A little while back Anne was in Montana visiting her parents. I flew out there to hang out with them for a week and then drive back to Minnesota with Anne. We managed to hike up Mt. Sentinel which stands 5,158 feet above sea level with Anne's mom one day. Not the tallest mountain but taller than anything we have in Minnesota. :) What is notable about Mt. Sentinel is that is has the "M" on it if you ever are in Missoula. I could really feel it in my legs the first 1000 meters of the hike but after a little while my tree trunk legs kicked in and started what they do best. Climb slowly.

This would be Anne and I at the top, in the background you can see Missoula, I-90 and the Clark Fork River.


Anne and her mom Avis with Missoula and some of the snow covered Lolo Mountains in the background. I do wish there were some good paying jobs out here, I would love to live out here.


Looking down at East Missoula, I-90 and the Clark Fork again. Those cars look small from 2000 feet above the valley floor don't they? The last 100 meters of the climb is about a 55-60% grade. aka it hurts a lot to climb.


Every good hike deserves a good beer. Anne, Avis and I enjoyed some of the local Microbrews at a fine Minnesota-based establishment, Famous Dave's. This is a Glacier Brewing Flathead Cherry Ale. Notice it is garnished with a cherry. It was one of the best fruit beers I have ever had. Make sure to try one if you are in the area.


Saturday we went fishing with Anne's Dad Ron. We didn't catch much but Anne did manage to catch the smallest trout I have ever seen. It had to have been 2 inches long. You can see the setup used to attempt to catch fish here. The boat is a drift boat made by Hyde. They have no motor and are flat bottomed. You can float in less than 6 inches of water and you use oars to position the boat. You can see the Clark Fork in the background.


Anne and Pete shot. Please note the excellent hand positioning of the camera by looking in the right lens of the camera. Man it is nice out here.


Parts 2 and 3 will be posted sometime this week.

Linky3:
Street Installations - I like the traffic cone.
Sudoku - It isn't cheating, it's logic!
JFGI - When in doubt, JFGI.

-pete