The Rockies

Well we made it to the Rockies. We took some of the most beautiful roads in WY on the way to Yellowstone. We took the Chief Joseph Scenic Hwy. and the Bear tooth Scenic Hwy that lead us strait to cook city Montana. It was a really neat town. The population was around 100 people and they closed the road to the town in one direction during the winter. The only way the people who lived their could leave the town was to drive through the north entrance of Yellowstone in to Montana. The closest city was an hour and a half to two hours away. While in Cook City, we ate breakfast at a place called Bear Claw Bakery and Brew. It was a coffee and bagel type of place. It was by far the BEST breakfast I have every had for the price. The highest thing on the menu was $5.50!! and it was not lacking in the subsidence department. I could not finish mine! After Breakfast we ventured into Yellowstone where we were greeted by a 10 point Mule Deer buck. He was a beauty....Don't tell on me but I told Rachael he would look beautiful on my wall!! We made our way to the Ranger station and obtained a back country permit in order to see the hidden beauty of Yellowstone that less than 10% of all visitors get to see. We spent four days in the back country and saw all sorts of life. From plants to animals. No Griz though. We summited my first double digit peak, Mount Sheridan (10,395 ft.). Three thousand feet of elevation gain in three miles on top of a two mile approach trail to the summit trail. It was a 15 mile day with 6500ft of elevation gain/loss. It was fun! Rachael has started her pursuit to get trail legs. I've been so impressed with how good of a hiker she is! And we have been having great conversations on the trail. I might giver her the name TenderFoot because of the mass amount of blisters she acquired over the four days. (it was about a 40 mile expedition)....hopefully that picture will make it on Flickr. After hitch hiking back to our car. We threw our packs in the car and headed for Jackson,WY. When we got to Jackson, I remembered that I knew a lovely lady by the name of Britney S. that went to Montreat College with me and has since moved out west to work in Jackson. I gave her a call and we met up and she was nice enough to let us stay at her place. Rachael was feeling a little under the weather so she relaxed on the pull-out couch while Britney and I caught up. We ended up staying up til about 3am laughing and having a great 'ol time. It was amazing and it was so good to see her face once again. Who knows when our paths will cross again? All I can say is that she is a blessed woman and I greatly appreciated the hospitality she showed Rachael and I . Hopefully I can return the hospitality if she ever so chooses to venture back to North Carolina. Now its time to climb the Grand Tetons. We will be in the back country for the next couple of days in the Tetons, before heading north through Idaho to Missoula,MT to visit Rachaels old College buddies. Rachael in the process of downloading all of our pictures so that yall can SEE what we have been up to! love you all!
-Nathan-