It was, I think, a clear day today, but the smoke made it foul and obnoxious. I went to Flesher Pass for three reasons: Get above the smoke (fail); go to Helena afterward to look at the used kayak I was interested in; and run a few "city" errands. This is the obscured sun from the trailhead at the pass.

I ran short, to the south from the pass, mostly because it seemed (though didn't feel) unhealthy to run in it. I went past the spot where my visitors and I hiked last week, and went out to view that spot on the way back. Here it is:


You can see it was horribly smoky and dark, despite it being a "clear" day.

Anyway, I felt no smoke-related issues, but, as I said, It just seemed wrong to run in it.


When in Helena last week with my visitors, I found out about the Base Camp's plan to sell its rental kayaks, and one of them was exactly what I've been looking for. Nice discount, so I thought I'd try to nail down the sale if the thing looked OK (it was still scheduled to be rented in a week or so, so I didn't think I could take possession). I must have come across the owner or manager, though, and he was happy to dispose of it today, so here it is. Got a paddle, too, so cousin Cliff and I can have kayak sea battles when he comes to visit next week.


Out past the overlook in the previous picture, I came to a new tree down on the trail — fallen since we hiked there just a few days ago! Shows what the beetle-kill does in the forest. A month or so ago when I was in the same area, I was startled to hear (but not see) another tree fall down.

Finally, when I got home early in the afternoon, here was the view from my outdoor kitchen. It's another "invisible Stonewall Mountain picture: No mountains visible from mountainous Lincoln because of smoke. Sigh.


4; 27; 83; 769