Morgan Creek

So all of our friends left on Friday morning, and Jeff and I were tired of riding a little, so we spent that day just being lazy and watching movies.  Then on Saturday we rode through Darling Creek and over to Morgan Creek.  It was up through some very old cedar trees and into the next few canyons.  Then just a matter of trying different roads since we had never ridden there before.  These photos are from the west side of Morgan Creek.  Then we rode the main trail, and found lots of ranches along it.  None of them had power...they were mostly using generators and a few had some solar panels.  It was a nice ride.

Twin Peaks Lookout and drive

This was a drive that Jeff, Steve, and I made last year, but Jeff & I didn't go clear to the top.  The wind was blowing and it was shale and switch backs all the way up...we chickened out.  So this year when we all went up, Bill said he was going up.  Anita wanted to ride with him, and then Larry decided to go, and of course Joe and Ruth went too.  So JoAnna, Jeff and I stayed at the little ledge.  We took some photos and played around, and then Bill came back and told us we "had" to go up.  It was just too beautiful not to.  So, we took off.  I'm afraid of heights, but I couldn't quit looking around.  Jeff got a little nervous, but it wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be.  So, we ended up at 10,394 feet...You can see about five mountain ranges from there and there were six little lakes below us.  It was an absolutely beautiful view.
This counts as my 2nd retreat challenge...do something you are afraid of.
The photos with the burned trees and flowers was a little side canyon we drove up on our way down from the lookout, and it was just breathtaking...I hated seeing the burned trees but wow!

Frank Church Wilderness Area

Very large mine on the way in.

We actually went into the Frank Church Wilderness Area from two different sides.  The above photos were taken when we traveled through Custer and then headed north from the Simplot dredge.  We went about 22 miles...maybe?  Anyway, it was beautiful, and we could have gone somewhat further to a guard station and ranch, but we didn't.  We would like to go back again and do a loop there.  Since it is wilderness, there are only certain roads that you can ride your machine on.

Yes...the end of June and there was still snow.  It was so sad to see so many acres burned up.  In a few years I'm sure all these trees will rot and fall down, and then it's really going to be a mess.  We rode in from the south/east side this time...after we had been to Twin Peaks (which will be another set of photos).  It was gorgeous where there were rocks just covered with mountain flowers though.
Also, notice that elk track and how big it was.  That's Jeff's glove which is an x-large...

Crystal

This is my new china hutch, and I put all my crystal from Yugoslavia in it, along with a few other things.  I'm very proud of the crystal that came from Yugoslavia though...most of it I purchased while I was there!  In person!  It's hard to believe that I actually flew over there all alone to meet Jason...and now it seems like a dream.  But, it's also pretty exciting to remember.  I have goblets, sherbet dishes, bowls, a pitcher, and candle sticks.  The candy dish you can see in the middle of the top shelf, and the cut glass bowl to the left actually came from a great grandmother which is also very, very special.

Custer (2nd set of photos)