Fun with Friends

We got to spend some time with some long lost frisbee friends in Missoula and Bozeman.  Patches (Tommy) we played frisbee with in Humboldt and Leah his wonderful girlfriend opened up their home to so for a few night. We loved Missoula and were able to add a few more brewery stickers to the now covered growler.

Great surfing wave in downtown Missoula.

Miss Treu (Samantha) and her partner Ross took us floating on the Madison River, where we all got a little burned and drunk.  We all camped out and really loved spending time with such great people.  

Teresa, Greg, Samantha and Ross 

We are currently in Stanley, Idaho getting ready for the river trip.  We organized our gear and took a shower (it had only been a day).  We then watched the sunset over the Sawtooth Mountain Range. We are looking forward to a nice massage in the morning before putting on the river.  (A special thanks for my mom, Marcia, for making this room and massage possible).

Sunset over the Sawtooth Mountain Range from a hot tub.

We will be putting on the MIddle Fork Salmon river tomorrow for a nine day trip and wifi is hard to come by in the FRank Church River of No Return Wilderness, so this will be our last post for awhile.  Wish us good weather and raging rapids for the trip.  Thank you to all those who have followed this silly thing and we appreciate you all being with us on this journey.

Glorious Glaciers

After leaving the North Cascades, we travelled east on Highway 20 through northern Idaho and into Montana. We stopped in the small town of Whitefish Montana and quickly found the The Great Northern brewery. Great beer and shuffleboard had us smiling while we made our way to the local farmers market. Not a ton of fresh produce for so early in the season, but a lot of arts and crafts and some good food booths. We asked around for a good place to camp and ended up at the Whitefish Bike Retreat. A bike specific campground with showers, a bike wash, and trail side access to the Whitefish trail network. I rode the trail the next day and found great singletrack that weaved through a number of small lakes. Great trails that are growing every year.

After two nights in Whitefish, we travelled to West Glacier and the entrance to Glacier National Park. We had intentions of backpacking in the park and headed to the backcountry permit office. We were surprised to find so many options available. Based on a recommendation from someone that had worked in the park, we settled on the Belly River basin in the northeastern corner of the park.

A three hour drive around the southern boundary found us at the Many Glacier Campground for a night of car camping and trip preparation.

The next day we drove north to the Big Chief Trailhead and hiked into the Cosley Lake campground. We spent the next three nights at the lakeside campground and spent the days hiking to various parts of the basin.

On one of our day trips we headed into one of the side drainages with the hope of getting close to one the many waterfalls. As we worked our way higher into the basin, Teresa let out a bear call and pointed up valley. Sure enough an adult grizzly popped out of the vegetation and was walking down trail towards us. We both let out a big bear call and caught the attention of the grizzly. It stood up on its hind legs and sniffed the air looking for us. We started backing down trail and watched as it took off up valley into the bushes. Quite a thrill to be that close to a grizzly and really glad that it didn't follow us back down the trail.

We took a ton of photos and are trying not to overwhelm everyone. So below is some of our favorites.

North Cascades

North Cascades National Park is the least visited national park in the United States.  But we were blown away at the beauty and shearness (is that a real word?) of the peaks. It was great to get back into the North Cascades. I had been here a long time ago for a backpacking trip with my brother. It was great to get back and experience some of the same places. 

While leaving the coast we picked up some local grown osysters to cook up on the grill, thankfully someone left us some firewood at camp.  They tasted soo good!!!!

We hiked in the morning and then headed to the town of Winthrop, a very cute little tourist town done up as an old fashioned mining town. 

 Oysters Grilling

 Beers on the river at the Old School Brewery

The following are pictures of the park no description needed.

Puget Sound and San Jaun Islands

I had never been to any of the islands in the Puget Sound and was blown away. I couldn't believe how lush the vegetation was there. 

We started with the island of Belligham. Amy and Bernard were great hosts and cooked up a wonderful Salmon dinner that night. We drank a couple bottles of wine and spent most of the night discussing where we were going and the best hikes to take once we were there. These two have backpacked, climbed and studied the glaciers all over the west and were a great resource on places to go.  They even met on a Sierra Club outing way back in the day.

We visited the Bloudel Reserve (http://www.bloedelreserve.org/) the next day and spent a couple hours walking around the grounds.

Pilliated Woodpecker 

Dogwood tree in Bloom (most flowers I have ever seen on one tree)

Mother and baby Canada Geese

Seattle viewed from the Ferry over after leaving Bambridge Island

We had delicious fish and chips on the water with dear friends Holly and Jason. Then I made everyone pose for a picture, while Greg tried to surf on piece of wood.

Greg, Holly, Jason and Teresa

We walked around a little and caught an amazing sunset over the water looking towards the San Juan Islands. 

Sunset Again

The next day eight-month pregnant Holly made us amazing biscuits and gravy, then we spent the day wondering Seattle: neat shops, pubs, boat locks and fish ladder, and the Fremont Brewery. 

We left Seattle and headed to the San Juan's to see an old friend, Danny Boy, on Lummi Island.  He had to work late that night but open his spectacular house for us to use. He even left us a filet of salmon prepared and ready for the grill. 

Greg giving toast to the beauty of the day!

Dan took us for a hike the next day up to several lookout points on Lumie Island, after the first one we kept going up to his super secret and special lookout.  Roundtrip was about 8 miles, but I have never before been high enough on a cliff to watch Bald Eagles soaring and circling just below us.  One eagle, that we think was a juvenile bald, flew about 15 feet just over our heads. 

After the hike a neighbor of Dan's picked us up from his beach and took him and I out on the water for a quick tour from a completely different point of view.  Greg stayed and took a nap on the beach.

Greg, Dan and I at the first look out. 

 

Looking North to Canada

Amazing Southern View. 

Bald Eagle Soaring.

The sun set on our second and last day on Lummi Island. 

Such a special place that I will never forget.

Next up is the North Cascades. Coming Soon.