Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

I wake and write with my coffee. This new routine seems to be working well. I’m enjoying my mornings and getting some good writing done. It’s again cold and Ashley stays snuggled up in bed until late. With a forecast of rain all afternoon we plan to be back home, safely in the RV, by noon.

So off we head to be productive. Laundry and wifi. Ashley researches Forest Fenn, overnight oatmeal, and surfed FaceBook while I watch a webinar on making/creating side gigs. I get some good ideas and start outlining projects for later.

Back home, with clean clothes, we putter about the house. Apparently the chance of rain has drastically lessened. I make soup for lunch. After eating Ashley goes for a bicycle ride and I write in the hammock. She returns and yogas while I put together a fire for tonight.

Really enjoying our fires – fun to build and watch them. I’ve been trying different methods out. I try out a wood-fired backpacking stove that I made some years ago. It’s been so long that I don’t remember an important setting – it works but doesn’t seem super efficient and really soots up my metal cup.

Though it’s cooked inside we eat next to the fire. Then we follow up with s’mores. Mmmm.. we wonder what s’mores with Reeses Cups would be like. Or Nutella. Experiments for a future day.
Back inside we retreat to bed. Ashley reads and I crochet. Almost done with this skein of yarn – only one more to go!

We are up to 2 minutes in our daily plank exercise.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

It was raining when I woke and wrote while sipping on my coffee, but stops shortly after Ashely comes and joins me with her tea. Chilled, we decide to head in to town to warm up and get some phone calls made, so we head to Honey’s for coffee, wifi, and heat.

I finish my coffee and leave Ashley for a visit to the library. I use their computer to get some things done that our phones just won’t do. The timer runs out and I stop by the gas station to top off before returning to meet Ashley. She’s placed sandwich orders, as we’re both quite hungry. We split a sandwich and a wrap – wow are they good! Honey’s really does make some great food!

We run by the Family Dollar for a few items and then head home.

Ashley reads and I switch between crocheting (really making progress on our afghan) reading and writing.

Early to bed.

(This is a guest post by our very own Ashley!)

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

We wake up, eat a quick breakfast, pack our day bags, and head out to Timberline Trail just down the road via washboard gravel. Close, but not close enough to walk, we take the motorcycle and alas, when we finally make it to the trailhead about 3 miles away, I feel like an egg that has been thoroughly scrambled. Washboard gravel is less than fun on the motorcycle, but although I feel like a bobble-head doll bounncing around the back seat, Matthew seems to have no problem handling the rough road. What a pro!

At the trailhead, we head up! The trail follows the side of the mountain for a while before heading back alongside a creek. As the name suggests, we are following the timberline, however the timber has been victim to the Cascade Forest Fire back in 2008. The trees are charred and desolate, but new growth has sprouted on the forest floor, so greenery and shrubs of all sorts populate the ground.

It is a unique kind of beauty; the barren trees allow for grand views of the surrounding mountains as we climb, and huge, white/gray smooth granite boulders are scattered about – some as huge as a cabin – making us stop and ponder how in the world they got there. 

We finally reach part of the timberline untouched by the firey scourge and feel as though we are on a whole different trail. The shade of the bright green conifers create a lovely cool breeze and that spicy, warm aroma of pine immediately hits my nose – my most favorite smell in the world – and warms my soul! Matthew notices it as well, but I don’t think he appreciates it as much as I do.

We continue along, passing another hiker and chatting for moment – he has his fishing pole with him, for our end destination is Timberline Lake. It should not be far off now.

Making our way across beautiful forests with soft, brown, piney floors we come upon Lake Gertrude, a small lake only 0.5 miles away from Lake Timberline. We stop and admire for a few minutes and then contine our climb for the final destination. The trail begins to crest the hill and flatten.

I get a quick view of the tops of rugged mountains to come and start to feel giddy, knowing the reveal of this lake is going to be spectacular. The air is fresh and the breeze is stronger and colder – sure signs we are almost there! We crest the hill and there stands Timberline Lake in all its clear, sparkling, majestic mountain beauty. Nothing makes me happier or feel more at peace than these beautiful alpine lakes surrounded on all sides by towering giant stone – the feeling is indescribable to one who has never experienced it.

Matthew and I excitedly explore around the shore, trying to find the perfect place for a picnic lunch. We find a spot with great views, relax, eat and continue our chatting. The hiker we passed on the trail is fishing and another couple we saw on the way up have made it and are relaxing as well.

