Saturday, September 29, 2007

A gloomy day


When I woke up this morning there was snow on Mt. Helena. It has been raining at the house all morning and the sky is gray as far as the eye can see.

I've got my errands done and now I'm going to stay in, bundle up, make brownies, clean a little house and watch Knocked Up. I'm thinking it's not a bad way to spend a Saturday. Wanna join me?

Thursday, September 27, 2007



RUNNING HILLS SUCKS!






I'm just sayin'...

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Ever have one of those thoughts that makes you laugh your ass off but instantly you also know that you just screwed up your karma?



LOL, but hell that was funny!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

New Boot Campers Part Deux


Newbie 1:
Oh gawd this cold morning shit sucks!


Me:
Amen


Newbie 2:
I'm getting my ass out of bed on a cold morning to do what? to run?


Newbie 1:
Yeah if I'm getting my butt out of bed at 5:30 on a cold morning there had better be pancakes involved.


Me:
LMAO!

Monday, September 17, 2007

"Cheeseburger..."

The Cheeseburger bird is back and I found out that his "official" name is a Black-Capped Chickadee. Apparently he's a smart bird too:
The Black-Capped Chickadee hides seeds and other food items for later recovery. Each item is placed in a different spot and a bird can remember thousands of hiding places.
He's been hanging around my house so of course he's a smart bird. Hmm, I may have to get a bird feeder for this little guy.

It turns out that he's cute too so I don't mind him stalking me too much. As long as he doesn't start too early in the morning with his song we'll be on good terms.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

New boot campers...


Instructor:
"Come on, let's go, up the hill, lift those legs higher"


Newbie 1:
"She's kidding, right?"


Me:
"Afraid not"


Newbie 2:
"Is she trying to kill us?"


Me:
"Naw, it just feels that way at first, you'll get used to that dying feeling"


Newbie 1:
"oh goody"



Hehe, rookies!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

"My Boys" will be boys

The guys are all sitting around watching the game when the batter gets hit in the head with a 90 mph fast ball. They immediately start talking about who could take it and how he was a "pussy", after all "he had a helmet on!"

This, of course, leads to the batting cages. LMAO!

The guys decided to see who could actually "take it." It started out at 45 mph, each guy taking a turn and upping the ante with each round. LOL! By the time D__ took an "85er" to the head and was knocked out cold I was practically rolling on the floor....

Sunday, September 09, 2007

York Fest

A beautiful Saturday spent out at York Fest, a benefit for local fire fighters. The weather couldn't have been more cooperative and a fun time was had by all between the Best Bike contest, the games, vendors, live music and auctions - it was a lot of fun with a diverse group of people (young, old, bikers, cowboys, fire fighters, etc. it was testosterone city!).

D__'s bike - so much fun to ride!!

All of the fun followed by Bloody Mary's and burgers at York Bar (remind me to take you there). If you know anything about the area then you know that York Bar burgers are the best in southwest Montana. A great way to spend a Saturday!

Friday, September 07, 2007

Conversations with the cat....

"Ouch CT, that's my leg"

"Meow"

"Damn! Stop digging your claws into my ass"

"Meeeeeeeeeeeowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Hi honey, I'm "home"!

Home is a relative term I guess since every time I'm in Glacier I feel at home but - I'm home.

It was a long, tiring, amazing, wonderful, fabulous trip. On Saturday morning I got a late start on the trail because of the shuttle schedule so I didn't start hiking until 11:00 but the trail to Gunsight Campground
was an easy one and since I didn't have a schedule I took my time.

When I got to the first suspension bridge I felt like a kid again. I ran to it and immediately started bouncing up and down. Hehe, that was fun!

With views like this why would you hurry?

My first side trip was to Florence Falls. Unfortunately the photos I took just don't do it justice. It's taller and more beautiful than I was able to capture but it was sure fun playing in the water. It was somewhere around here that I lost my iPod - oh well, I wasn't going back for it. A couple of hours later I arrived at Gunsight Lake where I camped for the first night. Like all of Glacier that I've seen it is beautiful. Oh, and see that saddle in the middle of the mountains (the gunsight)? See that peak to the left? That's my first stop the next day.


I managed to get an early start the next morning (the potential bear patrolling the campground going "whuw, whuw, whuw" may have helped prompt my early start) and I made it over Gunsight Pass.

As I was coming down the pass to Lake Ellen Wilson me and Mr. Bear met up for
a brief chat.


I said "hey bear" over and over again and he looked up as if to say "yeah, what do you want?" (if you click it you can see him looking at me and yeah the photo is slightly out of focus - my hand was shaking).

So I backed up and gave him some space (it's rude to crowd the bears in Glaci
er Park - and dangerous). I watched him for about 10 minutes, all the time just letting him know that I was there but that I wasn't a threat and wasn't going to push (it feels weird to be lower on the food chain than something else) but eventually managed to get a few feet closer for another photo as he went back to digging roots.
Believe me, this was as close as I was going to get. And when I say a few feet closer I literally mean a few feet. There is no way I was taking the chance of crowding a grizzly bear. That is foolish and stupid hiking. It would have taken him all of about five seconds to cover the distance between us if he wanted to.

It was such a privilege to see this guy and I enjoyed just standing there watching him. He eventually wandered down the hill and as I came down Gunsight Pass I was able to watch him swim across Lake Ellen Wilson and climb out on the shore below. That was sooooo cool!

I finished that day by crossing Lincoln Pass. Boy, the Sperry Chalet roof was a beautiful and welcome sight.

I have a lot of great photos of Sperry Chalet but am including just the one. If you want to see more then you have to make the hike ;) It is so worth it. The people who operate, manage and work at Sperry Chalet do an incredible job of making everyone feel welcome and comfortable and I dare you to stay there and not have it become a part of you. I am already planning my trip for next year.

When I took this photo I was missing it already. My last night was spent lounging and remembering all the great things about this trip. A few bug bites, a few blisters, some sore shoulders and knees but I can't wait to go back.