Canoeing in Boundary Waters Canoe Area in MN

While in MN, Riley and I went canoeing with a great guide; Riley was a little skiddish at the beginning, but quickly adapted to the canoe and he did just great on this trip; we had to portage the canoe at one point (pick it up and carry it from one lake to another); MN is known as the land of 10,000 lakes; I believe it!

Mushing Dogs Wall

When I was in MN for eight days, I visited the Voyageur Outward Bound School headqtrs just outside Ely, MN; this is the location where I did a three month program with VOBS, in winter 1985; this small shack has an historical record of years and years of mushing sled dogs that have been born, raised and trained by VOBS; that year, I was in Duluth, MN, the night before our adventure was to start; absolute temp was -50 degrees, wind chill factor was -95 degrees!

My Rolling Home

This gives you an idea of what my rig looks like as I move around the country; you can see two of my Teton's three slideouts on this side; the slideout right behind the bed of my truck is the bedroom slideout; obviously, all three slideouts are in as you travel down the highway!

End of Danny On Hike

This was right at the end of the roughly 3.9 mile hike that I made to top of Big Mountain; the mountains in the far distance are part of the Rocky Mountains in Glacier NP, about 40 miles away

Danny On Hiking Trail

Riley spent half day getting washed, groomed, clipped, getting pretty, so I went hiking; hiked up Danny On Trail at Big Mountain, just outside Whitefish; 2000 feet elevation increase, from about 5000 feet at mountain base and 7000 feet at top; this picture from along the trail shows Whitefish Lake down in Flathead Valley; saw beautiful antlered mule deer on hike

Montana Sign

I came across a beautiful MT lodge in a very remote area of the Flathead National Forest; this sign was posted as I neared the lodge; Riley was in the truck with me; about six dogs gathered around my truck as I arrived at the lodge (belonged to lodge owner); six different breeds, one a huge black beautiful Newfoundland; the sign proved true!

Treat Time

Riley and Duncan impatiently wait for their treat

Fly Fishing on Flathead River

My friend Pete Wodraska and I went fly fishing for trout on the Flathead River; this is our guide Kenny (28 yrs old) and boat we went in; no motor, all oars by Kenny; river current probably runs close to 7-8 mph; Kenny had patience above and beyond the call of duty; it was my first ever attempt at fly casting; needless to say, Kenny untangled a number of snarls created by me! Some were so bad, line just had to be cut; both Pete and I caught trout and I managed to not hook either Pete or Kenny in their body; they wisely wore hats!

Much Better Than It Sounds

One of the most popular beers in MT; brewed by Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, MT, Moose Drool is an excellent brown ale; with a name like Moose Drool, it had better be good!

Rainy Day in Whitefish

This is what two goldens do on a cold, rainy day in Whitefish; each one has their "comfort" ball; not quite enough room on my couch for both of them, so Riley gets preference over Duncan; 47 degrees and rainy today

Bob Joslin, Chef Extraordinare

This is my RV neighbor in Whitefish; this is where Duncan lives as part of Bob's family; this man is a great cook! First thing I had from him was guacamole dip, then smoked rainbow trout, then poached Montana rainbow trout that was delicious! The trout we had is a hybrid breed, cross between regular rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon; the meat is salmon colored, not white; Bob fishes in Duck Lake (lake is literally shaped like a duck), which is on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation, largest Indian reservation in MT; Bob spends the warmer months here in Whitefish; he will be heading to Mexico end of September and will spend winter months there at an RV park just north of Puerto Vallarta; he loves to fish and cook and play with Duncan; Riley and I have been fortunate to run into Bob and Duncan

Glacier NP Scenes

Riley Goes After Some Swans

This beautiful small lake is in New Harmony, IN; before I realized that there were two swans on the lake, I let Riley take a swim here; next thing I know, Riley is swimming like crazy after the swans; he did not stand a chance of catching them, but he sure tried; he made about two laps of the lake chasing them; I was afraid he was going to drown, so I jumped into the lake to swim after him; that was not a good move, because there was no way I was going to catch him either; I gave up, swam ashore and thank goodness, Riley finally gave up and came to shore; another Riley adventure

