Montana Trip Day One

As the engine to the rental car turns over, my stomach turns with it as Karilyn and I prepare to embark on a journey to her home state of Montana. We even decided that our dog Reef should join us for his first road trip. We decided the 20 hour drive is best broken into three stretches.  The first day we are going to drive nearly 8 hours to a creek side campground named Granite Creek just outside of Bondurant, WY.  

The drive through Colorado is a familiar one with a beautiful route through the front range up towards Laramie.  Reef is unsure about his first trip and wears his feelings on his face.

Once in Wyoming, I have to embrace it's straight and less scenic roads until I reach the Teton wilderness.  The further I drive us into Wyoming, the smaller and more spread out the towns become.

After a while, the flat lands give way to the Rocky Mountains and Wyoming gets a bit more interesting.  There is something mysterious and alluring about the Wyoming Rockies.  Unlike Colorado, much of the mountains there are untouched and seem untouchable.

Upon seeing the Teton wilderness, my heart jumped a bit at the thought of stopping and resting.  We had left Denver at noon and it was nearly 8pm with the sun already setting on the horizon.  We pulled into camp at Granite Creek and were overjoyed that it was not crowded and provided plenty of beauty to behold. We hastily set up our tent and after cutting down a dead tree, started our campfire.

The night grew dark and the moon crept into the horizon giving us a chance to count satellites before falling asleep.  

The next morning was a little bit chillier than we expected which woke us up early.  The camera bag and grass was covered in frost.  I decided to make a go at fishing in the creek which turned out rather disappointing but fun nonetheless.

We packed up around 8am and charted our course towards Lake Como in Montana about an 8 hour drive away.  Before setting off, we bid farewell to the beautiful Granite Creek.

To Be Continued...