Early Summer Roundup, Installment Two: Head for the Hills!

Part two of the Bangs Reunion/Birthday Party was an afternoon hike to Devils Chimney in the Sweetgrass Hills.  It was another beautiful day and a reprieve from the terrible mosquitos we had at the farm.  It was also just a little cooler, which made for very comfortable hiking weather and kept the snakes hidden away.  Round trip, the hike was four miles of varied terrain.

It took about half an hour or so to drive to the start of the hike, maybe a little longer. The area was uncharted territory for me and I'm quite certain I couldn't get back to the start of the trail again on my own. 

Jeff's cousin Laura- caught wearing a Bobcats hat!

She looks pretty good in that hat, really... Look out!

Getting ready to hike!

Does anyone know what flower this is? There were tons of wildflowers in bloom in the Hills. 

For the most part, I was able to identify them on my own or ask one of the Bangs family members for help, but no one was sure about this one...

Part way through the hike, we stopped for a quick rest. This is the view looking straight east. I suppose Bangs farm would be in the distance if a person knew where to look.  It's pretty interesting though, how the Hills just pop up as this little island of mountains among a sea of prairie. From here, you can see the curve of the earth. Let the great world spin.

Patsy, Linda, and Laura take a break in the shade.

Clyde is scouting for Elk...

Hooray! We made it!

Four of the seven Bangs siblings. 

No resemblance at all, right??? ha.

Approaching the entrance to Devils Chimney. I wish I had taken better photos of this, but the entrance is not much bigger than a person's body width and you have to crawl through a ways like that before the cave opens up on the inside.

Jeff got pretty dirty crawling into the cave, but it was so cool to see his whole self light up like a little kid!

The Sweetgrass Hills were a hallowed, spiritual place for Native Americans at one time. They used the land for hunting and food gathering as well as vision quests and the like.  It was definitely a beautiful, verdant paradise. A true oasis.

Indian Paintbrush.

 

The only detractor on the hike was the litter along the trail.  I found several empty Capri Sun packages as well as the usual granola bar wrappers, chip bags, and beer cans.  It made me truly sad to think that our neighbors would sully this beautiful place, our backyard.  So thoughtless and careless. I picked up items when I could. If you read this, please pack out your garbage when you hike, picnic, play, or anything else in nature or parks.  Keep everything looking beautiful and undisturbed for the rest of us and those to come.

 

This is going to sound really silly, but from a distance the Hills look much flatter than they actually are.  Hiking their slopes gave much more dimension. I found I had taken for granted that they were actually mountains and not just a flat image of a distant island range. Like so many things in life, they had more to offer than first expected.