I'm back alive...

Yes Mom, I am back and I am safe. Bryan and I were in the back-country of Glacier National Park for 4 days. After our first day of hiking we were resting at the head of Red Eagle Lake when a small grizzly bear walked out on a sandbar. The bear then entertained us with 45 minutes of swimming in the lake and playing with a stick.
After we were certain that the bear was gone we went out to the sandbar to check out the tracks.

Our second day was a long day (nearly 11 miles and climbing over a pass). Our last opportunity for water was the runoff from a glacier (Sorry Mr. Gore).

This is the final push to the top of Triple Divide Pass. The mountain off to the right is the central watershed of the continent.

The difficult climb was worth the view - both sides of the pass were spectacular. (Bryan is the mountain-sized guy on the right.

The next day was certainly restful as we had no option but to sit in our tent for 9 hours and wait out the pouring rain. After the clouds broke we tried to dry out our belongings.

The next day was even worse so we decided to cut our itinerary short and hike out of the back-country. We met a ranger on the way out and she advised us to head out quickly as a storm producing strong winds, low temperatures and snow was on its way. We made our way to a gravel road and...don't read this part Mom...and stuck out our thumbs for two rides - one from two Native Americans and one from an Irish guy and his girlfriend. They were nice people to get us back to our car at Two Medicine Lake - about 30 miles away from the trail. It was a memorable trip and probably the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. God's creation screams of His majesty!