Bozeman Weekend

While we were staying with Anders and Astrid, we got an email from our son saying, "I'm engaged!"  He had proposed to his girlfriend Alli, and we couldn't be more pleased!  So we were anxious to see them, and headed down to Bozeman for a visit this weekend.  

We drove through beautiful Montana farm land and I thought about the farms on Eigeroy.

Our first adventure on Saturday was to hike/ski "the Blaze." The Spanish Peaks are a short drive from Bozeman and we hiked 7 miles into Blaze Mountain.  Let me try to explain: a blaze can mean a highly visible mark; a white stripe on a horse's forehead is a blaze; marks on trees and rocks to mark a trail are called blazes.  This mountain has a highly visible strip of snow that doesn't melt until late summer and can be seen from far away.

So the challenge of this hike was also carrying in skis and boots, climbing to the peak and skiing down the Blaze, and then hike 7 miles back out!!  (so round trip was about 24kilometers, a little more for the skiers)

Colter, Alli and Kyler with Blaze Mountain directly behind them; the Blaze is down the right-hand slope.

Starting out on a sunny morning

The old folks worked hard to keep up--at least I did!

Anna waited at the bottom of the Blaze while Colter, Alli, Warren and Kyler (Alli's dog) went up to the top, so I could be the photographer--somebody had to do it, so I was willing to sacrifice! :-)

Heading up

The Blaze

Alli and Kyler skied down first.

Colter in a nice tele-turn.

Jubilant!

Warren sliding in to complete the group.

Tired, happy skiers!

Coming back down to earth.

Besides I got to enjoy the wildflowers that were there and photograph all that I wanted.

Giant Green Gentian; first time I've seen this!

Yellow columbine

Pygmy Bitterroot, a fairly rare alpine flower!

Wild Lupine; very small compared to the lupine I saw in Norway.

Indian Paintbrush

Bluebells

We all had achy joints and sore feet when we got back to the trailhead, but it had been a fabulous day!  We couldn't be more pleased with Colter's choice in Alli!  They are very happy together and very well suited to each other.