montana

Get thee to Montana.

Try not to go during the forest fire season though. Those mountains in the background there are normally much more clear. Granted...they're incredible just the same.

The first three-fourths of my visit had that lingering haze from the forest fires that took away some of that 'take-your-breath away' feeling. Like obscuring the mountains from view on the other side of the Flathead. But I didn't really mind so much.

The lake at Tally was still so incredibly clear you could see straight to the bottom as far out as you looked. I come from a place where you probably can't see even a centimeter out. I was an awe the first time I stood on Tally's shores.

One day I was there we hiked up through the Hidden Lake Trail up in Glacier on the Going to the Sun road (don't you just love that name?). It was wonderful. I never saw any bears this trip, but I did see some wildlife that I'd never seen in the wild before: mountain goats, bighorn sheep, chipmunks and prairie dogs. I also saw a lot of deer this trip, but those I've seen before.

I loved hiking in the mountains, and those who know me know that I'm not an outdoors person. I grew up with concrete, steel and glass, and I don't do well with the possibility of bugs. But there was something about hiking in August way up high with a few piles of snow around you (more still on the other mountains). I didn't on the hike, but there were many times in Montana where I wore my sweater. Plus...it was still spring up there. The colors of the flowers were vibrant and clear. There was a cool breeze and the wildlife. The bighorn sheep we only saw from a distance, but the mountain goats came right up to the trail and there was even a little bit of a spat between two of them, almost like a show.

A few days before I left, we took my Dad's boat out on the Flathead for lunch and to lounge around on a Sunday afternoon. There's no better place to eat lunch than the middle of this beautiful blue lake, rocking on the waves with so much greenery around you. I even got to drive for a little bit.

To complete the full Montana experience, the night before I left I had a few bites of steak. Those of you who know me know that somehow I became a vegetarian very early in my life. I don't think I've ever had steak before, though I have tried beef in many forms. The steak had a good taste, but it's just that texture. Montana may have made me want to become more of an outdoors kind of girl, but I'm still a vegetarian.

I do intend to write more. I just wanted to give a brief recap of my visit which was pretty full: went to Glacier two days in a row, went to Tally, went out on the Flathead, filled up the days with other activities. Pretty much every day was spent doing something, starting from walking the dog with my Dad early in the mornings to hanging out late in the evenings with a drink and a movie and letting the legs rest from hiking.

I didn't get a lot of writing done while I was there, even though I had intended to do so, but I do feel quite recharged from that vacation. I hope that it's not another three years before I'm able to go again.

I have more pictures of Big Sky country here.