Finished snacking, we sit and soak up the beauty for a while. There is snow clinging to the sides of a few mountains which make us start discussing the origin of this watery wonder. Soon, the fisherman/hiker meanders our way as he fishes and we strike up a conversation. Steve, we discover is his name, has been coming to the Beartooth Wilderness area since the 90s – he comes every year and backpacks/fishes with friends/family. He is an anesthesiologist from St. Louis, MO and once he learns of our story and current adventure has many questions and even takes our picture for his records and story-telling purposes! We thoroughly enjoyed talking to Steve and he gave us some great advice for other trails to traverse in the area.

Chilled by the cool mountain air, we head back down the trail. Some thunder clouds are accumulating and we almost make it back down before it rains, but not quite. About a mile from the trailhead, the dark clouds are just overhead and it begins to rain. It is amazing how nature’s colors change and become more vibrant in such weather. The charred trees turn from a bleached white/gray to a magnificent shiny silver and dusted gold. The boulders are no longer just gray either, but swirls of light and dark and some with hints of green and rusty red. The greenery becomes a vibrant green that stands out and can only be describd as lush. Every plant and rock and tree glow with color and Matthew begins to notice raspberry bushes lining the trail with bright little succulent raspberries ready to be plucked – how did we miss these on the way up!

We don our rain gear and as I am getting mine on Matthew begins grazing on the raspberries. I look up from putting my rain pants on, half of the sky has turned bright blue and the sun is happily shining through as it still rains, and what do I see before my eyes but a huge, vibrant double rainbow!! It is so close, I feel like I could almost reach out and ouch it. Matthew, still enthralled in raspberry hunting, has yet to notice. “Look Matthew!!” I say “A double rainbow!” Thoroughly surprised and overjoyed we stand and admire it for a while until it begins to fade. What a gift to see!

We are back down at the trailhead, ready to hop on the motorcycle and mosey home when I realize the bear spray I carry on my hip belt is missing. I realize I must have lost it when I put my rain gear on and, distracted by the rainbows, didn’t notice its absence until now. So back up the trail we go – at least it’s only about a mile. We pass Steve coming down but he didn’t see the spray on the trail anywhere. A few minutes later we pass the other hiker couple coming down – Huzzah! They found the bear spray and gladly turn it over. Only about 1/2 mile back down the trail and back to the motorycle – Matthews grazes on more raspberries as we go.

We head back home, wash up, and eat home-made foil pack meals cooked over the campfire with a side salad. What a delightful day! Timberline Trail has been my favorite day hike thus far – magnificent scenery, friendly hikers, free raspberries, and a rainbow to trump all rainbows I have ever seen! There are some days when you feel, without a shadow of a doubt, that God is truly watching over you and revealing himself in all his glory – today was definitely one of those days. It is impossible to be submerged in such intricate beauty and not see the hand of some sort of creator behind it.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

I wake with my alarm and leave Ashley sleeping. I make coffee and sit at the table to write. Really enjoying the process. I finish 3.5 articles before Ashley’s impatient to head out for the day’s hike. There’s a connector trail from the trailhead across the street that leads to a new trail so we’re going to try that.

The Ingles Creek Trail merges with the Silver Run Plateau trail and then runs into Beartrack trail (which we hiked up to last week, when Ashley got such bad blisters). We thought today would be a good opportunity to head up to the top of the plateau and that trail intersection for lunch. 5.4 miles each way, so it’ll take a bit longer than yesterday.

The trail starts off ok, relatively level and with foot bridges crossing the streams. There are downed pine saplings everywhere – we assume from the fire in 2008. However, the trail soon begins to head uphill. No switchbacks, just steadily up and up.

Running low on energy, we eat half of our lunch on the trail, not sure how much further we have to go. We’re silent, other than deep breaths, as we hike. It’s like we’re climbing a mountain or something! 🙂

Turns out, we weren’t that far from the top. We soon reach familiar ground from the prior hike. After taking a few minutes to appreciate a clearer view than before – the haze has lessened – we retreat out of the relentless wind to finish our lunch. This side of the plateau overlooks Red Lodge and the flat land behind it. A different view than we’ve been seeing the last few weeks!

We head on back down – much easier than up! Still not really a pretty trail. We enjoyed yesterday’s views much more.

As it levels out we return again to the woods that are littered with downed saplings. Someone has piled some up to make a teepee. I see them and think of the projects that I could use them for at camp – a table, lean-to frame, tripod over the fire, and so much more!

