Helena is colder than Great Falls, but it's a beautiful morning nonetheless. Temp at running time was 24 degrees. It was light enough to navigate the trails, but dark enough that I was able to see sunrise, almost perfectly timed (by accident) from the peak of Mount Helena.

On the way up, I passed one fellow with a dog on what they call the "Prairie Trial," which is a not-so-steep route around the north and west sides of the mountain. Otherwise, no one until the top. While I was there, another fellow with two dogs arrived, but he was walking so must have come a different route.

I took a bad turn on the west side, and wound up on something called the Backside Trail, which took me all the way around to the Hogback, which is a rocky ridge that runs up to the peak from the south. So, I basically circumnavigated the mountain before ascending to the top.

The haze was medium, I suppose, not quite a full-blown inversion but enough that the side-light from sunrise made the valley look like a lake.

I gawked on top for about three minute, then headed down the Prospect Silos route. I met a couple of couples farther down, and there were bunches of people on the east side trails, many with dogs, by the time I got back to the official trailhead.

What a nice Thanksgiving. Just being up there was great; being able to run up there was unbelievable. It was not my fastest to the peak, partly because of the circuitous route, but partly because I'm carrying the equivalent of a Thanksgiving turey in excess weight around my middle. I'm working on it, but still have 15-20 pounds to go. Today's meals won't help, but that's OK.

I didn't bring my picture upload slot, so can't do that right now, but later today one of my hosts' kids says he has one I can use. Stay tuned, and Happy Thanksgiving!

8-1/2; 14; 102-1/2; 761-1/2

Gorgeous pix! :) I especially like the one of your shadow, hehehe.