This is the Ptychocheilus oregonensis, commonly known as the Northern Pikeminnow, or Squawfish. I caught it on the Flathead River yesterday evening. It was twelve inches long, and we guestimate the weight to be about three or four pounds. They’re very predatory and have done so much damage to trout and salmon populations, that Washington and Oregon have a bounty [pdf] on them. They’re also a very bony fish and do not make for good eatin’, so we threw him back.

This isn’t really the first fish I’ve ever caught, it’s just the first one I’ve caught in Montana that wasn’t what I call a remedial fish. I often get frustrated when fishing; either my line gets tangled, or I just don’t catch anything, so Dan takes me to the well-stocked childrens’ pond. Y’know, the one that had the alligator in it, and then the body. There I can easily, usually, catch a little trout and feel better about fishing in general. Hence, remedial pond/fish. This year I did a little reading on river fishing, and applied the techniques I’d been reading about and caught a real, wild fish in a real, wild river. I was grinning all night long!

And a pretty river, too:

Flathead River; Kalispell, MT; July 27, 2008

If anyone is having problems with the page loading due to the large photos, let me know. I’ve resized most of these, and I’m posting them as medium instead of large, so hopefully that will help.

These were all taken while we hiked up the Columbia Mountain Trail between Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse.

Dan and I both thought that this rock layer was neat. I think this is a layer of low-grade marble that would have been formed by a layer of cooling magma that baked a layer of limestone. The heat also drives out all organic material which bleaches the layer. I could be wrong though, Geology isn’t my forté and I couldn’t find any info that pertains to this particular area.

A cute purple flower with silvery leaves that is as yet unidentified, because I packed my Montana Wildflower identification book. Stupid me!

A Glacier Lily (Erythronium gradiflorum)

Melting snow has to go somewhere, right?

This is Teakettle Mountain; so named because prior to the 1929 Half-Moon fire that denuded it, the tree formation looked like a teakettle. Later, I’ll try to scan an old photo of Teakettle before the fire.

And just a view of the valley from about a mile up the trail.

This summer, the famed, 114-year-old Old-Steel Bridge replacement begins. It was a one lane bridge that had many structural problems. This was also a favourite hang-out spot in the summer. Most kids in Kalispell have fond memories of jumping off the bridge into the deep spot in the river, and carving their names into the wooden planks. The new bridge should be complete by summer of next year.

As a side note, last fall there was an auto accident on the main bridge over the Flathead. To get across the river we waited for 2.5 hours while, one-by-one, the backed up lines of cars from three directions crossed this bridge.

The season for Geocaching is upon us, and today we hit a few.

These are from a cache on the Foys to Blacktail Trail, which begins (or ends, depending on how you look at it) at Herron Park.

If you click this one, you may be able to read some of the sign.

Herron Park is a horse park, full of horse jumps.

Another view of the park and part of Foys Canyon.

Click it, and click it again, and you can see the cute lil’ bird. Yeah, I know I need a new lens.

Tonight, ABC’s Primetime featured a story on Flathead Valley native Jennifer Servo. In 2002, the University of Montana graduate moved to Abiline, TX, where she had been hired by KRBC news. Less than three months later she was found murdered in her apartment. The primary person of interest is Ralph Sepulveda, who moved with Jennifer to Abilene.

Following graduation from University of Montana with a degree in journalism, 22 year old Jennifer Lynn Olson - Servo, an active U.S. Army Reservist, moved to Abilene TX and worked at her first full-time tv reporter job at KRBC TV. She was followed to Texas by a 34 year old former Army Ranger who she had recently met at Army Reserve training in Helena, Montana. Jennifer Servo (she’d used “Servo” the last year of her life) had been in Abilene less than 3 months when colleagues became concerned that she hadn’t returned phone calls. They asked her apartment manager to check on her. She was found dead, a homicide victim from head trauma and strangulation.

For more indepth information, please visit Justice for Jennifer. There you will find articles, news clips and contact information.

These are of the St. Ignatius Mission. No I did not burst into flames, but I did feel a little nauseated.

Visit MT Fire Conditions
USDA Forest Service Map of Fires
NASA Visible Earth Wildfires over MT and ID
NIFC Site Report

You may be able to tell that today the smoke from area wildfires was not as ‘thick’ as it was yesterday. However, NW Montana still smells like a Pine-sol factory.

Blech!

Located just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Flathead Reservation, Lake Mary Ronan is a place I’d always wanted to visit, but just didn’t get around to. But a new geocache was placed there and I had no reason not to go. It was so hot, and the water was so cool, I almost wished I could swim. The ‘parts’ are leftovers from a crawdad that some plucky bird was snacking on.

We took Bella with us on the Swan River Nature Trail in Bigfork, MT. We began downtown at a small sculpture park where she posed with a relaxing bear. By the way, she’s seven, so she’s not really a puppy.