Another long camping weekend done. Possibly the last of this summer season. So sad. My camera completely crapped out on me, so all the cool pictures are lost.

One of the highlights of the weekend was hiking the road from our campground to Porphyry Peak and fire tower. We've skiied Showdown several times, and I had never noticed the fire tower before. It was a 2 mile climb to 8,100 feet, but the views were so worth it. The forest ranger at the tower told us she usually has special prizes on hand for people who hike it. Kind of cool, but also creepy that she was watching us and cheering us on from way above. Our mileage was only 4 miles but my legs felt it. Another scary thing? Imagine one of these in bright yellow built up on huge tires barreling down the very narrow rocky forest road you are trying to hike up. Seriously, when the tires started to slide, I was ready to leap off the side of the mountain. Especially seeing the driver's panicked face. A movie moment for sure.




Buddy and I also explored the Little Belt mountains via forest service roads. We ran/walked our way a little more each day. My legs were tired, but no swelling or pain the entire weekend. I felt bad for a teenage girl at the campground. Obviously determined to get her workout in, she ran the campground loop over and over. So much more to see, but maybe she was the smart one - the mountain lion tracks we encountered were huge and frequent! Wish I had the pictures...

With only days left before school starts, we're trying to get in as many trails as possible. I'm trying to be careful not to overdo it, but there's so little time before the snow flies!