Infinite Flow - Missoula, Montana

Best book dedication I’ve read lately:
“Dear Grandma, 
Because you lived as is there was no finish line.
May we all learn to live such an infinite life.
Love,
Simon
- Simon Sinek, from The Infinite Game

Snowberries Reprise - Missoula, Montana

“Birds sing after a storm; why shoudn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?"

 - Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (1890-1995)

Daily Dose: Joy - Missoula, Montana

“Don't postpone joy until you have learned all of your lessons. 
Joy is your lesson.” 
  - Alan Cohen

And joy is so often found in the simple, small things of life - including the perfect light of a storm-sky morning that causes snowberries to almost glow against the backdrop of Mount Jumbo.

View To Mount Jumbo - Missoula, Montana

Hiking with friends atop Missoula's Waterworks Hill trail system, we paused briefly - only to take in the widespread views, of course. Pointing out a route I'd taken last year that popped up along Mount Jumbo's ridge and then down its face, directly around the "L", I suddenly realized how big a hill that is. Plodding along the trail, your vision and concerns are more immediate and close. But stepping back a bit - or maybe a lot, as in this physical instance! - your perspective widens, which can give room to feel a bit proud of how far you've come.

Of course, it's always good to have a balancing factor: one of our little group pointed out a barely smaller hill to the left (out of this photo frame) and recounted his grandpa's telling how, back in the day, his grandma would go over the hill  every day to work in East Missoula - and back (uphill both ways - for real!). We sincerely hoped she had a trusty mule or horse to make that commute.

View To Mount Jumbo - Missoula, Montana

The not-quite-almost-there switchback features a new-ish bench for anyone wanting a wee break to enjoy this view from Mount Sentinel across to Mount Jumbo and its iconic 'L'. No shame in pausing to take in the grand scenery.

Autumn Gully - Missoula, Montana

"...Mountain people are straight and natural, 
minds level though the road is rugged.
Long wind drives pine and cypress trees, 
skims ten thousand gullies and flows out clear...." 
- From "Visiting Zhongnan Mountain" by Liu Changqing (C. 710 - C. 787)

Looking Back the Way We Came - Mount Jumbo,Missoula, Montana

Descending, these hills appear steeper than in this from-below view, and brought to mind a scene from the movie, The Princess Bride: Tumbling tail over tea kettle, The Dread Pirate Roberts (aka Wesley) bellows, “Aaaas….youuu…wiiiish!” Love that movie! But this Wendell Berry poem is a little more inspiring.

“We travelers, walking to the sun, can’t see

Ahead, but looking back the very light

That blinded us shows us the way we came,…”
From
Reading a Sabbath Poem by Wendell Berry

High Water Mark - Glacial Lake Missoula, Missoula, Montana

4200 feet above sea level makes for a great Missoula Valley view. This high water marker for Glacial Lake Missoula was a great excuse to pause and ponder: how many years ago was our present view underwater? did anyone care about lakefront lots back then?  who drew the short straw to schlep this huge stone marker up the mountain?

Thanks to the Ice Age Floods Institute for placing these hefty conversation starters.

Click the text links to get a few answers and perhaps provoke additional pondering.

Blisterless Bounty - Mount Jumbo, Missoula, Montana

“I have paid for my experience with a square yard of blisters, and a mile or so of scratches. I have eaten a ton of flapjacks and more bacon than is ladylike to remember.” - Mary Roberts Rinehart, on her travels in Glacier Park

Thankfully, my recent Mount Jumbo trek did not result in blisters; sadly, no flapjacks or bacon, either. But we did partake of informal communion amidst the mountaintop grasses and vast views - no better sustenance for the soul.


Click here to view fascinating photos of women wilderness hikers of the early 1900s, and to read more of Mary Roberts Rinehart's Glacier Park observations. May we ever be thankful to not have to don ankle-length skirts before venturing into nature's byways.

Going Out To See - Missoula, Montana

“[T]he wind beats against the wood and the glass and sends its fleshless pucker against the eaves and sooner or later you have to put down what you were doing and go out and see.
And you can stand on your stoop or in your dooryard at midafternoon and watch the cloud shadows rush across Griffen's pasture and up Schoolyard Hill, light and dark, light and dark, like the shutters of the gods being opened and closed.” ~Stephen King, 'Salem's Lot'

Hardy Summit Dweller - Mount Jumbo, Missoula, Montana

I Dwell in Possibility – (466)

By Emily Dickinson

I dwell in Possibility –

A fairer House than Prose –

More numerous of Windows –

Superior – for Doors –

Of Chambers as the Cedars –

Impregnable of eye –

And for an everlasting Roof

The Gambrels of the Sky –

Of Visitors – the fairest –

For Occupation – This –

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise –

Upward - Missoula, Montana

‘I think,’ said Christopher Robin, ‘that we ought to eat all our Provisions now, so we shan’t have so much to carry.’ – A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, 1954

(Click the Winne-the-Pooh text link above to hear A.A.Milne read from his classic story.)

Gimme An L, Mount Jumbo, Missoula, Montana

If you’re looking for letters, Missoula currently offers a choice of an M on Mount Sentinel, or Mount Jumbo’s L for Loyola Sacred Heart High School. 
Our church hoped to do a fundraiser run up Mount Jumbo’s back titled “To L And Back”, but received a "no" amidst the approval process - apparently a running horde might encounter some safety issues.

Walking the trails to each letter, you can definitely spout phrases like, “The joy is in the journey.” Both are attainable locations for even moderate walkers, and boast splendid views the whole way. And isn’t that why people come to Montana? (To spout well-rehearsed phrases, I mean.)