family, camping, hiking, snow, fishing...montana memories

where do i begin? first let me just say that spending time with family is such a blessing. we had so much fun that it is going to be hard to condense this action packed vacation into a blog. but, like stacy, i will try to condense. dad, mom, amy, will and bailey drove out making stops along the way at mt. mushmore (not a typo), laura ingalls hometown and other sites. chris & i flew out on the 5th. this was a much needed vacation for both of us. sunday, aunt margaret, uncle gordie, mickey, charly, amanda, uncle reid and aunt peggy came over for lunch. we just spent the afternoon enjoying the no humidity and each others company.

monday, we packed up the camper and headed to glacier national park. there was an avalanche (yes, snow in july) on the going to the sun road but it was cleared by the time we arrived. we camped at a beautiful koa on the west side of glacier. we were promised snow to play in and i think amy & i had more fun in it than the kids. the drive on the going to the sun road is breathtaking! we made it to logans pass where it was a blanket of white snow that was calling our names. how could we resist! we all started to hike up to hidden lake but the strong (aunt kimmie, uncle chris and will) are the only ones that made it to the top. i think if bailey had not been so cold, she would have been a trooper and hiked the whole way. we weren't exactly dressed properly for snow. no one mentioned to bring the snow boots to us. the view at the top of about a mile to two mile hike was gorgeous. the lake was still frozen. once at the top, we ate a snack and will fed the ground squirrels. he was a hit.

we went on a hike to a water fall area on another day. the snow was so inviting that we had to go back to logans pass. the jackets that chris and i purchase out there (since no one told us to pack for SNOW) made great for sledding down the mountain. we figured out that if you jump backwards down the mountain and keep your legs in the air, it is a hoot to slide down. then we would hold the kids on us and take them for a ride also. everyone tried that one at least once. like i said, i think amy and i had the most fun doing that. there were several goats and big horn sheep scampering for food while we were there.

after getting back to the cabin and before mom, amy & the kids left, we made a lunch trip out to lake como. there were some crazy people swimming and skiing in the frigid, still snow on the mountain feeding into the lake, water. we tried to fish but no luck.

after dropping mom, amy & the kids off at the airport, dad, chris and i decided on our 'adventure' that i have already posted on. the photo slide that is titled 'big creek lake hike' is where i stood in one place & just did a circle while taking pictures at our campsite. stunning. i think we are all recovered from the very treacherous hike. again, you would have to experience that one to even remotely begin to understand how difficult yet very rewarding the hike was.

mickey took us fishing one day to stoney creek near skalkaho pass. he did not tell us it was about a 2 mile hike once we drove as far as we could. probably a good thing he didn't. the last mile was straight down. and worst yet, we had to hike back up it when we were done. our legs were not yet recovered from the other adventure. talk about adding salt to the wound. we all caught a lot of trout. probably about 40 total! we only kept 2 or 3 though. a few hours into it, i discovered VERY FRESH mountain lion tracks. big tracks. and so fresh that we probably scared it off when we got to the lake. nothing like adding to the excitement!

the day before chris & i flew out, we fished the river that feeds off of big creek lake (our earlier 'adventure'). but this time, the furthest we hiked up was 1 to 2 miles. it was an interesting morning. let me explain. mickey was going to meet us there. dad, chris & i got to the meeting spot and began to fish (good fishing too). dad took off down stream and chis took off up stream. we had two-way radios (which i will NEVER use again!) but they only worked some of the time. i tried keeping up with chris but mr. jack be nimble through the river was off and running. mickey finally got there and i could talk with him on the radio. i tried talking him to the spot where i was at, which i need to add that i was now ALONE. in the woods. where dad has warned MANY times that we are in bear country. mickey then relays on the radio that he just ran off a black bear. so, what did i do? according to chris, i "turned into a girl". i sat myself down on a rock in the middle of the river and started blowing the whistle (which my dad gave me in case of emergencies and i deemed this an emergency) to help mickey find me since i was abandoned by my father and husband. radios weren't working to well! chris finally heard the whistle and sorta made his way to within earshot of me and called out to me, then continued to fish. i remind him that, I AM A GIRL! anyway, once reunited with chris, i was fine. just a momentary lapse of courage. we fished the rest of the day, literally. it was a great ending to a wonderful vacation!

we had a few issues on the flight home. our flight out of montana was delayed which caused us to miss our connecting flight from chicago to charlotte to sarasota. so, we were put on a flight to tampa out of chicago. our luggage flew to sarasota. after renting a car to get us home from tampa we had to turn around and get up this morning to drive to sarasota airport to return the rental and get our luggage. but we made it back safely. dad is remaining at the cabin until maybe late august. lucky him.

chris and i are very thankful for the time that we had to spend with family. it always creates memories that are fun to share over and over again. we especially needed that time together. its so easy to let the busy work week interfere with with 'our' time. i am so very blessed to have such a loving husband who is so much fun to be silly with. i love nothing more than to create these memories with the man i love. we are already planning on our trip back next year! more 'memories' to be created. brian said he would do the overnight backpack trip to big creek with us. lucky for us, we are quick learners and learned a lot in our 'hiking 101' experience. (horses are a wonderful animal).

dad, mom, amy, will, bailey and all our montana family...thanks for the memories! we love you all!