Great Falls, MT. Visiting the Hales

We took a detour on the way to Glacier National Park to stop by Great Falls, MT where great friend Dexter Hale has lived since graduating University of Montana in the 70's. He and his wife Alisa were superior hosts. We drove to the nearest hills and hiked to "Rogers Mountain," which apparently is not named that, but it was over 1,500 vertical from parking along a beautiful trail with plenty of switchbacks.  We saw a nice black bear print in the mud and later some associated scat on the trail.  We capped off the trip by logging a geocache that had not been found in nearly a year.  We all got a great look at a soaring bald eagle on the way back down.  The next day Dexter and Alisa took us to Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge where I logged 47 species of bird including great looks at Short-eared owl and a nice look at Sharp-tailed Grouse.  

Dexter, Mary and Alisa.  47 degrees.  Gusts to 40mph

Sweet geocache at 7,000+ feet.

Bean at the summit block.

Dexter and Alisa before it got cold.

Being in the mountains is better than being just about anywhere else.