I was granted a "get out of jail free" card from my husband and I love him for that. Reason: My in-laws are in town.
I chose to utilize my free day with an organized hike with some friends and strangers. An early start was required due to: drive time to trail head, 18 mile hike and days are getting shorter here in Montana and there would be nothing worse than still walking in the woods without daylight (not my kind of fun).
I picked up Lisa at 6:15AM since she is on the way to Colleen's. We were told to arrive at Colleen's at 6:30 for omelettes (Colleen's early morning specialty and after seeing Julie & Julia, Colleen now understands that BUTTER is what makes it so yummy, delicious).
At 7:15 we meet others in a parking lot and head for the trail head outside of Choteau, MT towards Teton Ski Hill for Bruce Creek.
Colleen has a brand spanking new 2010 Subaru Outback which she couldn't wait to get out into the mountains so she offered to chauffeur me, Lisa and Sandy. Sandy lives in Columbia Falls but will drive any distance to participate in some of the more challenging organized hikes.
As a side note, I don't care for the organized hikes because typically there are individuals who sign up and are NOT physically fit for any type of hike no matter how it is rated. I am not on these hikes to assist the unfit liars. I sound harsh but I'm not out in the woods to pamper, baby, carry or nurse the unfit. If someone gets injured, no problem, I'm happy to help in any way I can.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
The car ride, to and from, is just as much fun as the hike, if not more. The things we talk about are just hysterical. I don't care much for the small talk with strangers once on the trail because I enter my zen time.
Some of the funny lines from our ride:
Are you a member of the gorilla society?
Do you have a Coco connection?
I want hot, juicy meat.
9:30AM we arrive at the trail head to utilize the facilities then don our boots and packs for our trek to Corrugate Ridge.
10AM hitting the trail. 12:20PM sit for lunch. 3PM we are above the Crazy Creek Pass in the Bob Marshall Wilderness looking onto Mt. Patrick Gass, Corrugate Ridge.
Talk about feeling on top of the world. Truly paradise.
It took us only 3.5 hrs to get back to the car with VERY few stops. Typically it doesn't take nearly as long to get out as it does going in. Why? We aren't stopping to gawk at the scenery, take pictures, or comment on interesting sites along the way: mushrooms, flowers, plants, rocks, scat, etc.
The end of the hike is the icing on the cake, the cherry on top. We relax with a beverage of choice and nosh on salty, crunchy snacks. I have acquired a taste for Chelada Bud Light. Bud Light beer with Clamato, lime and salt. So very refreshing.
If there's a creek nearby and the air isn't too cold we plunge our feet, legs and knees in the icy cold mountain stream. Today, it was a bit chilly so we chose to hang by the cars.
We get back in Colleen's car at 8:30 for our return home. We are ravenous so discussing where we could eat in Choteau. Being small town we were certain what few places were available would close at 9PM. Colleen high tails it out of the mountains which isn't the safest way to drive due to all the deer that could pop out at us at any moment. As Colleen maneuvers the car on the gravel road, Lisa and Sandy watch for deer, I stare at my cell phone waiting for one tick in order to call and place an order. Finally! One tick! I call Elk Bar at 8:51PM to ask what time they close. 9PM is the answer so I ask if I promise to be there in under 15 minutes could I please place an order. Sure! Three cheeseburgers, please. Lucky us. They were obviously closed when we arrived but there sat our cheeseburgers waiting. We drove to another bar in town which was still open to eat our burgers and enjoy a cold beer (Colleen drank root beer).
What a fabulous way to end the day with great friends. Our minds full of the beautiful scenery from the day and our bellies full from a greasy cheeseburger. We had another hour on the road before we returned back to Great Falls. The time was filled by rehashing our day and talking about future adventures.
