-Spent the last week in Montana with 7 of my best buddies from college. It's still fresh, but... damn that place is amazing. I'm smitten and while I doubt it could become an annual trip out there, I'll be back sooner than later. If you're into outdoors, don't wait, just go.
-We've turned a sporadic gathering into a hell of an annual event. Most of the crew made it. At least the ones we are still in touch with.
-This crew 15 years ago would've been up all night, sleeping until noon, dragging the bars, boozing like crazy. We definitely would've lost a man or two along the way. Don't get me wrong, we drank a bunch of beer and bourbon, but we were all asleep by like 10:30 and up at 6. 😂 That probably makes me feel older than anything I've experienced in life.
-Stayed in Paradise Valley over looking Yellowstone River and Emigrant Mountain. About an hour from Bozeman, 30 miles from the North entrance to Yellowstone. Woke every morning with a yard full of mule dear and a sunrise over stunning snow capped mountains. Made that coffee hit different.
-Fished the Yellowstone 2 days, in hindsight we should've probably headed over to the Missouri at least 1 day. The flow was too fast and water was muddy af. Still did alright, some of the guys had a really good first day. Mine was mediocre. 2nd day was a basically a really scenic float trip. No trophies were caught, especially by me.
-Headed down to the park 2 days for some exploring. Ended up hiking 7 miles one day and then 10 miles(with 2500' elevation) the second. First day was to the Lamar River and mainly over rolling plains surrounded by elk, tons of prairie dogs, antelope and buffalo. Second was up to Bunsen Peak(8560') then down to Osprey Falls. The views were hard to explain, just so expansive. For those of you that have been, you understand, but that park is unbelievable and we just scratched the surface. Felt pretty good flexing that good condition I'm in while a few of the guys were strug-a-ling. Beers at the end tasted extry extry crisp. Of course I was slugging Rocky Mountain Sodas all week. Looking for bears, especially on some of those tight quarter trails is f*cking tense.
-Had a little prototype western saloon at the end of our road, no masks, it was like the old days. In fact nowhere in Montana asked me to wear a mask. I did the first day then realized they dgaf.
-Bozeman is cool but you can see the outside influence changing the place. The locals didn't seem excited by the California whitewash happening. Livingston seems more "Montana" like.
-Lot of van-life folks out that way. That's one thing I have no interest in. Camping, sure, I prefer a bed after my outdoor activities, but I could do a few nights in a tent. But living in a pimped out van? I'm good on that.
-No interest in living that far removed from stuff. I mean, 0 sports, restaurants are just ok, and nothing to do outside of outdoor activities. oncerts, sports are all a plane ride away. But hell of a place to spend some time and I plan on doing just that. Especially when the boys are old enough to join me.
-5 days away from the fam was almost too much. Was anxious af to get back yesterday. Brought some solid gifts and extra hugs this morning.