Final Daze

The final day in Montana was spent rummaging around Bozeman and Belgrade, stopping in to see Josh and Jamie's mom, and a little bit of shopping. The day ended with Jamie making us all dinner, after which I did some laundry and started packing up. Early 6am departure was my original plan, but I didn't end up leaving until close to 7.

The sun did pop through for a little Tues afternoon...



View of the Spanish Peaks form Jamie's backyard...



Jamie's boxer, Champ, not liking me taking pictures...

Parental Property

Monday brought more rain in the Gallitan Valley. I watched Vinny (Josh's son) and browsed around Bob Ward's while Josh took care of his morning part-time cleaning. After Bob Ward's we cruised over to the Gibson where I met up with Jamie who gave me a tour of the factory. I'd seen it with him years before, but he has since moved up the ladder and is now supervising about 40 workers. Maybe some day I'll be able to commission Gibson to build me a custom 6-string...

After the tour, Josh, Vinny, and I drove up to Butte to check out his parent's property. They purchased land about 3 years ago, and have since constructed a large garage and most of the main house. Unfortunately the weather was still not cooperating, inhibiting me from snapping any good shots of the views from the property.




A few shots coming and going..







After we returned from the journey, we met up with Jamie and his girlfriend, Mandy at the Madison River Brewing Company, just around the corner from Josh's house. Very small brewery, but big taste in beer.

Colder than Cold

I don't think you ever realize what it's like to be cold, until you're stuck in it, with no way to warm your frozen fingers. When I was working as a Geologist taking water samples in Northeast New Jersey, there were a few February days that made me re-evaluate my sense of cold. Fortunately I had that experience to lean on when I woke up Sunday morning. Nothing could ever be as bad as the winter at Earle.

We fell asleep to rain and wind, and the temps when we rose were easily in the mid-30's. No fire. Wet wood. What do you do? Try anyway. I rummaged around the area and somehow found some kindling and a few bone-dry pine branches which Jamie used with fire-starter to get us rolling. Once the fire was going, we warmed our hands and began cooking up some oatmeal.



Shortly after breakfast, the sun popped up and started warming the lake, and I snapped a few shots of our babbling friend.





Josh had a BBQ, with his parents and some friends, planned for 3pm, so after my short photo expedition, we quickly packed up camp and hit the trail out, but not after our watch-bird showed up for a final goodbye.

A large bald eagle claimed residence on Heather Lake, and I had seen him the day we arrived. Just as we were strapping on the packs, he flew over the site and perched on a nearby pine. I really needed the tripod to get the shot I wanted, but that was left behind during the initial packing to conserve weight. As I was snapping away, he dropped down and flew across the lake, and I managed to get a few decent shots.

Rainage in the Drainage

Saturday started off great. Crisp and cold air made for some great pics.












After breakfast consisting of Ramen noodles and coffee, we set a plan in motion to hike up the southeast side of the bowl to some of the small snowfields. One in particular, named (by us) Minnesota Glacier was the first stop. The hike gave us the chance to walk the eastern side of the lake, where we found some more firewood, as well as get some nice views back down the drainage.















Shortly after our bowl hike, the rain clouds moved in, and they never left. The rest of the day we spent exploring when we could, rushing lunch and dinner during breaks in the weather, and finally hitting the sack just before it socked us in for the night.

Tastes Lake Water

5 miles doesn't sound like a sufficient distance to provide ultimate seclusion, yet somehow, we reached it in under 3 hours. We stomped out 2000 feet of elevation to reach the Emerald and Heather lakes, and the end of the trail. Lots of MTB traffic which grew me green. Brutal switchbacks about 3/5 of the way up, followed directly by an open meadow, brothers jeering, and then lake after lake. Josh pushed us to go the extra half mile to Heather, and within the hour we all agreed on the best site, situated right next to the "babbling brook" runoff, looking into the bowl.







The first night dipped down into the 40's, making Saturday's rise a chilly one. Fire was our cherished friend this weekend, and each morning's top priority.

Big Skyrise

Changing of "tire parts" and a bird collision shortens both layovers to mere minutes. On both connects I walked off one plane to the gate next door and got on the next plane, despite falling 90 minutes behind in Philly. Weird how things work themselves out. Next up, two nights in the wilderness.

Eastern Departure

Well, my bag is packed, and the journey is about to begin. Today I'll be flying, and waiting, and flying, and waiting, and finally, flying again. I decided against checking any bags for this trip. 1, because they charge too much to check bags, and 2, with multiple stops, I seriously doubt anything checked would make it on the final plane to Bozeman. I shipped all my gear and clothes via UPS two weeks ago, and it was the same price as checking one bag.

Commercial flights are never fun for me. I don't mind being helpless, 20,000 feet above the ground. I do mind being stuffed into a seat that is unaccommodating to my 6'3" frame though. iPod shuffle and the Tao of Wu will get me through today.

Liftoff is scheduled for 3:27pm. We'll see if U.S. Airways can adhere to that departure time. 1st stop is Nashville, TN., then on to Minneapolis, and finally Big Sky Country. For now, I'll take solitude in the quiet oscillation of the fan, and non-existent cries of the felines. I will miss them and the butterfly, but they will survive without me.

The first green light of the morning turned to a green arrow as I approached. This must be the right path.