Cimbing Higher Than Ever at Beehive Basin

Last week, Julie surprised me by suggesting we make our second assault on Beehive Basin of the summer.

Once each year is usually enough for us, but our hike with Jay, Sasha and their puppy JoJo in June had been cut short by snow.

So, she picked the coolest day of the week, which happened to be Saturday.  We went well beyond the Basin, higher than ever before, reaching the top of a plateau above the big lake that's our usual picnic destination.  The total hike according to Julie's iPhone was over 7 miles and 20,000 steps.

The weather proved to be about perfect for a hike, so it wasn't too surprising that lots of others shared our idea.  We certainly didn't get the excellent parking space we found in 2019.

Usually, it is like hiking through four seasons, and while we had a little rain along the way and a brisk breeze that required our long sleeves at the top, we weren't hiking through hip deep snow at the top like in 2014.

There were three times as many fellow hikers on the trail as we could ever remember.

Partly, that's because in this odd Covid-19 summer Montana has stood out as a state where few deaths have been reported.  I would say that is due to the fact that residents tend to live active outdoor lives, getting out in the fresh air to exercise whenever possible rather than huddling indoors glued to their televisions and computers.

However, I'm just a philosopher, not a politician, so my theory doesn't carry much weight.

In any case, it is gorgeous in the mountains, and lots of people still want to take vacations despite cruise lines and world travel being shut down completely.

The United States is a gorgeous country, and we're blessed to live here.