Montana

This year may have been the best yet in Montana. Something is just so great about being there. I absolutely loved it and I was very sad to have to come home. The ponies proved to be a bit of a stuggle here and there but the kids were determined to ride it out. Poor Mason fell off the first day as they were riding over some deadfall(I felt terrible as I was the one leading him) I was not expecting Jed to jump and he did. Then one of the ponies sat down mid-river when riding with Mason and Casey. It seemed everyday once we made it back to camp there was another exciting story with the Naughty Ned and Gentle Jed, but the kids always got back on and enjoyed riding versus hiking. Somehow Casey always talked Uncle Brett into letting him ride his horse back to camp and Grandpay LaMont taught Casey what it is to have the Spirit of the Horse and Casey was sure he had it everytime he got on the horse. He is turning into a little cowboy for sure. Grandpa even let him use his leather gloves and leather canteen. It was sure fun seeing how much fun they had and it is so great to have such good family. I attempted to hike with Aspen the first day with her in a kid carrier on my back. Definately more challenging than I thought it may be. When Drew met up with Mary and I, we must have looked exhausted because he had Mary, Aleah and Nyah ride on the horse while he led the horse and packed ASpen on his back. I am not sure we would have made it there otherwise. We hiked up to Minor's lake and then to Upper Miner's Lake. We had not luck with catching fish, but the weather was beautiful and we made it back to camp sucessfully on our own. We spotted a toad on the trail on the way back and I mentioned how the kids would love to see it. Mary did not hesitate and Luckily Aspen enjoyed walking for quite a bit of the time, but we were constantly loading and onloading which proved to be very time consuming.




The 2nd day they went to Rock Island Lake and I chose to stay behind with Joyce and the three little girls. Although it was hard to stay back, it was sure fun playing with the little girls.





The last day Joyce and Bobbie kept the girls at camp and Hannah wanted to stay with them as well. Mary and I ventured out once again on our own before the horses. The plan for the day was the old mine and cabin. They gave us the directions and since some of the trail was the same as the one she had gone on the day prior we thought we would be fine. Of course we made great timing as we only had Nyah to pack and no little ones. We made it to the point of choosing whether to continue on that trail or to cross the river. We knew there was one big river crossing but Mary thought it was further down the trail. We saw some hikers come down and were attempting to cross the river so we asked them if they had been or seen the cabin or mine. They had no idea what we were talking about so we determined we should continue forward. Since they would all be together on horses we thought we should leave them an arrow in the dirt to show them which way we went just in case it was wrong. Well Brett's setter Jack had been with us the entire time but when Drew's setter Tug showed up with us we thought for sure we were heading in the right direction. It wasn't for a while down the trail that we heard someone coming behind us and to our dismay it was Drew on his horse asking us where we were going. We were almost to Rock Island, atleast a good mile or more from where we should have crossed the river. So we laughed, thanked Drew for knowing us well enough to know we wouldn't have crossed the river on our own and to come rescue us and we hiked back, crossed the river and hiked uphill to the cabin and mine. They never told us that the cabin and mine are a little secret that not many know about and the river the hikers had talked about was the river we were going to fish at. Oh well! We had a great time at the lake and we caught more fish, then we started back to camp. I did venture across the river before the horses showed up by sliding mostly on my butt across the log. We decided it definately was too risky if Mary attempted with Nyah, so we waited for the men on horses to assist. bart rode across like a true cowboy on Ned, quite a sight! It was pretty entertaining watching the dogs all try to get across, but we did all make it back safely. What a day!


Once back at camp, Hannah wanted to ride Ned since she wasn't able to earlier that day and Aspen rode as well(Uncle Drew wanted a turn as well)



We spent as much time sitting around the campfire and the kids were sad to go. Then it was time to pack up and head back to Utah. We are truly blessed to be able to go to Montana with the family and nejoy all that the country has to offer. It is beautiful country and I miss it already.