It Happened In Montana:

I've got some stories and photos to share with everyone today. As if I haven't told enough crazy stories from happenings around here, I've got some more...

For the longest time, I have been telling people about this video clip, and many people I talk to don't know about it, so here it is. This happened quite awhile ago, but it still worth seeing. Just watch the video and see why.

Next, I have some photo's to pass along. These were sent to me from one of the guys at work who recieved them from a friend in Lincoln, Montana - about 80 miles east of Missoula, otherwise known as the place were the "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski was holding out in his cabin and was later arrested. We ended July with 30 days above 90 and 11 days above 100, the hottest month ever! When it's hot, weird stuff happens, take a look!I guess even a moose has to find a place to stay cool now and then, and a kids wading pool is as good as any!

Finally, a story out of Augusta, Montana:

--You might call him Wonder Dog after hearing his story. But his real name is Bandit and there’s no sense whistling for him.

Chances are, he wouldn’t come if you did.

The 4-year-old dog, half Australian shepherd and half border collie, lived to tell a wild tale two weeks ago when Tucker and Amy Mills, owners of Mills Wilderness Adventures — and Bandit — took a group of customers from New York and Florida into the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Shortly after they passed the Benchmark area, the Ahorn fire blew up behind them, cutting off their return route home.

Tucker Mills, the group’s guide, did what any good guide would do. He led the team — along with Bandit — through the Bob Marshall Wilderness to Holland Lake, located in the Seeley-Swan Valley on the Bob’s western edge.

There, on a Friday, exhausted from their journey, the Millses loaded 26 horses on several trailers and drove the long route home to Augusta. The problem was they forgot Bandit.

“He must have gotten confused with all the vehicles,” said Amy Mills. “Or maybe he went to take a nap in the shade and just missed the ride.”

Only Bandit knows the truth. The fact is that the speckled dog was left alone in the wilderness. The Millses, saddened by their loss, counted him out.

Chances were, they were sure, they would never see Bandit again.

“When we got home, we called the ranger at White River anyway,” said Mills. “We asked them to call us if Bandit happened by.”

A day later the phone rang. It was 2 p.m. and the news was good. Bandit had been seen darting past the ranger station, located 32 miles east of Holland Lake where the Millses had left him.

But if Bandit was trying to get home, as it seemed he was, he had a bigger problem ahead of him.

The Ahorn Fire was hot and getting hotter, standing right in his way. The fire was the whole reason Tucker Mills led the team west instead of east.

“I was worried about Bandit coming through the fire,” said Mills. “Then, on Sunday morning, I opened the front door and he came charging in. I couldn’t believe it. He got a little stoved up that night, so I gave him some aspirin and he was fine.”

Wildfires and grizzly bears, steep mountains and wolf packs, none of them could slow Bandit down. The dog covered 96 miles in two days, determined to get home to the place he knew best.

“Bandit will only come to us,” Amy said, smiling. “He’s very loyal and very stand-offish.”

And chances are, very tired.

There you have it, a few oddities from my neck of the woods. Hope you enjoyed them. Until again

-=Nolan=-