Summer in Montana is a time for adventure, spontaneity, and getting your feet wet with all this gorgeous state has to offer. This past weekend I quite literally got my feet wet while enjoying an afternoon float trip down the Blackfoot River.

In high school and college my family and I traveled to Lincoln, MT nearly every summer in July to partake in all of the 4 th of July events held in town. Highway 200 is actually shut down for about an hour or so while their holiday parade marches down the length of the main street running through town. In past years the parade has included bagpipers, classic cars, Smokey the Bear and even a tribute one year to the rather despicable bark beetles that wreaked havoc on the trees in the area. My absolute favorite part of the annual parade, however, has to be the Hi-Country Jerky truck that always drives in the parade and hands out samples of their meat-licious snacks.
 

This year as the weekend leading up to the 4 th of July holiday approached, my husband and I pondered what we should do to celebrate. With my sister-in- law, Maureen’s, 21st birthday being on July 5th we wanted to do something extra special and fun to help usher her into such a special year. We decided on taking her and my other sister-in- law up to the parade in Lincoln and then continuing on down the highway a bit to go float a section of the Blackfoot River on inner tubes. And at the last minute, my parents also decided to tag along. We were all excited for the prospect of an outdoor adventure. When the morning of Saturday, July 2 arrived, we tossed a cooler filled with some sandwiches and drinks into the truck and made our way out of town towards Lincoln. We hit town just early enough to snag a parking spot off the main street in front of the local high school. Not long after that, the parade began. I only managed to snag one jerky sample this year but the parade was still a success. As soon as we all saw the flashing lights of the fire truck signaling the end of the parade, we piled back into the truck to get a head start on the traffic backed up from the highway shut down. It was time to float!
 

We headed west on Highway 200 and about 3.5 miles southwest of the junction of Highway 141 and 200 we pulled out to get our tubes ready. The week before we had purchased a few new tubes at Murdoch’s that were black and neon green and proudly emblazoned with the phrase “River Rat”. In between eating some turkey sandwiches and chips, we blew all of the tubes up and lathered ourselves with sunscreen.
 

And we were off!
 

My husband had mapped out about a 6 miles stretch of the river for us to float. We had no idea how long it was going to take but we were just happy to enjoy the trip for however long it took. The section of the Blackfoot we were on was pretty slow-moving and shallow so it felt like a more scenic “lazy river” that you’d find at a waterpark. But the random piles of downed trees and meandering currents we had to carefully maneuver our tubes around gave us plenty of challenges along the way.
 

While we all stayed together in a tight-knit cluster in the beginning, we slowly drifted apart to float at our own paces. After a while, I realized that I hadn’t seen my parents in quite some time, which began to worry me since they were the last ones in the float line up. I pulled my tube out onto the shore line when I reached a shallow section. After waiting for a few minutes to see if they showed up, I began picking my way along the edge of the river to see if I could find a spot of better visibility of the river. But they were still nowhere to be found.
 

All of a sudden, I glanced up at a small hillside about a quarter to half mile in front of me to see what I at first thought was an elk moving through the tall grass. After squinting and looking closer, however, I realized that it was actually a bear (either a Grizzly or Brown Bear) loping through the grass at a rather alarming rate. He wasn’t looking or moving in my direction but the observation was terrifying….even more so because I was standing defenseless in a few inches of water. I quietly dashed over to where I had left my tube and pushed out into the middle of the river on my stomach. I decided it was time to catch up with at least some of my party and wait for my parents….in an area that was preferably bear free.
 

Not long after catching up with my husband and sisters-in- law, my parent finally appeared pulling a deflated and sad looking tube. Apparently my dad had bashed into some tree branches while trying to pull my mom out from a current she was stuck in. The tube took the brunt of the incident. But they were alive and well and that was all that mattered to me. After a bit of shuffling with who was riding in which tube we got back onto the river to float the last little stretch.
 

About five hours after initially starting our float, we finally caught sight of our take-out location at Cedar Meadow. It was excellent timing too since some dark rain clouds were starting to move across the sky in the distance. Cold and tired, we pulled our tubes out of the water and deflated them. Our day of adventure had come to the end.
 

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years with outdoor adventures in Montana, it’s that they never fail to toss you a surprise or two. But at the end of the day….no matter what has transpired….there is always laughter and precious memories shared between family and friends.

Lacey Middlestead is a Montana native and freelance writer currently living in Helena, Mont. She loves meeting new people and helping share their stories. When she’s not busy writing articles for newspapers like the Independent Record and Helena Vigilante, she can usually be found indulging in her second greatest passion–playing in the Montana wilderness. She loves skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and four wheeling, hiking, boating, and riding dirt bikes in the summer.

Think about it. Water is in those thunderheads that climb overhead like a mountainous sky-world. It takes the form of snow and ice; of geyser steam and early-morning fog; it fills the muscular Yellowstone River of spring, and lingers in the slow river of August.
 

Photographing water in any or all of those forms can really get your creative juices flowing. Three basic tips can improve the quality of those photographs. 
 

First, white water and water with a lot of glare on it can fool your camera meter in the same way that snow can. Be aware of this and adjust your exposure accordingly, usually by allowing for a couple of stops worth of more light. Cameras vary with how they allow you to do this, so you need to understand your camera functions. Film is relatively inexpensive so don’t hesitate to bracket your exposure. Digital shooters can view the image and make corrections right on the spot. 
 

