Trip America: Day 51 - 52 - Helena

We started the day by taking a short hike in the hills behind my mom's house before spending the rest of the day eating.
We hiked up a trail named the "waterline" trail for the numerous water pipes that you pass along the way. Part of the hike is on private land and in recent years the owner put a barbed wire fence up to keep up hikers. However, people have been hiking this trail for years and years and were none too happy to see a fence and have found somewhat innocent methods of getting around it. I was also able to show Dan the various spots my brother and I built forts when we were young.

Dan and my mom hiking the waterline trail

Having worked up an appetite on our hike, we headed downtown to have breakfast at a local favorite, the No Sweat Cafe.

The last item on the agenda for the day was for Dan to meet my father. My mom, step-dad, Dan and I headed up to my dad's house (in separate cars - this is important, you'll see why later) for an evening BBQ. We dined al fresco on the deck, enjoying grilled chicken and sweet potato fries. And, Dan and my dad got along great :)

A perfect Montana summer evening

Before leaving, my mom suggested we take the back way home because we would see deer. Never missing an opportunity to see wildlife, we listened to her directions. Tony and my mom set off in their car, we set off in mine. Shortly up the road, I commented on how muddy the road was but kept pushing on. Dan was impressed with my driving skills as I navigated the muddy ruts, avoiding both getting stuck and sliding off the road. The road continued to get worse, the sun was starting to set and I started to question my mom's directions. I finally stopped to call her and right away she admitted, "I think I might have told you the wrong directions".

In a comedy of errors, I called my dad, my mom called my dad, my mom called me back and eventually we realized, yes, we had taken the wrong road. The only solution was to turn around and take the road back down. As my mom was confirming this on the phone, Dan suddenly shouted, MOOSE! I looked up to see a full grown male moose sauntering across the road, stop to take a glance at us and continue on down the hill. That right there made the "detour" worth it.

We managed to make our way back down the muddy road, took the normal way back to my mom's house and arrived home safe and sound. The ironic thing was as we pulled into the driveway, there was a little deer waiting there for us.

The next day my mom and I took a trip to the Farmer's Market. The market has grown quite a bit in the last few years and has become a popular Helena event with lots of produce and craft stands and decent music. We arrived back just in time to be picked up by my dad, who was taking Dan and I fishing.

I grew up fishing with my dad and brothers. I try to get out and fly fish at least once every time I am home. Today, we chose a nice quite spot on the Little Boulder River.

Fishing often begins with beers in the river


I learned from the best

But I'm a little rusty and several of my casts ended up tangled in the trees

Here comes a big one!

Despite my struggles, I did get one big catch of the day!

Even though I could spend all day on the river, we had to get back to town for a BBQ my mom was hosting at her house. Several of our family friends were coming over as well as my two best friends, Shannon and Heidi. Heidi lives in Helena and recently had a beautiful baby, Brisa. Shannon also has a beautiful baby, Margo, so this was the first time the two girls would meet. Unfortunately, Margo wasn't feeling very good so the meeting was brief.