Kirk Hill

Kirk hill is a hiking trail that is very close to our house - the trail head is less than a mile away. Yet we had rarely gone there. I'm not sure why. But recently we rediscovered it. It is close enough that in the evenings we can go there hiking - not together since we can't leave the kids, but separately. Sometimes just one of us, sometimes one after the other. We call it our tag-team hike. We have done it a lot lately. Here are a few photos.

First off - I often think of the Shel Silverstien poem "where the sidewalk ends" but rather "where 19th ends" as I hike this trail. 19th is the big, probably busiest road in Bozeman. It goes all of the way from the interstate north of town to many miles south of town. Near our house it turns west, and at the curve is where the trail head is located. The first part of the hike follows the section line, so especially as you hike down it looks like the highway is heading straight for you, and away as far as you can see. A strange contrast to be out in nature but looking down a highway.

The trail goes through lots of different ecosystems. The section that stands out the most to me is the hillside of ferns:

It seems that I am typically the 2nd hiker on our tag-team nights, so I get to see the sunset from the top:
We cans see our house (sorry bad photo, it was getting dark):
The other night Katie had to work so I knew I could take longer than usual. I had a great night. Early on I met a black bear in the trail. Sorry no photo - by the time I thought to pull out the camera the bear was hidden in the bushes. I came running around a corner and surprised him, and he stood up on his back legs and looked straight at me, with his ears up. So neat. Then he decided that I was scary. That night I also explored a different trail that I found another night. I kept going farther and farther, as I told myself just one more corner, just around the point, etc. I ended up going a long way, and it was getting dark. I ended up running back in the dark, with not even much of the sunset left to see from the top:
Friday Reder napped really well, so he got to go hiking with me. I ended up carrying him up most of the mountain, but he still covered most of the distance by himself. It is much slower with him, but it is great to see him spot things - "This moss is soft," "This fern is pretty." We had a snack at the top.
Liked to "look at the views."
I also had him hug a tree:

He is excited to take mommy hiking sometime soon.