The Adventure Begins!

Alright guys! Three days into my western adventure and already so much to show you! We spent the first three days camping for the fourth about an hour outside of Missoula, Montana. Already the adventures have begun as we got lost driving from Missoula to our camp ground! We turned an hour long drive into three hours, but eventually ended up where we needed to be, very little worse for the wear and with a truly in depth look at how beautiful Montana is! The real lesson of DAY 1 is that if you might lose cell service, one should bring a paper map. The weather at night here gets pretty chilly dropping around to around 45 degrees, although the days here are hitting 105. Needless to say, layers are coming off and on about as quickly as we can get them on and off.

Day 2 was a hit and no less of an adventure than day 1! It started out with an enormous pile of pancakes, which we promptly dented quite well. We spent the afternoon hiking several miles deep into the mountains in search of hidden lakes. In the Rockies the mountains go on and on, each peak revealing another, yet the amazing part about them is the hidden lakes of pure, clear, blue water that hides deep in the valleys between the peaks. To drive by, one would never know that hidden deeply within these heights are secret paradises of fresh water. The lesson from DAY 2 was that one must never underestimate the power of a deceitfully quiet river. A few of us were almost swept away by the seemingly peaceful river which flowed closely to our camp. Fortunately all were unharmed and much the wiser for the experience.  Here is a bucket list item for all those helping me keep track in my "bucket book". The mountain we had hiked, was so high that we found snow, and proceeded to, on the fourth of July, have a snowball fight. That's one for the books folks! Never thought I'd be able to say that. 

Day 3 was also wonderful as another hike miles into the mountain was made. This time we arrived much closer to a lake and found the water as refreshingly cool as we were hoping it to be. The lesson from DAY 3 is that assuming the fluffy white animal with four legs approaching is a dog, is never a good idea. As we were resting by the lake we turned to see a white "dog" who seemed every bit as startled to see us as we were to see him. What had happened upon us was not indeed a dog but rather a mountain goat, who after recovering his initial shock of three girls commandeering his watering hole had worn off, was much less pleased to see us than we were to see him. Tonight we have moved on and are now farther North East than Missoula, slowly working our way onward through this great adventure!