Time Flies.

The last month has been a bit of a hiatus between driving back to Missoula, going out on a fire assignment, and traveling around catching up on all the summer hiking in Montana that I missed. How is it already the second week in September? This month marks my sixth year in Missoula and I seriously don't know where the time has gone. Over the years I have been able to explore and experience so many great things in the area, but there's always room for more.

To all my fellow day-hikers, I highly recommend checking out your local REI or Barnes and Noble for any hiking book by Robert Stone. If you're in the Missoula area, I recommend "Day Hikes Around Missoula". I always had thought I was pretty knowledgeable about day hikes around Missoula and had been on many. After buying this book I realized how many I didn't know about and how over the years I had clearly found my favorites and put myself on repeat.

I tried to diversify my first hikes back with all new routes. Some were simple, some were long, but they were all beautiful. It feels great to be back in the forests. I finally visited the largest Western Larch in the country last weekend which is right outside of the town of Seeley Lake.  Over Labor Day weekend my dad and I made a rainy and cold (48 degress) 10 mile trek in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.

Ravine Trail - Grant Creek/Rattlesnake Wilderness

Morrell Falls - Lolo National Forest

Bass Lake - Selway Bitterroot Wilderness 

The snow hasn't started to fall quite yet. There is still plenty of time to check a few more off of the list and still be able to hike a few of my favorites. My goal is to get 60 miles in (since I've been back to Montana) by the end of September. Currently I'm at 37 miles, game on.

If I haven't mentioned before, I love fall. The weather is great, ski season is almost here, and it's football season. GO CHIEFS. Fortunately I missed the game yesterday because I was hiking as they lost terribly to the Titans. The thing about being a fan of a team that is hit or miss every year is that you finally accept the "no expectations, no disappointments" attitude and find that you will be much more happy. Especially when they pull through with a win.

Cooking during the fall/football season is also one of my favorite seasons to explore in the kitchen. Time to dust off the crockpot. Bring on the baked goods and beer-cheese dip.

I hope to have an update on my mileage goal and will have a new recipe next time, I promise.

Go explore.

k.