Fresh snow overnight at bachelor and clear sky’s today - we decided to head up for perhaps our last day. Not because there isn’t enough snow - just that May gets busy. Great day today especially with fresh powder.
Oct 23… well I guess it happened oct 22 but we couldn’t see the mountains yesterday.
We go camping on Paulina lake often in the summer. I have never been up in the winter. The resort on Paulina lake is actually open for a few months in the winter but you cannot drive in - hike or snowmobile only from a snow park that is a few miles down the road.
Noah and I drove up Friday afternoon and hiked in staying at one of the small 2 person cabins for the night.
On the way in we stopped and hiked down to Paulina falls. Again - a place we have visited in summer but not in winter. Really pretty.
Abbie really wanted to do a canoe camping trip this year so this weekend I took her to Waldo lake. We have camped there a few years back but there are some dispersed wilderness sites on the other side of the lake that you have to search to find.
The weather was spectacular this weekend, especially given it was the last weekend in September
We launched from Islet boat ramp. The water was like glass most of trip across the lake
We found a great spot on a point on the far western side of the lake with the tent spot hidden up in the trees but still with a view of the lake and lots of rocky beach to explore. Waldo does not allow any gas engines and with no people anywhere near us to was amazingly quiet. It actually sounds strange to hear no humam-made noises.
We had a great time sitting around the fire and making dinner together. We made pizza and salad for dinner with campfire cones for desert!
We rose when the sun got up- had coffee and hot chocolate followed by a breakfast of egg burritos using eggs from Abbie’s chickens!
Our trip back across was not quite as calm once we got out on the open water so it was good practice for abbie.
This years campout was a little different with no fires allowed due to drought conditions. It makes you realize how much a part of camping the campfire is. How it becomes the gathering place for meals and talking with its light and heat.
Nonetheless we made the best out of our 5 days away! Our friends the Christoff's came up for a couple days/nights as well!
Our main vacation this summer was a trip to visit our friends - the Kerr’s. Their family has a condo on whitefish Lake in Montana. After spending a couple days in northern Idaho we arrived in whitefish July 10. The days are long there in the summer, staying light until close to 11 pm. Lots of time to. Explore and play.
The condo itself is at whitefish lake lodge and is beautiful with views over the lake.
What’s nice is that the condos have access to the lodge amenities such as the private beach, pool, and pool bar.
The lodge itself looks like a really nice place to stay. Couple pictures from inside.
The family has a boat so we went tubing with the kids lots. With the early hot weather this year the lake was already warm for swimming.
On one of the days we hiked the “Danny-On” trail at big mountain (where the skiing is in winter). Hot but beautiful and the ice cream at the lodge at the top made it worthwhile. We rode the chairlift down for some great views.
There was a trail ride rental shop with a Big timber sled out front in Columbia falls that we had to stop and see.
We spend a morning shopping and exploring whitefish town.
Overall an amazing trip that was too short. We love Montana. Second summer in a row visiting and I’m sure we will be back.
While on our trip to Whitefish we journeyed into Glacier National park to see some of the amazing sites. We went in the evening and had amazing weather and the lighting was great for photos.
MacDonald Lake
Going to the sun road
Logan Pass
Kelly and the kids made my birthday really special this year. Lots of cool gifts plus I got a really nice whiskey set from Pat and Sue!
After church we drove south near silver lake and did a hike Hager Mountain. The tower is a working tower, so we got to see inside and see both the traditional and newer methods of scouting for fire.
The main reason we drove down to that area is that Kelly booked us reservations months ago at the very famous “Cowboy Dinner Tree”. It was an amazing filling steak dinner.
3 Finger Jack is one of the cascade volcanoes. It’s not as high as some of the other volcanoes but has a challenging technical ascent. I went with a group of men from church.
The hike started off wet and cloudy at the car but cleared after a few hours as we ascended up onto the south ridge.
The ridge got steeper and more narrow as we got closer to the summit. There were two critical sections where we roped up the first was called ‘the crawl’ - a 150 ft traverse with over 1000 ft drop below you. Here we set up a fixed line as protection. The second part was the final climb to the summit block which was a fun 5.0, 50 ft climb. ‘The crawl’ was much more nerve racking and scary.
Sunset on the way down.
Overall a great and very challenging day with a great group of men.