Back at camp we rest and drink some water. Then Ashley heads inside for a shower and I go collect some more wood – both for the fire and with an eye for good project materials. I find some of both.

We used the cooler as a table last night, but hesitate to leave it outside all night in case it has some sort of lingering odors that might attract bears. I build a 3-legged table to replace it – one that we don’t mind leaving outside. And, other than the bits of cord that hold it together, it will quickly become firewood before we leave. How convenient!

I build a fire and Ashley puts together foil packs of chicken, potatoes and onions. We eat salads as they cook.

As we wait a gentleman with an Australian accent looks at the site next to us and asks if we might have any advice for a camping spot. We say it’s our first visit here and that we only know of what they’ve seen. He thanks us and heads on. I wonder if they know there are options down the road, and as I wait for my meal to cool enough to eat I go and catch him and his wife with some follow-up suggestions. A few minutes later they stop by our site again with a map. I’d mentioned the area we stayed at prior to this one and apparently that sounded more appealing to them (it is more scenic) and they wanted some more detailed directions. Away they went.

We finish our suppers. As the fire burns itself out I begin carving a spoon. The wood is either a bit of apple from Norma’s or pear from Gary’s. Either way, it has cured in our garage over the winter and has been on my todo list for some time. Got it roughed in with the hatchet and started more detailed work with my pocket knife.

With the fire and the mosquitoes both out I head inside to get cleaned up and journal before bed. The batteries in our hat lights seem to be running low – getting hard to see even with our hats on. So not much reading tonight.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

It’s still dark when the alarm sounds, so I hit snooze a bit before rising. A later sunrise, tucked behind the mountains and hidden by trees means that the sun doesn’t directly reach us until mid-morning. It’s a cold night and the chill lingers until morning. We cradle our mugs of coffee and tea close.

After breakfast Ashley reads on the window seat as I write at the table. A blog post about coffee. Wrapping up, we prepare for a hike up the trail across the street. It’s 4 miles each way, so we figure it’ll be a good hike up to the lake at the end for lunch.

We head up the Basin Lakes Trail, past a beautiful waterfall and beyond Lower Basin Lake. A curve in the trail wraps around the remnants of an old cabin. We finally stop at Upper Basin Lake. It’s a fairly short trail but with enough features to be plenty interesting. At the lake we find a spot to sit and enjoy our lunch. 

The hike is filled with great conversation – ranging from books recently read, thoughts on religion, and even an idea for a future career. Pretty lakes, enjoyable trail and delightful conversation – can’t ask for much more than that!

We are passed (twice) by a girl trail-running with her dog. While it’s not an incredibly difficult trail it is still challenging enough that we are impressed.

As we return to the parking lot we notice four people staring intently into the woods in front of their car. Coming closer we spot the moose they’re watching. He’s only about 15′ off the gravel but is hidden by the trees. After watching him stand there for a couple of minutes (with my hand ready on my bear spray) he meanders a few dozen feet to his right and then seems to take notice of his audience. They all hop into their car and Ashley and I continue walking down to the road. How cool! Our first moose sighting in the wild.

We ride the motorcycle up the road in search of cell signal. We find it and stop at a gravel turn-off. Ashley checks her email and voicemail – finding a message from a campground in Florida. I have a few emails to read through and get a weather update. Quite the mobile office we have – using our phones on the side of the road standing next to the motorcycle. 🙂

Back at home I begin prepping the fire for the night. We’re going to roast sausages and cook potato and onion foil packs. If we’re going to have a fire we might as well put it to work and save a bit of propane while we’re at it.

We eat a 3-course meal, though not intentionally. Our salads are enjoyed as the sausages roast. Then we eat them – all the while the foil pack is sitting next to the coals. Eventually it’s finished and prove to be well worth the wait – they’re delicious!

The fire burns itself out and we head inside. I crochet and listen to some podcasts while Ashley reads. I read a bit in a new book before bed.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

We got up with the alarm and started the cold morning off with tea and coffee. I crocheted for a bit while drinking and then we finished loading up for our pending move.

Though we’ve been here for two weeks we wouldn’t mind staying longer. It’s been very pleasant and beautiful surroundings. Our next destination is a different type of environment and still beautiful, though. Just not as scenic.

Loaded up, we head in to town. I drop Ashley off at the grocery store before heading to the gas station to empty tanks and fill the fresh water. I grab a coffee so as to not be taking complete advantage. Ashley is done and I swing by to pick her up.

