After our guys leave for their hike back to civilization, the group from Bozeman who had visited us the night before, come floating by. We exchange “good mornings” and wish each other a wonderful day in paradise.

We’re ready to get out and paint again. We pack up our gear, lunch, and water.  We decide that we’re both interested in painting a trail scene.

Geared up and ready to go for an afternoon of painting.

Earlier in the week, I had taken a photo of the trail downstream from the cabin. We decide to go there and set up. It’s no more than a 4-minute walk down the trail from the cabin. “Hey bear, hey bear, whoop, whoop, whoop” is our very loud mantra as we hike to our painting location.

We both start a painting, looking in the same direction. The view is of the river looking east through trees with the mountains in the background. It’s just a peek-a-boo view of the river but we exaggerate the size of it with our “artist’s license.” We finally have a scene where we can add the wildflowers that are in profusion everywhere.

Gini’s set up on the trail overlooking the river.

I’m not able to get my umbrella into the rocky ground so I hold it with my left hand while I paint with my right. One sure has to be able to adapt to any condition that presents itself.

Painting with my right hand while I hold my umbrella with my left, attempting to keep the sun off my painting so that I can see the colors as they truly are without the glare of the sun.

Francesca’s painting of the path. 8″ x 6″ pastel.

The flies are such a bother. I’ve zipped off the legs of my nylon pants to stay cooler. The flies, along with the wind, are relentless. The bug spray, the chemically-safe version and the Deet version, only keep them off for about 30 minutes despite their claims that it lasts much longer.

We stop for a bite to eat. It’s another hot day and we sit in the shade, resting and building some energy for another painting.

I’m thinking I’m going to try an experiment—a macro view of flowers using only golds and purples. After an hour, I’m getting tired and it’s difficult to keep going. I tough it out, pushing myself for another hour or so. Unfortunately my painting does not capture the vision I had in mind and I’m disappointed.

I really debated whether to show this study but I finally decided to be brave and show the losers as well as the more satisfying painting attempts. This was an experiment in using complimentary color palette and quite a deviation in both color and composition from what I was seeing in the landscape.

Gini’s block-in on her second canvas.

Gini does a different trail scene, looking in the opposite direction this time. She finally gets to a stopping point and I’m more than happy to pack it in. We head back to the cabin, more tired than either of us realized.

Gini is exhausted as am I. We have been pushing ourselves hard for over a week now and our energy levels are becoming depleted.

We make an easy meal of spaghetti and add some of the leftover steak. Tonight we inventory the food that’s left and decide what to keep. The rest will need to be burned in the fire pit. Finally that chore is done and it’s almost dark. We trudge wearily back up to the cabin. It’s another beautiful evening, with the temperature finally cooling, and I stand on our perch overlooking the river and feeling the soft breeze before heading to bed.

Another evening on the river. It’s a welcome one as we are dead tired and can’t wait to get to bed.

Animals we saw today:
Ground squirrel
Bald eagle
Resident Chipmunk
Hummingbird
other small birds

Flowers: the same as every day before but drier and drier
Fireweed
Harebell (Bellflower)
Lupine
Aspen Daisy
Nodding Onion
Yarrow
Sulphur Flower
Indian Paint Brush
Sandwort (we think)