Northerly sprint... part three... Bozeman and a buddy...

Christine and I headed out of the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park through to quant little town called Gardiner, Montana.  My old friend, Spencer Porter, was meeting us at the local grocery store.  We spotted him from the road.  He was tooling around behind his truck in his trailered drift boat.  We were to float down a section of the Yellowstone River for the afternoon.  We were stoked to see him, and to get to experience a bit of his backyard.  In Montana, the backyard is vast. 

^Porter slings a fly rod on the Yellowstone River.  Nice day, nice cast, good company all the way around.  Porter is the best fisherman I have ever seen.  I was stoked for Christine to get to see a great fly fisherman doing his thing while inside of his element.  I can try to explain it, but it does no justice to getting to see someone who is great at it in person.      

^A nest, and our local buddy.

^Christine took a go at it.  I think she's a natural.

^An awesome day on the river, and we were tired out.  Porter's dog, Jaya, expressed my sentiments exactly.  Some grub on the town with Porter, and we called it in pretty early.  It was a great day.

^The next morning, Porter had a group to guide down the river, and we had a trail near Big Sky Resort to find.  We wanted to check out the area, and then find a good trail to ride in the afternoon.  The fellas down at Gallatin Alpine Sports were a huge help.  They gladly sold me some guide maps, and gave me a really great run down of everything the area had to offer.  I was so stoked by their welcoming nature and fantastic advice.  That is customer service, old school style, like when people used to help each other out.  It is not dead, at least not at G.A.S.  In the photo above, Christine is laboring up the North Ridge Road trail.  

^The wildflowers were in full bloom in the damp terrain.  The trail climbed a ridge, and then dropped down steeply into the canyon.  The down was loaded with steep switchbacks and breakouts into vast meadows littered with wildflowers.

^Sickness.

^See... vast, scenic, steep, beautiful, and breath taking.

^The damp canyon bottom was a rocky and rolling ride along the trickling creek.  We crossed over it a few different times, which offered good chances to take a break to enjoy the calm waters of the cold creek.

^Then jump back on and rip.  

^Christine is crossing the creek one last time near the out of the trail.  We rolled out to the trailhead, and quickly packed up our gear to rush back to Bozeman.  We were meeting Porter for dinner, and also packing up the rig to hit the road at three o'clock in the morning that night.  Dinner was a good send off along with the public shooting in downtown Bozeman during our after dinner drinks.  It was surely the talk of the small city for a while I am sure.  The streets were buzzing on our walk back to Porter's place.  After the excitement of a regular wild west scene settled down we said good night and good-bye to Porter.  We caught a few hours sleep, and then hit the road dark and early.  

^I pulled a road warrior shift and we made it back to Utah in great time.  Christine did a lot of this on the way, but I was happy to see it.  I took her out on a pretty ambitious journey, and she handled it like a soldier.  I am really proud of her for ripping like a dude, and spending a whole week camping and couch surfing.  She definitely got a taste of what it is like to be an adventurer on the move.  My life is a crazy one.  I am pleased to have found a women who can not only keep up, but truly love the experiences.  Amazing things happen when you put yourself out there in wild places and opportunities.  We had an epic trip in some of the most beautiful natural terrain on the planet.  We are building a life together that embraces the best of what each of us has to offer.  I was stoked to take Christine on the kind of adventure that I have built my life around.  I think she enjoyed herself, and experienced some things she might never have imagined she ever would have.  I am so blessed in so many ways.