Monday was our last full day in Montana. Eden had expressed a desire to go horseback riding, so we found a place to do that. Here's what I learned: horses are big! We had a good time and even saw a big red fox!
On Saturday we decided to do two different things. Nathan wasn't feeling great, so the kids and I dropped him off at a picturesque spot to do some quiet fishing, and then we went a few miles down the road to hike the Sioux Charley Lake Trail. The owner of our cabin had recommended it, and my guidebook said that it was about 7 miles round trip and not too difficult, so the kids and I decided to give it a go. Turns out, we loved it!
The first mile or so followed the Stillwater River. The water rushed down over rocks and boulders, foaming white or a beautiful green in some spots. After the trail veered into the woods it got a little steeper, but the woods were beautiful, and we crossed several little creeks. We ended up at Sioux Charley Lake, which was simply lovely. The water was crystal clear and cold. It was raining a little when we got there, and Eden said the rain on the lake sounded like a symphony. We ate our lunch and enjoyed sitting by the lake. It was pretty hard to leave, but we did have a 3.5 mile hike ahead of us to get back to the car.
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| Z can find a 4 leaf clover anywhere! |
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| Our first glimpse of the lake. |
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| We made it to the lake! |
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| Rain on the lake. |
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| Eden listening to the symphony. |
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| A little blurry, but there we are! |
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| Z was trying to get a picture of the moment the rock hit the water. He did it, but he also got his finger in the picture. |
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| On the way back down. |
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| You can just see Z way down the trail. |
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.
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| Woodbine Falls and Eden very close to the edge! |
