Happy Campers

As the weather really starts to heat up out here, Erik and I are all about getting outside into the mountains. Since our place is not air conditioned and the forests and mountains are the choice is simple really. Going back to June 22-24th this was one of our first weekend long trips. Just so you know we only had to drive 1 1/2 hrs to get here! (check out the pictures) So we left after work on a Friday and got the the campground on Howard Lake well before dark and we weren't hungrey for dinner either so we set out in the canoe to explore the lake a little bit. Once we were out on the lake we could see back to all the gorgeous Mission Mts in their snowcapped splendor. We didn't have the camera that evening but there will be pictures from the next day. So in the morning we got up to go on a hike to Howard Falls and then Erik was going to go off on his own depending on how my knee was feeling (got a small knee injury and have been to PT but it's coming right along as you'll see in a few posts). We could have trekked down the road to the trailhead but we thought how great it would be to canoe put of the trail. So we hopped in the canoe again and took off for the trail. The views in the AM were gorgeous.
Here's one shot of the mountains: Here's the canoers ;-):

We pulled in near the trail and tied the canoe up and headed for the Howard Lake Waterfalls. It was a great hike and nice to do in the morning since there were less people out on the trail and it was cooler. Here is the happy couple in front of the falls.

This view is of the tral with the lake below and the Mission Mts in the background. Breathtaking.

Here's another one from the lake trail:

So after we finished that trail we hike another trail that went higher up into the hills above the water fall. Here's a view from above:

After we had lunch and headed back down Erik decided he wanted to go on his own and climb a couple thousand feet to a ridge/pass that overlooed the whole area and looked down into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Here's some of his shots from the top:

Erik was at about 8,000 ft. It took him about 5 hours to to the climb. I paddled around in the lake and took a nap. You decide who had more fun! ;-)

7/16/07:As I write this we are in the longest heat wave Montana has ever seen. temp over 100 degrees for the last two weeks and the last five days ina row. Tomorrow it is the coolest day in the 7 day forecast of 94 degrees. We have no AC in our rental cuz, you usually don't need AC in the mountains of Montana. We also have no basement to retreat to. So I think I'll go the a movie tonight or something to get out of the heat. The only saving grace is that at night it does cool down into the 70's and that's just enough to make it confortable for about 1/2 the day. There are also forest fires burning out here, it's early in the season. Since Montana is less populated that the other areas of the US that are burning they usually let the forest fires burn unless they are encroachin on homes, etc. So our days are filled with haze. Don't let this trick you into thinking we don't like it out here. We love the mountains and the play areas....we just need to get through this heat wave! ;-)