Pre-blogging backpacking trip to Montana

I was trying to organize the office when I came upon a topo map from A and my backpacking trip to Montana from about 10 years ago. We captured some of the things that were happening during the trip on the margin of one of the four maps that covered the area we were in. The trip was seven days in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area, about an hour south of Bozeman, MT. We were coming from sea level and the trail started around 6000 ft. The elevation combined with our 50+ lb packs made for some tough days. Since, I haven't finished my "future adventures" post, I thought I'd share our trip recap from then.

Note: We didn't start writing stuff down until day four so the first three days are a bit light. Stuff in parenthesis are my new comments.

Day 1: Lots of climbing
Good views
Moose tracks at lake (not the ice cream, actual moose tracks where we camped)
Lentil stew - good (we wanted to remember which recipes were good)
6 miles
3000 ft up

Day 2: Up to Beacon Pt by 12:30 - tough climb, tough downhill
Saw fishermen on day hike at top (we didn't see anyone the first day so they were the first people we had seen)
Windy but spectacular on Indian Ridge
Walked along river in afternoon
Burritos for dinner - too many beans (I'll let you draw your own conclusions)

Day 3 -Down + Up (Amber takes over writing)
Early start, long day
Multiple river crossings. (she hated some of the river crossings with a 50 lb load going over a log)
No people, many signs of moose
Cheesy Spicy beans and ricey for dinner - good but bland (luckily we had little debbie brownies for dinners, good fuel for the cold nights)

Day 4 - Up down up down up down
Saw Lone Mt + Big Sky ski area.
Saw two groups of people/horses after a beautiful lunch @ Summit Lake.
Saw 1st wildlife - marmots
Camped @ Mirror Lake next to a party of 4 + across from 3 more people. (Group next to us had a huge Tibetan mastiff named Ziegler. Felt safe from bears with him around)
Will take a rest day tomorrow.
Curried veggies + rice for dinner - BAD (we built a fire and burned the rest of it)
Saw shooting stars - Had small fire (mostly to burn the food)
Briefly in Bear Basin

Day 5 - Rest Day
Left camp at noon
Mirror Lake to explore
Climbed up half of Blaze Mtn (I got freaked out and needed to go down)
Ate lunch overlooking camp + fly fishing school - lots of traffic down below
Climbed down + played on boulder field w/ big rocks (size of houses rocks)
Tomato paste gone bad, so spaghetti dinner was without - stole dried tomatoes from chili
Had bid fire - borrowed axe
Next time dried sauce + smaller pasta (I think the spaghetti wasn't easy to deal with)

Day 6 - Amber slept in, still on trail by 9:20
Walked down, up + over - hard day
Saw hikers leaving Spanish lakes - 1 large group + group of 4 w/ dog, 3 people on way up pass, + 2 people, 3 lamas, + dog near top.
People (naked?) camped @ Lake Solitude (maybe they took the name literally), so moved on to Jerome Rocks Lake.
People on far side of lake, but barely saw them.
Mushroom Barley Medley soup for dinner - good! (especially w/ rye crisp)

Day 7 - On the way out
All down.
Pretty trail, easy + flat toward end, soupy in middle.
Saw day hikers near trail head.
Ziegler (the Tibetan mastiff) + owners passed us on the trails (they were on horses)
Got picture of Pioneer Falls. (not sure why this was a noteworthy picture)
Cleaned up in river, got muffins in Bozeman, + hit I90 to Billings.
Ate at Country Harvest + Buffet (really crappy food, but it was the quantity that mattered)
Skies are hazy.