Hello faithful readers! We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Thanks for coming back for the next installment.
After our last post, we dove headlong into the rugged terrain of Glacier National Park in Northern Montana. We took a number of moderate day hikes, exposing us to numerous mountain goats, bighorn sheep, glacier-fed alpine lakes, and endless marches of jagged peaks.
One of these hikes, through carpets of wildflowers, led us to Grinnell Glacier. Besides the stunning beauty, Ben finally had success when asking his incessant question of fellow hikers with snacks…”Do you need a hand with that?” For the first time ever, this yielded two delectable peanut butter cookies. It is not always easy to be selfless, but we enjoyed extending a helping hand (or mouth, in this case) to peers whose packs needed a bit of lightening. We munched our cookies at the edge of the milky glacial lake and felt happy to be alive and in paradise.
After our hike, we stumbled up the weekly Hootenanny at the historic Many Glacier lodge. Go ahead and look up the word “hootenanny” – we’re not making this up. Every Sunday night through the summer, the lodge staff puts on a live music show for the guests. We had a great time shucking and jiving to the wide array of tunes pouring out of the barmaid’s piano, the bellhop’s guitar, and the potential serial killer’s violin.
While in Glacier, we did an overnight backpacking trip to Gunsight Lake. Ben had hiked past the lake on a backcountry trip with his buddies in 2000 and wanted to recapture and share some of the awe that he felt on that trip. After pitching camp, we hiked to Gunsight Pass (the notch in the mountains in the pic below) to stretch our legs and see the other side. Mountain passes have become addictive on this trip and our heads dance with wild visions of what beckons on the other side as we climb. We have not been disappointed yet and this was no exception. We had a snack with a mother mountain goat and her kid and soaked up the crisp air and exceptional views.
One bonus of camping in grizzly country is that you share a common cooking area with fellow backpackers. Here we met lots of interesting characters, swapped hilarity, and received a gift equivalent to a bar of gold in the backcountry – a Hershey Bar with almonds (thanks Jesssica and Brian!). We also had a close encounter with a gargantuan bull moose at this site. We are definitely not in Texas anymore.
From Glacier, we sped south to the friendly confines of Bozeman to spend time with Carolyn’s brother Steve and his family. While there, we got a crash course in parenthood by babysitting our niece (18 months) and nephew (3 years) for four days while their parents were out of town. The wee ones reminded us how to appreciate lots of the little things in life that we take for granted, like how fun mud puddles and hugs are. They are well-behaved kids and we’re liberal with our ice cream as babysitters, but it’s fair to say that all parties were happy when their parents returned from afar. We relish our roles as aunt and uncle and continue to be amazed by all of you who are parents.
While in Montana, we also celebrated our two year wedding anniversary, returning to Chico Hot Springs where we were married. We soaked in the hot water, walked the grounds, and shared that wedding day giddiness all over again. It probably goes without saying, but as with any worthwhile celebration, there was plenty of bacon consumption too.
Our next destination brought a reprise of the aunt and uncle roles, with a long weekend in Powell, WY, where Ben’s brother Zac lives. We enjoyed delicious meals, spirited card games, and loads of wrestling with three little Oppslings. Ben and Zac broke away for a morning to hike up Heart Mountain, which is the high point in the valley and a prominent local landmark. Many thanks to niece Gretel, who donated her bedroom during our visit.
Next stop: the Tetons!
