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.

So, I haven’t put up a significant post in a while, some would say ever, and I really haven’t posted any photos in a while.

I’m currently trudging through a pile of magazines that seems endless. Maybe I should seek help for my magazine addiction. I’m about two chapters into The Golden Compass, and I’m finding that I really like it, but then another magazine says, “No, read ME!”

Christmas was alright, and I slept through New Years. New Years has just never been that exciting to me. Dan and I each received a ten dollar gift card to Borders, which I used online to get Wordpress for Dummies and DragonArt. I am sorely unimpressed with DHL’s delivery service. I ordered both books separately (which is a whole ‘nother story), and the first book arrived about 10 days late, while the second book came two days before the first one was due to arrive. Why one book needed to go from Arizona to Ohio to Utah to Montana, while the other only went from Arizona to Montana, I’ll never know.

I had the distinct pleasure of restoring our computer to factory settings. The sfc /scannow command yielded a lovely corrupt file it couldn’t repair which was causing software to stop running. I tried every possible fix I could find online, which included a system restore to a point saved on December 29. That was a mistake which caused I-don’t-know-how-many registry errors. If I try to look on the bright side, it’s almost like getting a new computer all over again. Wait, there’s all that advertising to remove, Windows Vista security to turn off, patches to install, yada yada. There is no bright side. None at’all.

Ah well, it’s done now. And I always have cats to entertain me.

The first person* to identify the pest infecting my Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) wins a MT Squished Penny. I now know what this vile, nasty, li’l #@$!#& is, but you may win a bonus prize if you can tell me how it may have infected my plant**. Please send in your answers via comment or email me.

*This contest excludes the Sister who I called to figure out what the bug is.
**There were no new plants brought into the house. I found a stray pest on my Aloe Plant, but otherwise, no other plants are infected.

For a better look, remember that you can click the photos to enlarge them.

A bit blurry, but a few of my favourite things.

By the way, do you know where the title of this post came from?

Signpost #2

What the Devil is That? Want to know why this plant is called devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus)? Touch it and find out! It likes the moist shade beneath the big trees. Devil’s club commonly occurs in the wet bottoms of western hemlock forests and is related to medicinal ginseng. Native American’s used the plant to treat various ailments.

Here is a better picture of Devil’s Club (not taken by me).

I thought I’d do a series of posts based on our recent trip to the Krause Basin Interpretive Trail. This will be a thirteen part series, and I will warn you in advance that the photos are less than stellar. I guess this will be an interactive interpretive trail!

And away we go.

Welcome to the Krause Basin Interpretive Trail, a quarter-mile loop through an old western hemlock forest and a regenerating clearcut. As you travel the trail, look for the twelve numbered sign posts near the trail.

In the 1960s, the hemlock forest in Krause Basin was logged for wood products and to establish a different kind of forest preferred for making lumber. This grove was set aside as an example of that earlier forest, prior to logging. Travel the trail and discover what makes a western hemlock forest unique. Contrast it with what you find in the younger forest. Learn why some of these trees and plants are important to people that live, work, and play in these forests.

The signposts begin on the right of Hemlock Highway, continue on Spruce Street and finish on the right of Yew Avenue.

Signpost 1 will be posted tomorrow.

It may be known that I take home more plants than pets, much to Dan’s delight. Otherwise I’d have about 20 cats. I’m hinting, of course, that I bought a new Orchid.

The new Dendrobium Orchid is the mostly green one. The purple one behind it I’ve had for several years, and blooms regularly. This one sent out the bloom spike in January. I expect the new one to still have flowers for quite a while.

EDIT: I have photos of the purple dendrobium on January 9th.

Remember This Post? With the cool USB microscope and the portable, pet cactus? I told you I had to have them, and today the cactus arrived (the USB microscope was out of stock and I’ll have to wait a while before I can get it anyway). I had no idea it was that tiny! (I apologise for the poor quality photos — I can’t keep my hands from shaking today.)

I purchased this through Think Geek but the manufacturer is Pet Tree. I had a little trouble with their site, if you click English and then click a sub tab, you can see pics of others mini-plants, and care instructions.

Being a science geek, this is on my list of must haves: A USB microscope!!

The USB Microscope QX5 has these great features:

* Take snapshots, video, and time-lapse movies
* 3 magnification levels - 10X, 60X, and 200X
* Super-brite LED lighting for bright top and bottom illumination
* Video playback at 15 frames/sec
* Resolution of 640×480
* Software works with Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP
* Handheld mode allows for expanded viewing possibilities
* Comes with: Microscope, USB cable, Stand, Specimen Jars, Sample Slide, Tweezers, Eye Dropper, Slide Clip, and Software CD-ROM

Read More

A portable cactus? Why not!

The Mini Pet Cactus will love you unconditionally. All you have to do it is water it once a month for about a minute (instructions on packaging). Each cactus comes with a strap to attach to your jacket, cell phone, etc., so you can take it with you everywhere. Nothing says fun like talking to your cactus in a public place - until security asks you to leave, that is. Want to display your new pet at home or in the office? Try the Mini Pet Cactus Stand (sold separately). It has an adhesive back to attach to a wall, your monitor, your forehead, etc. The Mini Pet Cactus is waiting to be adopted…by you!

More about this one, too.

By the way, ask me in a week how Windows Vista is.