Majestic Montana

Me and my husband packed up our Honda Accord ... filled it to the brim with camping gear. No, of course we didn't take our truck- that would be too easy. We headed from Seattle, Saturday morning, embarking on our adventure to the Big sky country-Montana.

I'm not sure how many of you know, but I am a Montana grown girl. With that, we know some great camping destinations. My hubby and I love the outdoors, and who wouldn't want to spend their fifth year wedding anniversary alone ... in the mountains? So, we dropped off the kids and headed up to one of our favorite camping spots.

We put up our shelter first ... our rinky dink tent (we have decided a new one is in order). Then, we got all the rest of our stuff set up; stove, table, chairs, air mattress etc... Silence, It's a bit strange when you realize there is no one to chase after, but I quickly pulled myself out of it.
 
The first day we gathered some wood and took a hike along the creek to scope out some potential fishing holes. Birds were yelling at us while we tromped through the trees and brush. The only sounds; our feet hitting the ground, the bubbling creek running over rocks and trees and maybe me huffing from the trek. It's so beautiful and peaceful there.

The air mattress only leaked a little. So, my husband and I ended up both somehow rolling to the center... it was cozy. Morning sunshine is not blocked out by a tent. We could only cover our head with the blankets for so long. What's that saying though, The early bird catches the worm. We hopped out of our dilapidated bed, and grabbed the fishing poles. Brook trout are not huge so we had to throw a few of the smaller ones back, but after getting two nice sized fish ... one a rainbow trout and the other a Brook trout we went and made breakfast. They were delicious.

Montana weather can be so temperamental and we knew a storm was forecast to move in later, so we went for a drive, down to the Missouri river. On our way, we fished the creek, picking random spots that looked like a good hole. We rounded a corner on the windy dirt road, and a black bear cub was next to the road. He/she was so stinking adorable, but he took off... scared. My husband being more adventurous than me, tells me to stop. He wanted to see if he could get a better peek at it. The more sensible one (me), I'm telling him no way. I knew in the back of my mind that there had to be a mommy lurking not too far. I lost. I pulled the car off to the side and he goes around some brush to see if he could see the cub. I sit in the car. I love my crazy husband. He comes back up to the car and proceeds to tell me about an awesome fishing hole he has to fish. I was dumbfounded. He wanted to fish right where the damn bear just ran into. He's lost his flipping mind. Being such a good wife I leave the doors open-in case we need to dive in real quick- and follow him to the creek. He wanted me to watch his back. I literally was spooked by every little sound thinking we were going to be mauled by a black bear mamma. Obviously, we survived. I am writing about it today, and he did catch a few fish out of that dang hole.

The whole bear thing a little out of my mind, we got to the river and decided to take the two mile hike back to the dam. The hike is gorgeous!

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The worst part of the hike is trying to watch every step you make to make sure you weren't stepping on a rattlesnake. Parts of the hike, was over old rock slide areas, and in the back of my mind I knew there was a snake probably within a few feet of where I was walking. All in all the trip was amazing and ended way too quickly. Two days is not enough time to spend in the majestic mountains of Montana. Ending our outing we got poured on.

I love Montana.

RJ Heaton