Aspen Vacation Condominiums Red Lodge

I have picked up some kind of tropical disease, because that's what happens to adventurers - just ask Indiana Jones. It's a very clever disease. it's disguising itself as a common cold, but with a slight twist; and here's the masterstroke - I have a very painful earache with it. I have tried getting whatever's hurting in there out with a stick that i found on the ground but that just made it worse. See, I told you it ...

... like another planet...it is so majestic and beautiful. It also reminds you that there are much bigger things working in our world. After a few hours of playing we decided to go back to Columbus. We are very excited because tomorrow we are going to the cabin which is, I think just a couple of hours from here. We will be there until sunday, and then we are leaving strait from there to Glacier, and then to the trail for a few days. I will keep you posted when we return.

When we got up at Leah and Dogan's house there was coffee already made. I got up earlier than Tripp and JAH and drank a few cups and talked with leah for a while. When we all got up and moving Leah made us lunch and we hit the road. 5t only took us about 45 min. to get to columbus and when we arrived we went to go see boo at work. After talking with her a while about things that we want to do ...

... up to the top of a mountain. They have tons of scenic overlook stops, it's absolutely gorgeous and amazing! About an hour ago we drove through Red Lodge, a very cool little town on 212. I would very HIGHLY recommend taking this to route to anyone driving from Billings area to Yellowstone...I'm sure other routes are pretty, but this is breathtaking. God it smells great out here!!

I'm starting to think the letter "M" is bad luck for me . . . May, Milwaukee, Montana . . .

Right now it's SNOWING and the Beartooth Pass to Yellowstone is closed so I have to go around through Cody. But that's not the topper. I almost lost the Little Guy at Little Big Horn yesterday.

Okay - this is actually funny because nothing really terrible happened in the end.

I'm driving through Little Big ...

... to slow down. He ran off towards these cabins, under which I am sure he is very warm. For now. Not sure how cats do out here in the Winter. Not sure if he belongs to the owners of the place or was left behind by a previous visitor. Had he let me get any closer, I would have probably tried to catch him - we don't have a Siamese!! ;-) I'm KIDDING! But it was really bizarre... I guess he knew the Cat Lady lived inside and that there was a ...

... we don't run out of propane, we should be fine. And, check this, good and fast wifi. No cell phone reception of course, but internet access at higher speeds than we had in Seattle - all out here in the wilds of Big Timber, MT on the banks of the Boulder. As I type, Chris is looking in his fly box for streamers... He's going in. The wind is literally rocking the trailer from side to side, the snow clouds are low, fat and heavy, and there's not a chance of fishing dirty ...

... Bighorn Research Association (YBRA). The camp was closed, but the Dutchers', who live at the base of Mount Maurice, loaned us a key so we did get the opportunity to sample the expansive view of the Palisades from the Fanshawe Lodge Porch. We will always remember the generous hospitality the Ducthers' showed us. We stayed in Red Lodge and enjoyed a dinner at a local pizza place.

... one of the higher peaks in the park, to embark on a long 5.8 mile hike on a moderate, constant incline. At the peak of the mountain we found a fire outlook tower. The "fire dawg" ranger of the fire tower keeps a look out for wild fires. A number of us talked with him awhile and found out that he had been up there for 39 straight days - his supplies are brought up to him weekly. Once again we lucked out with spectacular views of the surrounding park. From the top we ...

... a quick tour of downtown Sheridan, seeing the famous King's Saddlery and visiting a saddle museum, in which we were truly fish out of water. The real excitement happened when we decided to put out trusty Suburban into 4WD and journey into the backcountry for some real four wheelin'. We traveled approximately 5 miles into the wilderness to a land of ATVs and fording rivers. There were several times we came to a VERY steep downhill or boulder field and decided (probably ...