Our 20th Anniversary on the Trail :)

Some people may think I’m crazy, but the thought of spending my 20th wedding anniversary out hiking with my family sounded GREAT. Our anniversary day started off beautifully with t-shirt and hiking skirt weather, light clouds in the sky. We managed to go about 5 minutes before the sky had changed it’s forecast and the temperature began to drop. We could tell we were going to get drenched so we stopped to gear up. As we were doing so, the onslaught began! We immediately scanned the area looking for a place to shelter from the driving rain and saw the lee side of a vacation home nearby. First we took shelter next to the barn hoping we wouldn’t offend anyone and hoping that the owners wouldn’t suddenly show up. Not too long after we moved to the lee of their garage which offered a larger overhanging roof and a better angle to the wind, then we gave up all propriety and moved to their front porch (but not with the burros – we tied them to the garage door). We had a lovely time reading our book and eating lunch on their porch – and found their thermometer which told us that it was a balmy 46 degrees – burrrrrrr.

After about 2 hours, the rain began to let up and we continued our trek with great hopes for a continued improvement in the weather. We hiked over a beautiful pass and down into the Centennial Valley of Montana, home of the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. It was truly stunning. We saw swans, Sandhill cranes, hawks, elk, antelope, killdeer and their babies. We also saw a lot more rain and cold temperatures. We were quite a soggy bunch – all of us wet and cold – especially Deso (our dog). I was doing a pretty good job keeping warm until we had to cross two “cricks” (creeks) that had taken over the sides of the path as well as the path itself.There was no way around except to wade through – and it was COLD. That was the end of my somewhat warm feet.

Things seemed to be looking pretty dismal for our wonderful anniversary! By 3:30 in the afternoon it was getting darker because of the storm clouds, all the camping spots were filled with standing water, the track was a mud wrestler’s dream, - we were not happy. It is at moments like this that I so appreciate the wonderful feeling of being cared for by God. As it says in the Bible – I will send an angel before you to prepare a place – and boy was that true! We were standing by a rancher’s home, and Bobby went in to ask if we could hole up in their barn to get out of the storm. Pat McKenna was incredibly gracious in saying yes; he got the burros some hay; he got us a hose so that we could make our dinner and wash our dishes, and we began setting up shop in his barn. A few hours later, with the rain still coming down, Pat’s wife Jackie came in and invited us to an elk steak dinner at their house! Even though we had just finished our macaroni and cheese dinner – which we having a tough time finishing off because we were so full – we heartily accepted. To my astonishment I was able to eat a great steak, some home fries, some beans and a salad! During the course of the evening we found out that Pat’s mom was from Leadville (just north of Buena Vista) and his dad was from Salida (just south of Buena Vista). His great grandfather started a business in Salida and the building is still there with McKenna on it.

Although this wonderful day didn’t look like the perfect anniversary day on the outside, the reality was that we couldn’t have felt more blessed. I got to spend the evening in a warm, dry house with delightful new friends, my children, and oh yeah, Bobby was there too :) – truly we felt like the guests of God.