Today's Post is Brought to You by the letter "F"

Ok, so I know that I have been horrible about writing lately, but hey... I've been busy!  I mean, starting a new job, learning to drive in snow (more on that later) and in general, just living.  I feel like Sesame Street with my title, but you'll figure out why if you keep reading!

This post happened about FIVE weeks ago... (maybe a tad bit more, but just go with it)  I know, I know... I've been slacking, trust me I've heard about it from about everyone I've talked to AND my uncle!  On our the way home from out first hiking trip, we drove past the road where J&J took the girls camping last year hand had a lot of success fishing.  (They also saw a bear on that trip!)  So when Jeannie invited me to go with them, you know I was up for that!  (Truthfully, I'm up for just about any adventure these days) We headed out pretty early that morning... I think we left Columbus around 7 with 5 horses, 3 dogs, 2 kids, and 3 adults.  After scraping and bumping our way back in, we headed up to the Trout Creek Trailhead.  While we were saddling up horses, stuffing saddle bags with snacks, drinks, lunch, and fishing tackle, Lucy chilled with Bailey.  (She's such a rotten dog... good thing she's so cute ;-)!) 

Bailey & Addy were ready to head out before the rest of us, so they waited patiently for the adults to get their acts together.  Of course, since Bailey was riding Rosie, Pippen had to come along too and he pretty much wandered from one end of the line to the other the whole day.

Which brings me to my second "f"  FIRE.  Jeremy, who I like to call our spotter and tour guide, pointed out all of the damage that was done by fires a few years back.  Honestly, it breaks my heart to see all those dead trees just standing around.  The practical side of me knows that fire is an important part of forest health, and there were plenty of new baby trees growing along the side of the trail, but it still reminded me of riding through a "tree graveyard"

From the point we started to the spot where we were going to stop for the day was about FIVE miles.  It was a fun ride, mostly single file, but plenty of room to spread out in places.  We took turns leading the way and crossed the creek several times on the way in.  Every time, we looked for trout, and saw quite a few on the way in.  

Notice the brush on the ground... I have to brag on Lucy for a minute here.  My little "fu-fu" dog, ran/trotted the whole 5 miles in and out... She never fell behind or wanted to quit!  I think its safe to say that she likes Montana pretty good.

When we finally got to the spot where they had such good luck last year, we got out the fishing tackle and cast a line in.  Unfortunately, we found out that someone else had fished out the "Honey-Hole"  the week before!  So, that was a bust!  There were some archery hunters getting their camp set up for hunting season close by and one of them said we should ride up to the falls.  Since the fishing turned out so badly, we did just that!

About another half mile up the trail, we had to leave our horses and hike in the last little bit.  But it was definately worth it!  We carried in our picnic lunch and relaxed for a while in the shade by the FALLS.  There was a little pool here and I'm pretty sure it would have made an awesome campsite if it wasn't for all the rocks on the ground!  Jeannie made some awesome cheeseburger salad with wraps for lunch, and with some beenie-weenies, granola bars and gatorade, we had a FEAST!  

We tried to do some more FISHING, but really didn't have a whole lot of success.  In fact, Jeannie was the only one to catch a fish the whole day!

Jeannie's Monster Fish

Eventually, we headed back towards the trail head, stopping a couple more times to try for some companions for the one lone brown trout we caught!  Along the way, the girls began showing off their trick riding skills!

I tried and tried to get a picture of Jeremy when he joined in, but totally missed out!  These two lead most of the way back to the trailer and somehow managed to get themselves onto a trail that was not the one we started out on.  Fortunately, we made it safely back to the spot where we parked the trailer without having to backtrack!  Just took a little steeper route to the bottom than the one we took going up!

And finally, on the way home, we had FLAT tires!  I'm sure Jeremy would like to get me back for this, but I'm pretty sure the Karma train already hit, since I had one on my car just a couple of days later!  (Thank goodness it happened before I left for work and UncleA was there to help me out!)

Even though I didn't catch a single fish, I had an absolutely awesome day with some amazing FAMILY!  

Until Next Time!