Summer normally comes in fits and spurts to Northwest Montana. Warm and even hot days in March, April and May are interspersed with blizzards, snow squalls and rain. June typically is cool and rainy and an early June snowstorm is definitely NOT unheard of.

So far, June 2010 has skipped a snowstorm … in the valley. But on the eve of the Summer Solstice we had:
76F sunshine and blue sky
dark clouds giving way to wind…
marble sized hail….
torrential downpour with the temperature dropping into the 50’s in half an hour…
lighting with accompanying thunder that rattled the windows…

The first day of summer dawned less than clear and stayed that way – a rainy day that had me finally starting a fire in the woodstove late afternoon. And given that it was the first day of summer and a fire was roaring…I decided that sipping whiskey was in order and made a dash to Bigfork for some Old Overholt (Rye whiskey).

But before the Rye, a respite in the rain and a possible bear, necessitated a walk.

The air was sniffed…

The beardog was on full alert.

No bear was found.

The whiskey was sipped…on the front porch as even at a damp 50 something F, a fire in the woodstove heated up the little house in the woods to over-warmish…

First day of Summer 2010: Northwest MT.