August 7-11 2013 Holland Lake, Montana

Pretty lazy week around the lake. The weather was perfect, in the 70’s, not many bugs, not many people. Read lots of books, sunbathed, relaxed.

Another sunset paddle, I love going out when the lake is smooth in the evening.  We had a nice hike on the foothill trail Today. Working some on the masterpiece.

Smooth lake in the am.  A few motor boats come  out later making waves. Not many on this lake. It is pretty small and not very deep, mostly there are kayaks, tubes, standup paddlers, canoes. I rode my bike to the other side of the lake. Last light on the shore.

Fri and Sat there were weddings at the lodge. I paddled to other end of the lake listening too mellow jazz from this wedding. It must have been very expensive. Band, dinner for the large group, more music late and fireworks. Meanwhile back at the bus we had corn muffins with peppers and cheese in them, cold slaw , spaghetti squash with lemon parsley pesto and BBQed pork topped with tomatoes and parmesan.

Nice light show last night show at sunset.

The last of the sunset. Sunday we drove to Clearwater lake and hiked around it. The trail is 2.5 miles, 7 miles on a dirt road to get to the lake.  In 2006 I cooked on a trail crew in this area and the crew worked on the trail at Clearwater and built this bridge.  It is built out of one huge log. The cut it down, peeled it, shaved the top flat and smoothed it, built up abutments, added the railing. It is very impressive and it  still looks  good.

Clearwater lake. It is at the base of the Swan Mountains and is clear with a kind of turquoise color.  No development on the lake.  A butterfly on an aster bloom.

John making his way through the ferns by Clearwater lake. Another shot of Clearwater lake. We found huckleberries and spent the afternoon picking them. We got about a pint, they were pretty sparse, it is a little late in the year.

The bus at Holland lake. The light was kind of interesting today, kind of orange, like it was coming through smoke, but I don’t know if there are any fires around here .