Gallatin National Forest--Montana

We spent an amazing three days hiking in the Gallatin National Forest just outside of Bozeman Montana. The Hyalite Creek Trail has TEN waterfalls to see on the 12 mile hike to an alpine lake where we ate lunch & lounged in the soft green grass. There were no crowds of people and surprisingly very few mosquitoes which made the entire trip truly amazing. 

My Old Office

Green Mountain Lakes Trail

We hiked this trail a week ago on what was the hottest day of the summer. The thermostat reached a high of 92 degrees that day. I used to live in Tennessee where the temps stay in the (always humid) upper 90's and go into triple digits throughout the summer. So a high of 92 degrees is NOTHING compared to the South! However, when hiking 16+ miles at 7-10,000 ft, 92 degrees runs pretty hot! Luckily, a dip in a newly thawed mountain lake was our reward at the end of the trail!

Alaska Basin Trail (2 weeks ago)

Two weeks ago we hiked 7 miles in just barely reaching the Alaska Basin. We had to stop and turn around since the rest of the hike would be entirely on top of about 5+ feet of snow. In the lower elevations the trails are lush and green but as we climbed higher we hit mud, high water and then snow. In a matter of just 2 weeks all of that snow has melted and the ground is turning a vibrant green as the alpine grasses and plants begin to sprout.

Entertaining Teens

What a super fun and busy week! I got to play tour guide to my husbands 15 year old niece and her friend who came to visit us from Arizona. I made SURE to give them a vacation they would remember forever. We kayaked & paddle boarded a river and a lake, we hiked some trails, we saw a double feature
at the Spud Drive-in Movie theater, I gave them driving lessons & let them both drive my car, we visited the coolest candy shop ever,  we rode the chairlift up to the top of Grand Targhee our ski hill, we saw plenty of deer, moose (and moose babies!) pronghorn sheep & bald eagles. This was both of the girls first trip without a parent. I wanted to give them an experience and memories they could take with them back home and share their pictures and stories with their family and friends. I'm pretty sure they had a great time. 

Gros Ventre Mountains