Take a Hike...

We did a lot of hiking in Montana. But, that's kind of Montana's thing. The mountains, the rivers, the forests, the epic landscapes and overlooks, the sunsets over the mountain canyons... it's all there to be seen with just a short (and often steep) walk. We took the kids in their matching shirts along the river through Greenough Park one day and later up the M Trail. Then on my last night in Montana, the kids tagged along for a hike up the L Trail. Both letters offer impressive views of Missoula, the valley, and Lolo Peak off in the distance. Becky and I used to take the dogs up to the L back in the day and it's always been one of my favorite views. For most of the kids, it was their first trip up Mount Sentinel and Mount Jumbo, and hopefully it was a memorable one.

The crew. 

Sometimes you need a lift...

Started up the M Trail... it was hot, real hot. But it was July, so that should be expected I guess.

 

Ready for more, the kids braved the L Trail.

Strike a pose, champions...

Watched these paragliders risk death to watch the sunset.

Off into the sunset... another beautiful hike, another beautiful trip. Thanks for the memories, Montana, they won't be forgotten. No worries, we'll be right back.

We'll cross that bridge when we get there...

Still trying to catch up with all the photos we took in Montana (it was a photogenic trip). After we hit the big cedars near Libby, we ventured up to Kootenai Falls. There was a short hike over the railroad tracks down toward the water where the trail forked, one going to the falls, and another headed to a slightly-terrifying rope bridge over the river. Of course we did both, and both turned out to be pretty cool. The bridge limits how many people can cross at once, that way it doesn't break Indiana Jones style and we all fall into crocodile infested waters (thankfully crocodiles don't like Montana's warm, 30 degree year round water). After that, the kids and I headed up to the falls where they spent most of their time trying to catch minnows. The waterfall wasn't really high, but the river was wide and made for a beautiful scene.

 

Really Big Trees

While on our vacation to Montana, we took a little drive up to the northwest part of the state to visit the Ross Creek Cedars. I'd never heard of it before, but it turned out to be a pretty cool place to check out. After taking our lives into our hands on the winding, overly-busy mountain road, we made it to a little parking lot at the trail head. These rather large cedars are growing in this ravine along the aforementioned creek and someone carved out a nice short trail to walk amongst the giants. The path wasn't steep or long, so it was perfect for our large group of underage hikers. Plus it was almost completely shaded, due to there being a lot of big trees (strange, I know) so that made it an even better idea on a hot summer day. The kids enjoyed climbing over the carcasses of the cedars' dead family members, using their branches for weapons, tossing stones in the water to disturb swimming creatures, and otherwise doing childish things. 

My point exactly. Here's Adam, acting like a child.

Standing inside of this dead tree's slowly rotting corpse.

I know, it's kind of horrific.

We didn't kill this one, it was already like that when we got there. We didn't see anything, Officer.

How big are they? They're that big. For reference, Brooke has an 11 foot wingspan.

These two tried to squash Adam.

Another angry child.

Smile, Nolan! Nolan!! NOLAN!!!

We think these stones were put here by aliens... ancient alien astronauts maybe. 

Here's Will and a random hand.

Another beautiful summer hike in Montana!