Land of 10,000 Mountains

Last Sunday,
Aaron
and
Isaac
waited
to hop
a plane –
bound
for
Montana –
with Dad.

Asked what surprised him most about this trip, Isaac reported: "Getting a whole can of ginger ale" when offered by the steward on the plane. Aaron got just a cup full of Mountain Dew. According to Isaac, the scariest part of the trip was landing. "We're just cruising along at a nice smooth speed and then we started heading down on a bumpy ride."

Upon their
arrival in
Missoula,
the trio
rented a
car and
drove a
couple
hours east
to the
Discovery
Mountain
area in Anaconda.


For
two
nights,
they
stayed
in
a motel
with
a leaky
bathroom
shower

that made Dan think of his bachelor apartment in International Falls.

Monday
morning
they rose
to the ski
challenge.
At one point,
Dan and
Isaac rode
the chair
lift up
together.

(Notice the skinny double lines going up the hill.) As usual, Aaron had hurried ahead of them to the top. Isaac said, "Dad and I were half way up the chair lift when we saw a skier coming fast down the steepest run.

(Notice the run directly above Isaac's head here.)
Isaac said, "As we got closer, we wondered if it was Aaron. We saw the skier wipe out, lose his skis and poles and said: Yep. That's Aaron!"

Fortunately, Aaron suffered no injury. And from then on, Aaron began to ski "in control" instead of "bombing" straight down the slopes. That night, Dan's "rubber legs" made him wonder whether he would be fit to ski again by Wednesday.

Tuesday
the trio took
in a few sites
as they drove
back to
Missoula.
Here Isaac
stands in
front of the
Anaconda
library – backed by mountains.

Dan
has a
photo
fetish
with
birds,
especially
those
with
which
he's
unfamiliar.

On this trip, he captured a black-billed magpie that was annoying them in a parking lot.

Here Aaron
poses at
a wayside
rest
along
the Clark Fork of the Columbia River about 20 miles east of Missoula.



Wednesday morning the trio headed to the Snow Bowl to ski.

In this parking-lot photo, notice the ski lift on the far left above Isaac and Aaron's heads. This lift is one of the two that skiers must ride to reach the mountain top (far right corner).




Here Aaron
and Isaac
stand on
that mountain
top and
overlook
miles of
the Rocky Mountains.

Aaron points to the sign marking the start of a wicked run called "Whipped Cream" which only Isaac dared to ride. Meanwhile, Dan and Aaron skied a run called "Hot Fudge."

To reach this area's longest run, the trio had to ski
cross- country style – up and down – across a "flat" called "North Dakota."


The three-
mile run,
is called
"Paradise."

Here Isaac
poses
from
the run's
picturesque
view.


According to Dan, that view is the only heavenly part of this run. The boys reported that during their descent, Dad wiped out twice and had to sit down to rest three times on the slopes of Paradise.

Dan and
Aaron
stand
at the
mountain
top
before
starting
their final
ski run
of the
season.

Aaron waits
outside the
mountain-
top shelters
while big
brother relieves himself (in the toilet shack to the left above Aaron's head) after a wrenching run.

Thursday afternoon, Dan and Isaac posed with a bear housed at the Missoula airport.

Upon their arrival home late Thursday night, Aaron said: "It's good to be back home in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

"I've had enough of the Land of 10,000 Mountains – they're EVERYWHERE! But I do like skiing in the mountains way better than (the hills) here."