Montana Trip -- Woodbine Falls

 On Friday we hiked to a waterfall called Woodbine Falls.  It was a short but beautiful drive from our cabin.  We saw the falls from a distance (right behind an incredible ranch) and then hiked up to them.  The trail up to the falls was well marked and not too hard -- just a series of switchbacks.  But once you get to the falls, you can look at them from behind a waist-high wall, which stops you from falling off a really big cliff, or you can hike further up the big cliff, where there is no wall and not really a path either.  All four of us started up this "trail" until I realized that we were just inches away from death.  This didn't bother me so much for myself, but the kids have no sense of what gravity can do to soft flesh and bone and were getting soooo close to the edge and then complaining when I told them to get back.  Nathan also seemed to think that I was overreacting, but since watching them get that close to the edge literally made me feel like I was going to throw up, I decided to go back down to the protected area and pretend I didn't know what was going on further up.  It was the right decision.  The kids had fun (and Nathan kept them safe), and I didn't vomit into the abyss.

Woodbine Falls and Eden very close to the edge!

Montana Trip -- Beartooth Highway

 On Thursday we decided to drive the Beartooth Highway, which came highly recommended by my guide books and by people who had been there.  The Beartooth Highway is 68 miles of road connecting Redlodge, MT to one of the entrances to Yellowstone.  We drove to Redlodge, which is a fun little town, and then headed out on the highway.  It was kind of a cold and drizzly day, but the highway was still incredibly gorgeous.  It winds up into the mountains with amazing views, lots of places to stop for big or little hikes, and some heartstopping driving.

Our first stop was this beautiful little waterfall by the side of the road.

There were beautiful wildflowers everywhere.

Next we pulled over to explore this plain and stunning view.  Again, the wildflowers were gorgeous, and we encountered some snow!

We kept driving until we found a lovely spot with two little lakes.  We hiked around them and decided to eat lunch there.  The water was crystal clear and cold!  We didn't see much wildlife, but it was a beautiful place to eat lunch.

From there we drove to a hike that went around a much bigger lake.  Again, completely gorgeous, and the flowers!

Z and Nathan noticed this rock and added the little stones to make a smiley face.

Finally we headed back to Redlodge.  We ate dinner at a place called Homestead BBQ.  It was sooo good.  We got ribs and pulled pork, coleslaw and some kind of corn salad (which was awesome), and beans (which surprisingly weren’t all that good).  I forgot to take a picture at the beginning, so here’s one of the carnage after we ate it all.