Big Horn Sheep

This small sheep was one of about eight Big Horn Sheep that were simply roaming around in the parking lot area of the Many Glacier Lodge; it may look like a goat, but is in fact a Big Horn Sheep; the large ones have beautiful, large curved horns on their head; I saw some of the big guys by binoculars this same day

Logan Pass

Logan Pass is where the Going to the Sun Road crosses over the Continental Divide; this is the lowest point along the Continental Divide; many of the peaks exceed 10,000 feet high; the major reconstruction of the road is being done within several miles of Logan Pass, both west and east of Logan Pass

Along Going to the Sun Road

Just one of the vistas as you travel along the 52 mile long famous road

Entrance to Glacier NP

There are two ways to enter Glacier NP, a west entrance and an east entrance; Whitefish is 25 miles from this west entrance; the east entrance is about 52 miles from this entrance, at St Mary, along the world famous Going to the Sun Road; Riley was not impressed with this moment!

My Next RV

There are many different ways to travel around our country! These two guys from Richmond, VA were doing it much cheaper than me; if you can zoom in on this picture, you can see the many slogans that these guys had painted (?) on this vehicle; they definitely can camp at places I could never begin to get into; yes, this is where they sleep and eat

Roofless Church

This is called the Roofless Church, located in New Harmony, IN, a town of less than 800 inhabitants; and yet this little town is a tourist destination, actually listed in the book "1000 Places to See Before You Die"; I stumbled on it by chance; two different religious ventures are this town's history; it was fascinating; research this town if you are interested

Camping in a Yurt

This is a yurt in Red Top Mountain State Park on Lake Allatoona, just north of Atlanta; kinda like a big, round tent/cabin that you can rent; you see these in a lot of parks, but usually only one or two in the entire camp; Red Top Mountain State Park is a really pretty campground

Long Potty Line

One of many lessons learned! This line was me leaving High Falls State Park late Sunday AM; everybody was leaving at same time and all were having to stop to dump their black and gray tanks; the park did not have site sewer connections (not unusual) and only had one dump station; I was in line for about an hour before I got to dump station; can take 10-15 minutes to dump both tanks; this pic is of RVs behind me, there were probably six in front of me

Small Packages

This three legged cutie was as happy as she could be

Riley Loves Swimming

River at High Falls State Park, located south of Atlanta, just off I-75; Riley loves to get into any water he can

Lake McDonald in Glacier NP

This is the largest lake within Glacier NP; it is about 10 miles long

Big Mountain Ski Resort near Whitefish

Riding ski lifts at Big Mountain Ski Resort; top of mountain about 7,000 feet; looking down onto Whitefish Lake, Whitefish and the Flathead Valley; great place for hiking and mountain biking; skiing in winter of course; they have about 25 ski slopes and as many mountain bike trails

View from Going to the Sun Road

One of a thousand views of lakes and Rocky Mountains along the 50 mile long Going to the Sun Road; this world famous road runs east and west right through middle of Glacier NP; road crosses Continental Divide at Logans Pass

Riley's Newest Buddy

Now we have three goldens in camp! Riley is light golden one, Duncan is red one and Ruby is the white golden retriever; all are good friends

Strange Weather in Whitefish

Ate meal at Buffalo Cafe in downtown Whitefish; then walked one block to get my huckleberry ice cream fix; when I left ice cream shop, part of the sky looked like there was a huge fire somewhere; another part (over the mountains) was so black and cloudy that you could not see the Rocky Mountains; another part was clear blue sky; right over downtown was a beautiful double rainbow, one of the rainbows going from ground to ground; on the way back to my truck, it started hailing! Not large, maybe dime size; going to rain all night it appears; about 50 degrees outside, wind blowing pretty good; great time to be in a quality RV with cable TV, heat and Riley curled up on the floor sleeping, after a hard day playing with his buddy Duncan; it is clear why MT is called the Big Sky state; this is truly beautiful country