It’s only a few miles to our next spot, tucked off the road in a pine thicket. Tight quarters, though – we use radios to communicate and manage to get through without a scratch. We have a beautiful spot on the edge between the field and the pines.

Once we’re settled and have a late breakfast we walk around to explore. The creek is a ways off but still accessible. A trailhead is just across the street. Very convenient!

We hop on the motorcycle and head toward town to get some chores done online. Still no signal at camp. On the way we stop at Wild Bill’s Lake. It’s a short distance away, with a picnic area available. It’ll be a great spot for a picnic – we can bicycle over and hike around the lake one day.

On into town, we stop at Red Lodge Tea and Books.  They’re out of the tea that Ashley wants for home but we split a cup and get some chores done online. She applies for some workcamping positions.

Before leaving town we stop at the Post Office to see how to receive a package there. Just address it care of General Delivery, apparently. Easy enough! Ashley orders new glasses frames to replace her broken ones as we stand in the parking lot. Should arrive next week – so I guess we’re staying in the area until they are delivered.

Business finished, we head back home. Ashley prepares supper as I get a fire ready. Once our salad is finished it’s time for the fire! While at the store Ashley picked up S’mores ingredients. She’s been wanting some since Michigan so she’s definitely been patient. Three s’mores later and we’re done for. Ash had the idea to use our kabob skewers so we didn’t have to cut any branches. They’re bit short so we have to hide our hands behind the stones making up the fire pit.

We let the fire burn itself out and then head inside. Ashley reads while I crochet and then read a bit before bed.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

After breakfast we hopped on the motorcycle to get some wifi and cell signal. We get coffee at Honey’s and I take care of uploading journal entries and email while Ashley begins looking at a Christmas Tree lot job.

Wrapping up we go to catch family on the phone while we have signal. Alas – 3 calls and 3 voicemails left. We grab a bite to eat (splitting  pizza and the free chips and salsa at Bogarts) and just as we finish Norma calls back. I call Mom and we get an hour call in each. It was great to chat and catch up on events back home.

Hanging up, we hop on the motorcycle and head out to explore tomorrow’s destination – our new home for the week. Due to construction, we opted to turn around just 5 miles into our 30-mile trip. We certainly could have made it, but don’t want to rattle the RV any more than we have to! Who would have thought it would be the blacktop road that would give us pause – and here we were concerned about the gravel!

Fortunately, we have a backup plan in place – moving to the other side of the plateau. So we ride out to find some campsite options there. We find a nice one just before the black-top ends and continue on the gravel to see other places (plus we want to check out the trailhead at the end for an upcoming hike). So many washboards! We ride further than we actually want to and turn around before the end. We have a variety of places available to us and plan to pull in early to mid-morning so they should all still be available.

It’s late when we get home. Still full from lunch we split some soup for supper and then we begin packing up for tomorrow’s move.

  
I picked up my afghan project, planned colors for the next steps, and get some crocheting done before bed

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

We spend the morning reading. I finish my book and try to get some journaling done (I’m a week behind!) Ashley does yoga out on the point – a rushing creek on either side of her to help set the mood. Afterward she lies in the hammock to read.

It finally works out that I can hide the pieces of her scavenger hunt. It’s been ready for at least a week and planned for another week prior but the timing hasn’t panned out, until today. We’re a great match – I love putting together the clues for the hunts and she loves to solve them!

This hunt leads to a home-made dinner for her, to complement the omelettes I made for breakfast.

We head in to town to do laundry and Ashley hasn’t seen her first clue yet (or saw it but didn’t realize). The laundry-mat has wifi so we get some emails sent and research done while the clothes cycle. When everything finishes it looks like rain in the mountains. We rush home and arrive just as it begins at the RV. Just a few minutes later and our freshly dried laundry wouldn’t have been!

Ashley finds her first clue and excitedly sets about solving each of them, with only a single wrong detour as she found one of my reminder notes. She loves the idea of a home-cooked meal and loved her first scavenger hunt in our RV.

I fix supper – doing my best to clear out the fridge so we can turn it off tomorrow for our hike, but to no avail. It turned out to be a pretty tasty meal – basically shepherd’s pie without the taters – peas, carrots, and ground turkey with a cucumber and tomato salad on the side.

After eating we pack for tomorrow’s hike and read in bed, alarm set.