July represents one year on the road! A year ago driving half a day to Montana after a cross country flight would have probably been considered a daunting prospect…but for us battle hardened road warriors it was no big deal.
The drive through Washington and Northern ID was gorgeous (especially Coeur d’Alene) and arriving at our new home for the next three months was the absolute pinnacle. Imagine arriving to this!
That there is Flathead Lake: THE biggest natural body of water west of the Mississippi
Chica was pretty pumped about it too
And yes, we are in the sticks and things like this happen in our front yard.
Flathead National Forest – Jewel Basin (Swan Mountain Range)
Being back in the country had us itching to get out into nature and we decided to hike out to Twin Lakes. The trailhead kicks off at Camp Misery. It’s a solid 5 mile round trip hike that elevates about 800 ft.
Geared Up & Ready
The hike up got awesome fast.
Quarter way up and Flathead Valley is magical
Being back in the mountains just felt right.
If you’re wondering, yes hiking all the way to the lakes is worth it!
Being early July, there is still a nice amount of snow at this elevation and we couldn’t find the trail to actually get to the lake.
After looking for a bit we gave up and ate lunch in the snow on top of a mountain. Life is good.
July 4th: Visit from the Vincent’s!
In a cool twist of fate, Matt, Jen, and Ewan happened to be a three hour drive away in ID on vacation. And because they’re awesome, they made the trek to Big Arm to celebrate the 4th.
Did I mention the property we’re on has a fire pit out front too…
No visit to Flathead Valley is complete without getting onto Flat Head Lake. So we broke out the water toys (SUP boards and tubes);
the windy day wasn’t deterring us and Matt and I gave it a go.
Pretty sure Ewan had a good time as well. I know Chica will miss him.
All this in our first week! Montana’s gonna be fun.