You got to put one foot in front of the other foot…

Another weekend, another hiking trip. Jess got off work a little early so we took off for an afternoon hiking trip to Glen Lake just outside of Victor, MT. The drive up to the trailhead was kind of a long one. It’s 10 miles off the main road. You have to take old logging roads up to it. Along the way we saw a bear! It was a little bear. It jumped out in front of my truck and ran across the road. It was awesome!

The hike itself was pretty fun. It wound through the mountainside through a bunch of old forest fire area. All the trees were burned up and charred. It was a weird look but I found it pretty interesting. Jess hated it. She likes the green. I was fascinated by it. The trail was steep in a few places and we got a good workout on the way in. After a little over 2.7 miles we reached the lake.

I had forgotten to grab the camera on our way out of the house so we had to settle on using the camera on my phone… so the pics aren’t that great… but here they are.

We walked a bit around the lake when we first got there to find a good place to sit down. The place was loaded with pointy rocks. We preferred not to sit on pointy rocks. It was also pretty cold. Since it’s summer, I hadn’t brought anything warm with me so I was feeling a bit of a chill.

Here’s the lovely Mrs. Burson, smiling and resting after a physically demanding hike up to the lake. That’s my hotty right there folks.

And here’s one of the two of us before we headed back down to get out of the cold. Sorry it kind of sucks. The sun was right behind us so everything was getting back lit. You can’t tell it but there’s a really pretty mountain on the other side of the lake. We tried waiting for the sun to go behind a cloud but since the phone sucks as a camera… well, it didn’t work out too well.

We bailed right after the photo was taken because the wind really picked up. I was freezing. On the way back down we got to see a doe. A deer. A female deer.

And now that I’ve gotten an annoying song stuck in your head… I bid you adieu.

Wedded bliss

Since the last post, we’ve managed to surpass the 7 year mark in our marriage. Monday we celebrated the big day by going out to lunch together and taking a picture at the same spot we said our vows 7 years prior. Since we live in the town we got married in it’s become a bit of a tradition, this being the second year we’ve done it.

The place looks pretty much exactly the same. Except when we got married there were more people there.

Last weekend though, we managed to get out for a quick hike before the bad weather rolled in. We took a local trail called the Blodgett Overlook. We did the same hike last year. First one we did last summer. What a difference a year makes. It took us about half the time and was barely a workout. We took pictures in the same spot as last year and it’s interesting to see the change in weight over the last year.

Last year I was pretty chunky, as you can tell from this photo.

This year I’m looking much better. Not the same pose but you can see pretty clearly I’m in better shape and I’ve lost a lot of weight. I prefer this year’s photo.

There were a lot of these flowers along the trail so I figured I should take a picture of them. I didn’t do much to compose the picture, just thought I’d get a quick shot to share on the blog. So there it is. They’re a nice color though and like I said, they were all over. Made for a pretty hike.

This isn’t Blodgett Canyon, it’s Canyon Creek. Along the Blodgett Overlook hike there’s a bench that overlooks this canyon. It shares a wall with Blodgett canyon. I’ve hiked both so far this year. It’s a nice looking canyon. Blodgett is a bit more open so you can see more. This one you hike through the woods for as far as I’ve gone so you don’t get to see a whole lot. I’ve gone about 4 miles in and I don’t know how far you have to go before it opens up a bit. Maybe later this summer I’ll go farther. It’s a hard hike though because the trail isn’t very well maintained.

Anyway, I’m pretty happy to get to the 7 year mark. Though it’s known for the “7-year itch”, most studies say 5 is the new 7. Either way, we’re pretty happy in our marriage so there’s not going to be any need for itching. Since moving to Montana we’ve been able to put a lot more focus on each other. That makes the move one of the best things we’ve ever done. Except maybe get married in the first place! Here’s to another 63 years of marrital bliss! (Jess says we got married for 70 years and then I’ll have the option to get out… I don’t think I’ll even make it to 70 years… I’d be 97… who wants to start dating at 97?)

Trying to catch up

OK, I’ve been away from the blog for a while. Life is just… busy. And stressful. And I keep trying to get back into some kind of routine. I’ve been unsuccessful so far but at least I’m taking care of the blog now.

So a couple weeks ago I managed to get out on a Friday and go for a hike. Jess and I had hiked it the week before on Memorial Day but I had to go to work so we didn’t get very far. I went out and hiked several more miles of the trail cause I wanted to see the waterfall a few miles in.

After a couple miles you get to this point where you cross a bridge and go over the river. Looking back down the valley is this unbelievable view. Absolutely gorgeous. I spent a minute just looking at it. It’s hard to take it all in at once so you kind of have to just pause and appreciate it.

After a little over a mile later, I got to…

I sat down on those rocks in the foreground and ate my sandwich. It was nice and cool thanks to the mist coming off the waterfall. It was really loud though. I didn’t mind because it was so pretty. I spent about 20 minutes hanging out here before heading back down. It took me about 2.5 hours to get here so I didn’t have a ton of time.

Later that day, after getting home, I got started on my weekly chores. Laundry is the big one. Fortunately I had some help this time.

For some reason AJ is absolutely fascinated by the washing machine. Every time I open it up he’s right there trying to crawl in. So this time I let him while I ran and got the camera. He would have stayed in there for hours had I not pulled him out and filled it with dirty clothes. He climbed in there again tonight so I just turned it on and let him get wet.

Two weeks ago we went on another hike. We took Jess’ brother Jeremy along this time. We headed up to Camas Lake which is a couple miles outside of Hamilton. The hike in is about 2 miles and pretty easy. Jess and Jeremy chatted the whole way up while I just enjoyed the woods.

The last quarter mile or so was all packed snow so it was kind of fun. Once we got to the lake we broke out sandwiches and the bags of M&M’s I secretly packed. Then Jess busted out the camera and took a picture of herself.

Pretty huh? The lake is too.

On the way down I stopped to have my own fun. I really miss the snow with it being summer instead of the best time of year. (Ski season) I plopped down in the snow and made myself a snow angel.

I had a good time.

Now I’m busy pondering whether I should run for mayor of our small town. I haven’t decided yet. I’ve gotten approval from my bosses to pursue it if I want to but I’m still not sure. Part of me really wants to. Part of me fears spending the money and not getting elected. After all, I’ve only been here a couple years. It’s a tough decision. Hopefully I’ll get a feeling one way or the other soon. Gotta decide by July 2.

Anyway, that’s what’s going on… Fun stuff.