September was a busy month.

In mid-September I hiked the Teton Crest Trail with friends, but the most notable event of the month happened a little earlier.

On September 1st Marie and I moved into our new Bozeman apartment.  After four years of living in remote Silver Gate (where winter lasts six months), Marie was craving more city time, and having an outpost in Bozeman in addition to our house in Silver Gate felt like a great solution.  Marie has easier access to civilization, and I can still spend most of my mornings in Yellowstone.  Marie will almost certainly be in Bozeman more often (especially in the winter), and I’ll usually be in Silver Gate, but we’ll make sure to have plenty of overlap in both places.

I knew that Marie would enjoy a lot of things about living in Bozeman – warmer weather, not having to drive hours to get to a grocery store, not having to worry about being attacked by a grizzly bear – but I expected that one of the biggest benefits would involve horse-riding opportunities.  Marie has always loved horses, and lately some of her favorite experiences have been at a horse camp in Butte, Montana, where she’s been taking group lessons in riding and horsemanship over long weekends.

 

 

What I didn’t expect was that Marie would move so quickly to actually buy a horse.  On September 3rd, only two days after moving into our apartment, Marie texted me a photo of a horse, saying, “May.  She’s 5 and for sale.”

 

 

“Are you interested?” I asked.

Marie said maybe, but someone else was first in line to buy her.  Then the next morning Marie texted, “May is available.”  And less than an hour later:  “I just bought a horse.”

Wow, that escalated quickly!  I hoped our little Maltese would be OK welcoming a (much bigger) younger sister into the family!

 

 

For Marie it was a childhood dream come true.  She was thrilled.  She explained that May, a blue roan quarter horse, was still young enough that she’d need a lot more training, but Marie felt ready for the challenge.  Marie planned to initially keep May at the same barn she’d been at (only 10-15min away from Bozeman), where May could continue to hang out with her best friend, a younger, smaller horse named Peter Parker (for real, that’s his name).

 

 

 

My sisters had horses when I was growing up, so I already had a general idea of how much care they require.  Marie began spending hours every day grooming and riding May, and she loved it.  Having a daily activity that brings real joy – like wildlife photography does for me – makes a huge difference.

I had my first chance to meet May just before the Teton Crest hike.  I’ve never had any particular affinity for horses, but even I could tell right away that May is a sweetheart.  She was careful not to step on my toes whenever she shifted her feet, and when I gave her a peppermint-oat treat she was surprisingly gentle and polite as she nibbled it from my hand.  I rode May briefly, and she did her best to interpret my clumsy signals even though she must have sensed immediately that I didn’t know what I was doing.

 

 

Later in the month Jill and Greg, our friends and Silver Gate neighbors, were in Bozeman for some appointments, and they stopped by to meet May, join us for dinner, and be our first overnight guests in the new apartment.  Our little place only has one bedroom, and Jill and Greg were good sports about trying to fit on a double-size futon in our tiny, windowless “den” that isn’t much bigger than a closet.

 

 

 

 

My niece Kate has a lot of riding experience, and she was almost as excited as Marie was about May.  Kate’s place in Belgrade is close to May’s barn, and by the end of September she’d already ridden May multiple times.  Kate’s proximity and interest in horses is a win for everyone, given that having an extra rider and caregiver will be a huge help for Marie.

 

 

When I wasn’t in Bozeman or Grand Teton in September, I mostly stuck to my usual routine of morning hikes in Yellowstone.  Wildlife activity tends to be a little slow at Trout Lake this time of year, but I did see quite a few black bears up there – once a mom with two cubs, and several times a small adult with a unique coat that sometimes appeared jet black and other times cinnamon, depending on the light.  And, in what seems to be a regular pattern for this time of year, a grizzly made several appearances up on the cliffs by Ice Box Canyon, where it flipped over rocks and fed on something underneath.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to help from my buddy Nick, I also had some good Great Gray Owl sightings.  And on our way to look for owls one morning, Nick and I stumbled across the Mollie’s wolf pack hanging out with a grizzly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was definitely an eventful month – an amazing hike, an apartment in Bozeman, and a new member of the family.  After getting to know May, Marie feels even better about buying her than she did initially (which is really saying something).  And I’m looking forward to spending more time with May over the winter.