow the trail quite a ways, but eventually we decided to work our way up an avalanche chute that was more exposed and therefore free of snow.

Besides, it had a better view, since it was open. The best, or most fun, view, would have been to the north, but it was hard to see very well because the clouds were starting to get in the way, and we had to peer through the remaining burned tree trunks. We could see south to Ovando and towards Helmville. Ovando Mountain still had snow on top and in the shadows.

To the east, we could see the Scapegoat, still covered with snow.

Part of the way, the trail wound through areas burned by the fires in 2000. On the way back, we found a burned stump with a big hollow in it. In the hollow was a white rock. It looked like an offering to the Gods, so we added a flower to it.

We had started a bit late, and got back just before dark. On the way down the road from the trailhead, we saw several cow elk. Some had radio collars on, which made them a lot easier to see, since they were like big white scarves around their necks. It seems dumb to me to make them such a visible color. Anyway, we had a great time, although we did get rained on a little at the top of the ridge.