Five days in to our summer adventures in Montana, we find ourselves in a shady park in Bozeman on the Fourth of July. It has been an eventful week for everyone as we explored the waters and mountains of southwest Montana.
Our first adventure began in the early mountain air with a zip line tour through the trees around and even over the famed Gallatin River. On our first zip, Evander conquered his latent fear of heights with a leap off the arial platform. By our final zip, the group showed their creativity and boldness by coming up with clever ways to go down the line, Eric practicing a daring backwards takeoff.
We followed our morning zip with a whitewater raft trip down the Gallatin as the afternoon heated up. The Johnson boys, Riggs and Stark desperately wanted to be thrown from the raft, but, much to their chagrin, we all made it down the river without falling out. Our first day ended with chicken stir fry and a spectacular sunset high in the mountians at Beaver Creek Campground, which everyone thought was particularly beautiful.
We got our first taste of Montana’s deservedly famed trout fishing the next morning when we met up with a pair of savvy local guides. We began with lessons about entomology, casting and the local waters. Sean was happy to tuck fly fishing into his already impressive array of fishing skills. The beautiful Madison was a fisherman’s dream in the afternoon sun and ravening breeze, and Evan showed us all what true passion looks like as he casted into the rolling pools. We woke up early the next morning to take advantage of the cool weather and pulled more rainbows, browns and cutthroat out of the crisp river.
From here the group looks forward to our first backcountry excursion as we backpack into the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness to explore higher alpine lakes and streams.
