Elkhorn Mountains, Montana

Every summer Blue Eyes and I pack up and spend a week with his parents and family in a cabin deep in the Elkhorn Mountains in southwest Montana. I have very little cell service there, no internet, and miles and miles of open spaces. I usually have hours to spend searching out micro and macro vistas, fiddling with my camera settings trying to capture in pixels something that has no business being captured in pixels. Even in July the mountains have patches of snow on their peaks and the morning and evening temperatures leave you reaching for a jacket. The small towns and sprawling ranches that surround the mountains gave me and my camera plenty of raw material.

Montana Elkhorn 1_feistyharriet_July 2014

The view from my in-laws house. It really is just stunning!

Montana Elkhorn 2_feistyharriet_July 2014

Minty green lichen.

Montana Elkhorn Purple Flowers 3_feistyharriet_July 2014

Purple mountain lupine.

Montana Elkhorn Purple Flowers 5_feistyharriet_July 2014

There were fields and fields of this in bloom in early July! Entire hillsides were covered in clumps of purple blooms.

Montana Elkhorn Ranch 1_feistyharriet_July 2014

No idea…

Montana Elkhorn Ranch 3_feistyharriet_July 2014

 

Montana Elkhorn Ranch 5_feistyharriet_July 2014

An old abandoned Ford tractor.

Montana Elkhorn Ranch 8_feistyharriet_July 2014

Montana Elkhorn St John Catholic Church_feistyharriet_July 2014

St. John’s Catholic church, out in the middle of practically nowhere, no town close by, very few ranches, just this tiny white church and graveyard.

Montana Elkhorn Van 1_feistyharriet_July 2014

I love the old green paint on this bus! I stood gawking and snapping pics until the neighbors started asking questions. (In my bright red mini and giant camera I certainly don’t look like a local in this small rural town.)

Montana Elkhorn Van 2_feistyharriet_July 2014

Montana Elkhorn Canola 5_feistyharriet_July 2014

Fields of rapeseed/canola. Rapeseed is the official name of this bright yellow flower, but the Canadians have renamed it “canola” for it’s uses in vegetable oil and plastic production. Canada + ola (meaning “oil”) = canola. Brilliant.

Montana Elkhorn Canola 2_feistyharriet_July 2014

This might be one of my favorites from my whole trip.

Montana Elkhorn Canola 7_feistyharriet_July 2014

Such a beautiful stripe of bright color in the middle of miles of greenish-brown fields, mostly alfalfa and hay about ready to be cut and baled for winter.

Next summer I want to take myself and my camera on a few short day-trips to explore more of the surrounding area. On our last trip Blue Eyes and I crawled all over the abandoned Comet Mine and I would love to find something else like that to explore!

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0 thoughts on “Elkhorn Mountains, Montana

  1. Saskia

    Aaand I’ve just made the connection that what we call rapeseed oil back home is actually canola oil. Thank you for that. I love all these pictures!

    Reply
  2. Kelli

    After my recent trip out West, I must say, I am MADLY in love with Montana. I cannot wait to get back and explore more of that state! Great photos.

    Reply
  3. Pingback: Elkhorn Mountains, Montana | Feisty Harriet

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