Montana!

We just got home from a week in Montana…and it was everything and more than I had imagined it would be! Bryson and I celebrate our 10 year anniversary in October. We originally planned to go to Hawaii this summer to celebrate, but after seeing this trip we made the easy decision to go on a pack trip in Montana. We found out about the trip through Jim Thomas of Bar T Horsemanship (I highly recommend you check him out if you have not already). Jim organizes these pack trips through Montana Mountain West Outfitters in Eureka, Montana.

We signed up without really knowing what to expect, but feeling like you really cannot go wrong with sightseeing by horseback. Our itinerary was to fly out on Sunday, have a “pack clinic” Monday, pack out Tuesday through Friday, have a free day on Saturday, and fly home on Sunday. We had a short packing list for the trip so we made sure we could check all those boxes. We also both took our own saddle bags, not knowing there would be some available to use when we got there. Our return flight did not allow carry on bags, so my main goal in packing was to fit everything into two checked bags plus our book bags. I ended up going to Wal-mart and buying two giant suitcases to make this happen. Everything was still a tight fit!

We made it onto our plane out of Raleigh and onto the runway…and then the captain came on and said there were storms in Chicago and we would wait them out before take-off. This pretty much guaranteed we would miss our connecting flight to Kalispell, MT. When we landed in Chicago and this was confirmed, we learned we would not be able to fly out until Monday morning. Such a bummer! Fortunately, we were stuck with another couple headed on our trip. About the time we had decided we would sleep in the airport, Renee got a call from a close friend offering to put us up in a hotel. Yall, there really are great people in this world! A hot shower and real bed does wonders for lifting spirits.

We landed in Kalispell on Monday around lunchtime to find they had sent our checked bags to Minneapolis and they would not arrive until about 7:45pm. Major kick to the gut at this point. After reassurances that our bags would be delivered to the lodge as soon as they arrived we headed to Eureka. I was much more concerned than Bryson, per usual, and had my doubts that we would ever see our bags again. But we were officially in Montana and determined to make the most of it.

For our stay in town (while not on the pack trip), we stayed at the RiverStone Family Lodge. It was beautiful. And turns out, the same wonderful family, Andrew and Sara Cote and their four awesome kids, own both the lodge and the outfitting business, and welcomed us into their home up the hill from the lodge.

We spent Monday afternoon learning the basics of packing a mule and tying knots. Sara fixed the best Alfredo I’ve ever had for supper, and we headed back down to our cabin at the lodge and lo and behold, there were our bags!! I’m sure Bryson was thinking, I told you so!

Tuesday through Friday were our pack trip days. We practiced some more packing skills on Tuesday morning, got things loaded in the trailers, horses saddled and loaded, and headed out to the location we would ride out from. It felt like we rode straight up the mountain, and it was awesome. The trails were just challenging enough to not be considered “easy”, but nothing overwhelming. Once at camp we got the horses and mules settled and then our things. Camp already had a cook and sleeping tent set up thanks to Andrew and Jim. We had a camp cook stay with us and we were spoiled with great meals daily.

Wednesday we rode out of camp to the top of a mountain and the views were incredible. Thursday we rode down to the trailer and were able to trailer to the other side of the mountain…or another mountain?? Andrew would have to confirm that for me :)…and rode down to a waterfall. We actually rode until we had to tie horses, then “hiked” to a waterfall. I say “hiked” loosely because there was definitely not a trail and it was mostly straight down a bunch of rock. SO worth it! Pictures really do not do any of these views justice. Friday morning we rode down to the trailers and headed home, and we are so so grateful for this experience.

We spent the weekend hanging out with the Cote family, which was as awesome as the pack trip. They are welcoming and accommodating, and the kids are so much fun. Their middle daughter, Leah, rode in the rodeo Friday and Saturday nights and of course we had to go watch her! We said our good-bye’s Saturday night at the rodeo and headed out bright and early Sunday morning to see some mountain lakes before flying out at lunch time. Neither of us were ready to return to reality, but something tells me we will be back.