Sunday, June 4, 2017

My Hiking Journal – Entry 1

At my retirement party, my dear Mother, who knows me so well, gave me this journal.


She knows I dreamed of writing children’s books, and that my double major in college coupled Journalism with Psychology.  I have always enjoyed writing, and so it is no coincidence that I am here with this blog.


In any event, I decided to use Mom’s journal to capture notes about our hikes.  As with my Retirement Reports, you can expect this will be a regular feature of my blog.  So, here goes!





Saturday, May 6 – Beaver Lakes Trailhead – 5.2 mile loop
As most of you know by now, technology is not my forte, but I am trying to adapt.  Exhibit A: we did not have a copy of the trail map, so voila! I took a picture of the map at the trailhead with my phone and we used that to guide us on the trail, and saved paper (part of a tree) as a result!  

As our first hike after arriving in Montana, this trail was a gentle entry – rolling hills rather than straight-up elevation gain.  This trail was also popular with mountain bikers, so we did not have to worry too much about bears (they were making enough noise for all of us!).  So, this freed us up to observe our surroundings! (At Rainbow Lake, we met a biker who asked if we had the seen the bears.  She went on to say that there had been reports of a female grizzly with cubs.  Further, she said she had lost her bear spray somewhere along the trail.  Fortunately for her, we could say we had not seen any evidence of bears at that point!)

Montana has 22,000 miles of designated non-motorized trails.  Designated wilderness areas contain 4,000 miles of those paths.
Eighteen trails are listed as National Recreation or Scenic Trails, including more than 900 miles of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.
Glacier Park alone has over 1,000 miles of trails.  That's a lot to write about!
Linking to Mosaic Monday

22 comments:

  1. It certainly is a lovely place to hike. We loved Glacier Park and especially the hike to Granite Park Chalet. :) Kit

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  2. Enjoy your summer hikes. We don't hike, but we do take long walks every day. Austin has wonderful hike and bike trails through our city.

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    1. Sarah - thanks for visiting my blog. We visited Austin once for the South by Southwest Festival, and really enjoyed the city. We need to get our bikes out more!

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  3. Great way to use your journal. Looks like a great hike! Enjoy! Happy Monday!

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    1. Thank goodness for Mosaic Monday, or I might not remember the day of the week!

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  4. Wonderful way to start a journal. We hike but as we have gotten older we have shortened our hikes to pleasant walk in the wood or mountains.
    Retirement is meant for enjoyment---so 'let go of the Bay Leaf' and just enjoy.
    MB

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    1. MB - thanks for the gentle reminder! Spousal Unit and I were just talking about the need to slow down on our hikes and really just enjoy the moment!

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  5. Those trails look wonderful and your mosaics are gorgeous. Good idea to use your phone for the map picture. And I really really like the idea of keeping a journal of your hikes. I can only imagine the hiking joys you have ahead of you in the beautiful area where you live.

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    1. Sallie - thanks for the feedback on the mosaics - I am learning more each time I create them for Mosaic Monday! Have a wonderful week!

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  6. The journal is beautiful and even more special because your Mother gave it to you. Wish I was close so we could hike together...what fun that would be. And writing down what you see helps you remember. It's fun to look back and read it later too! I love writing in a journal! Hugs!

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    1. It would be great to have some lady hiking partners - making friends in the area will take time. I am glad to share my hikes with you virtually!

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  7. Delightful - and you'll certainly be busy recording all your hikes/walks. And can't wait to see your children's books.

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    1. My goodness - thanks for the vote of confidence on the children's books! It is something I had really put on the back shelf - very dusty back there - but now you are making me think twice!

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  8. Recording what you observe on your hikes is a great way to exercise your writing skills. The journal is a lovely and thoughtful gift.

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    1. Anything I can do to keep my mind sharp is worth doing!

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  9. This is a win win situation, you hike, observe and write about those observations, happy hiking.

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    1. As always, thanks for hosting Mosaic Monday. You are helping me meet so many wonderful and talented people! Your Mosaics and post this week were mouth-watering and eye-watering!

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  10. Wonderful! I love hiking but sadly, live in a country where realizing we need safe places to walk has just become a thing in recent years. During the summer, it's just too hot to be outside so most people just go to the malls and walk round and round. Enjoy each and every moment. But stay clear of mama bear. :)

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    1. Tammy - your comment reminded me of a billboard I saw this week, which says "The things you take for granted are dreams for others." A great reminder to be thankful!

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  11. Hi Angie! I think it's wonderful that you are recording your hiking adventures in this very special journal! Your photos are gorgeous and this looks like a great place to hike. May I ask where you lived in Ohio? I am from there too (a little north of Dayton) but haven't lived there sine 1981. Most of my family still lives there and we plan to attend a family reunion there next month. You have created a lovely blog!

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  12. Debby - for the last year or so, we lived in Troy. Before that, we called Cleveland home for over 10 years. My parents are originally from Minster and Maria Stein.

    I am still learning about blogging - out of curiosity, can you tell me if you get this response automatically, or if you had to come back to my blog to see it?

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