Twenty-two years
ago, my little family moved to Helena.
Everyone talked about Mt Helena and the wonderful trail system right in
town. I knew about the trails from an
annual training a year prior. I loved
hiking the trails. About sixteen years
ago, I joined a group of ladies that mountain biked. I am not a biker on mountains that steep, but
I heard about the Scratchgravel trails.
I attempted the trailhead off of Norris.
I didn't care for it. Years
later, I tried finding the trailhead off of Head Lane. I wasn't impressed because I saw nothing.
With the loss of
our field for walking by our house, I thought I would try Head Lane again. Madelle and Jerry have hiked it the last two
summers. Now, the mountain that is part
of the Scratchgravel Mountains I climbed once.
My oldest son and I tackled it one Christmas Day. We basically went straight up. Ouch.
So, with Leo
next to me, I drove up Head Lane. I made
it to the bus turnaround like last time and didn't see any trails. Stupidly, I get nervous with country roads
that look like they only go to people's homes, but I was determined to find
where the trailhead began. I kept
driving. I sighed with relief when I saw
a sign that I followed to a nice parking spot.
What a perfect
spot! The trail system is extensive and
the old roads are perfect. Yes, all of
them have uphill climbs, but the options are easy and hard. I loved it.
Flowers were blooming all over the place. The views were beautiful. I even saw plenty of prickly pear, which I
love. I didn't notice any barrel
cactus. I probably will later, but if
not, the rest was stunning. I am so
excited to be able to come here to walk the dog.
Of course, I
pushed myself a little too far on my sore leg.
I went .75 in one direction. I
stuck to an old road until on the way back I saw a trail that would be a bit of
a short cut. Not the brightest
idea. Luckily it didn't get steep. I loved snapping some pictures. The funny part is that I am such a
dipstick. I have lived so close to the
perfect spot to go hiking. I only saw
three people and two dogs. Oh,
well. Better late than never.
Here are some of
the pictures from the hike.
I have also
meant to write about a fishing trip Clay and I took last Saturday. The weekend's plan originally were to host a
family gathering. We canceled do to
Covid, but Clay still came home. I was
so thankful that he did. Anyway, here
are some of those pictures as well. We
dropped a line in Holter Lake and the Missouri River. No bites.
Next time.