Ok, maybe not Paradise Found in this photo. Onto Montana once again. I had never been during the summer and the short respite between academic programs gave me just enough time to visit Nisha in Minneapolis and spend some time in my Montana. We pickup the story heading through North Dakota. I have been asked how flat North Dakota is... here is the answer pictorially. [as always, all images are clickable and they will then enlarge]




It is also 6 some odd hours at very high speed to cross from Fargo through to Glendive, Montana. One game I would play is seeing how long I could go without touching the steering wheel (my hands of course just hovering above the wheel). The record was 45 seconds. That is a frighteningly long time.




In Western North Dakota, I-94 cuts through the badlands of Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Although amazingly beautiful and geologically stunning, I couldn't help but snicker to myself at the list of expletives early continental explorers must have muttered to themselves when they saw this new predicament to navigate.




I work with goals and my goal for the day was to go for a bike ride in the badlands. And so I did in near 100 degree heat. Here is my nicely carved single track just south of the National Park.




After sitting behind the wheel for fourteen hours from Minneapolis, the northern Rockies finally begin to emerge out of the Great Plains. Here is my first view of the Crazies which cannot begin to capture how beautiful the scene really was. A thunderstorm had just passed and the waning sun began to reemerge behind the mountains. About an hour before this, in Billings, MT, my mind had been quite preoccupied trying to determine the safety of a soft top jeep in a violent thunderstorm. I scooted far down in my seat under the roll bar hoping that the Chrysler fabricated metal would make for adequate protection. I believe this hope was quite optimistic and am thankful that none of the lightning bolts came close enough to challenge my flimsy hypothesis.




Ahh... in Montana! My first day in the Bozeman area, I headed into Hyalite Canyon. I had heard how gorgeous this area was but had yet to visit.




In the canyon, I chose a 12 mile round trip bike ride. The Emerald Lake trail is six miles up and six miles down. The destination is the trail's namesake, Emerald Lake. The lake sits in an enormous alpine basin, surrounded on three sides by 1500 foot rock walls.




The water was pristine and snow still adorned many of higher altitudes. At this point, the fact that I had been sitting in a sea-level library for ten months became painfully obvious. The six mile bike ride up was quite technical and very steep, leading to many stops and opting to walk my bike in areas.




Montana in the summer? Wildflowers. Everywhere you look there are wildflowers and the air is a confused with their scent alongside that of lodgepole pines.




Soon the friends arrived for a fun filled weekend. The best way to kick it off with a party. Kimme and Will played local hosts in a Big Sky condo procured by Will's girlfriend Madeleine.




Every party in Montana should involve beef. Beef means BBQ. BBQ means Zach flies in from New York City and sees to its flawless execution. Zach warming the barby.




Kimme admiring Zach's handy work.




Soon we find ourselves hiking upward for an evening in altitude. Rob, coming in from Seattle, enjoying the sunset hike.




The crew in front of Windy Pass cabin in the Gallatins. Rob, Zach, Will, and Maz.




The view of alpine meadows from our cabin. The cabin is owned by the National Forest Service and was built in 1934. At 8900 feet, I think this may be the most altitude at which I have ever slept.




The Windy Pass Cabin.




The group departing the cabin.




With the others returned to real lives, I had the chance to do some amazing hikes. The first was in the northern Bridgers at a mountain named Sacagawea after the kidnapped Indian princess. This place was truly special. Unlike other places in Montana, this was just rock with little vegetation.




My hike consisted of me and two mountain goats.




It is rare to see mountain goats in the wild and this made the Sacagawea hike even more incredible. They are not small nor are they sure footed. I found it humorous, and a bit scary, they were taking the foot path toward me.




Loosing their winter coats.




You know the view is special when the animals that live there take a moment to absorb it as well.




The view of the bowl below Sacagawea. Simply amazing view that almost has an element of weight to it as well.




The final hike was the big one on my last day. Another 12 miles roundtrip but without the added benefit of the mountain bike. Blackmore was a six mile ascent to reach 10,300 feet and a view of every single mountain range within 100 miles (at least eight I can count without referring to a map). In the far background are the Bridgers and the furthest out to the left would be Sacagawea.




Wildflowers at 10,000.




The view northward from the top. Bozeman lies in the valley to the far left of the frame. The water in the first picture of Montana is the small lake in the immediate valley. Mountains to the far left are the Bridgers, to the far right are the Crazies and I am standing in the Gallatins.




The same location, but the southerly view. In the immediate foreground to the left is Elephant Mountain. In the back ground to the left is Yellowstone National Park. I highly recommend visiting Montana during the summer (and my longstanding wintertime recommendation will always stand). The Bozeman area is gifted with a tremendous amount of nationally protected and managed land. I'm sure I'll back soon, hopefully laying some ski tracks down some of the hidden slopes pictured here.