Siegel Creek Road spilled onto Montana Highway 135 a bit East of the campground where we planned to eat. The trailhead to the waterfall was at the campground also.
Our planned grill out was a complete bust. Melissa did her best to get the last of our ancient briquets-purchased in the Summer of '04-to light, but even after the administration of copious lighter fluid it still wouldn't really get going.
It got worse. The ground beef I'd brought was some ways past its prime, so I had to settle for eating grilled (well, warmed) buns dipped in hummus. We also tried grilling a few ears of corn but the puny fire mocked this effort as well. Melissa's "burger" turned out okay, but I forgot to pack the mustard. The baby however was well-sated with whole milk.
The hike was an occasionally steep upward stomp through a very pretty rocky wood.
Like I said, I ran the camera so there were plenty of pictures of the rocks. Why do I like rocks? My Dad, a retired high school Earth Sciences teacher and inveterate rock aficionado, probably has something to do with it. I also like it when trees grow really close to rocks, like this one.
I'm not trying to make out this trip as a total letdown, but I have to say that the view of the waterfall afforded by the trail was less than spectacular. And our fatally malfunctioning camera only let Melissa take an unexpectedly abbreviated video of the falls. From behind the fence, it's clear that the falls takes quite a dive just beyond view.
On the way back we revisited a huckleberry patch Melissa had spotted on the way up and gathered some decent late-season berries. Given the time of day (early evening), food availability (berries, baby), and territory (bear country), in hindsight I questioned the wisdom of our activities. Melissa froze the berries when we got home. They're pretty good; juicy and super tart.
Esmé slept some of the distance back. Melissa didn't surrender her to me once, in defiance to those who might call this new mother a weakling.
The sign tells the story.
Back at Ludwig, we got ready for the drive home. Don't worry: we found Esmé's right hand ("Stephanie") and reattached it later.
(miles 219,289-219,379)
3 comments:
Thank god you cleared that up, I thought maybe the bear got her hand... The best thing about camping is that it builds Character!
I'm so glad Stephanie was located, E needs her "goingoingoin" time dontchaknow! MamaLynn
Despite the malfunctioning fire, bum beef, and the trickling waterfall, the trip wasn't a complete bust. Looks like you guys still managed to squeeze in a little bit of fun. Thank heavens for hand surgeons.
Post a Comment