Second, use filters. A polarizing filter is a very useful tool around water. It can minimize or eliminate unwanted glare. The filter performs this task most efficiently at an angle of approximately thirty degrees to the plane of your subject. Like a fisherman’s polarized sun glasses, this filter can allow you to see, and thus, photograph objects (like fish) just below the water’s surface. Like most filters the polarizing filterwill absorb some of the available light, so you will need to make the necessary exposure adjustments or set the camera up to do that for you. 
 

When photographing in color, if you want to add mood to your water images, a blue filter like an 82 series will cool your image; a light orange-red like an 81 series will warm it. Just remember, when you use a colored filter it will add a cast to the entire photograph and not just the water. And, don’t forget that these filters will also absorb some of the available light. 
 

Third, work with your camera’s shutter speed. It’s one of the most important things to keep in mind when photographing water because it can change the feeling and look of the image you capture. To freeze water in motion stay with shutter speeds in excess of 1/125th of a second. To blur the motion of a rivulet or rapid, giving it a cottony-look, use a slow shutter speed. Start with something in the neighborhood of 1/30th of a second and use progressively slower speeds for varying effect. Don’t forget to use your tripod. 
 

Can’t get shutter speeds slow enough even with your lens stopped down to the minimum aperture setting? Try shooting when there is less available light. Or use a lower ISO film or film speed setting. A neutral density filter may allow you to better access those slower shutter speeds. These filters reduce the amount of light transmitted by your lens and are available in varying strengths. The greater the strength, the more light they block. Because they reduce light transmission evenly across the color spectrum, they will not cause a color shift in your image. 
 

Whatever you do in photographing water, pack along your curiosity and your sense of wonder about this changeable element that nourishes all life. During a rainshower everything can appear veiled, as if seen from behind a translucent curtain. Photographs you shoot now will seem softened and just slightly out of focus. After the storm, explore out of doors for jewels of water caught in spider webs or on a Douglas Fir’s limber new needles. Use a macro lens to capture reflections caught in lingering raindrops cupped by bowled lupine leaves. 
 

In bodies of water, watch for interesting reflections. Photograph the contrast between a little riff of ripples and quieter water in a pond. Capture the climb and fall of water over a river rock. Check backwater flows for interesting patterns of foam, or water-carried twigs and leaves. 

Let photographing water introduce you to a refreshing way of seeing and experiencing our world.

Jenna Caplette migrated from California to Montana in the early 1970s, first living on the Crow Indian reservation, then moving to Bozeman where she owned a downtown retail anchor for eighteen years. These days she owns Bozeman BodyTalk & Energetic Healthcare, hosts a monthly movie night, teaches and writes about many topics.

Freshly off a plane from Morocco, where she demonstrated communication with horses through body language and keen observation of the most subtle movements, Anna Twinney is back in Kalispell teaching her unique but comprehensive horse whispering methods.
 

Originally from the United Kingdom, Twinney, a veteran of the British Police has traveled the world helping horses with their people problems. She came to the states nearly two decades ago and initially studied with Monty Roberts, who came in to the limelight after the popularity of the major motion picture “The Horse Whisperer”. Over the years, her hands on experience, her dutiful observations of horses in the wild and her unique perceptions have developed into a way of interacting she calls “Reach Out to Horses”.
 

Twinney, with her sunny smile, blonde locks and lilting British accent seeks to help horse owners and lovers learn the language of the horse. She works to help them understand the energy and sometimes baggage they bring into a session with their horses. It’s all in an effort to create harmonious interactions that bring joy and happiness to both the horse and human. In addition to her desire to bridge the communication gap, Twinney is committed to helping nonprofits that help to rescue, rehabilitate and ready all types of equines. The vast majority of her work gives back financially to the facilities and programs she works with.
 

Twinney is fond of the adage “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” … without a complete education in the subtle signals and movements horses employ to communicate, people are lost as to how to accomplish anything, Twinney explains.
 

“Usually, people use force, fear and gadgets to bend the horse to their will. Some people are cognizant that their choices are poor and some are oblivious, my mission is to give a voice to the horses and show people a way to work with compassion and cooperation not coercion,” Twinney states.
 

Twinney is working with a group in Kalispell this weekend, aiding them with more intuitive riding, understanding the subtle cues and energy of horses, and working to build confidence through the use of an obstacle course. Participants will be introduced to the telepathic nature of horses and other animals. Horses, dogs and other species do not speak English but do feel and read intentions. A solid example of this theoretical concept is a person who is afraid of an animal and the clear evidence showing the animal is aware of the fear. This is clearly illustrated with dogs and horses. Twinney explores this concept and helps people tap into their intuitive nature.
 

This summer will land Twinney in four different locations beginning July 25th in aid of untouched foals in Oregon, the treasured Nokota horses of North Dakota, unstarted rescue horses in Colorado and finally helping horses with their people problems in Wyoming. These four unique courses are designed for students who wish to expand their understanding into everything from babies, youngsters, wild and behaviorally challenged.
 

These courses may be taken together or individually, but do require a pre-requisite. To learn more about what each course entails and the programs and horses that will be a part of the educational scope, follow the link:

https://reachouttohorses.wordpress.com/2016/04/07/have-a-life-changing-summer-with-roth/

To learn more about ROTH and Anna Twinney visit www.ReachOutToHorses.com