F*cked By Montana

This notice landed in my inbox on May 15th. We waited 5 months after submitting our backcountry permit request to Glacier National Park, Montana to be told NO GO. We knew the applications would be processed via a lottery system. We knew the park would not process requests until April 16th. We gambled and lost. 

With Glacier off the table and our August vacation dates quickly approaching, a new idea was born. A YOLO idea: Slovenia! Joe's friend Andy does a lot of business in Slovenia and is always telling us we should visit. It's a beautiful country bordered by Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. It has a piece of the Mediterranean coast, as well as Alps, castles, and old European cities. At one point in time, it was our understanding that Andy was renting an apartment in Slovenia due to the frequency of his travels. With his apartment as a home base, this could be a really fun and exciting trip, something out of the ordinary from our backpacking summer forays. Maybe we lost our Montana trip so we could go to Slovenia? Two weeks of crazy busy lives, missed texts and emails, we finally connected with Andy at the end of May (tick-tock, August is around the corner!) and .... learned he does not have an apartment. To plan a trip to Slovenia during a popular time of year (when hotels may be booked full already and most expensive) only 2 months out felt too rushed. If we're going International, we want to make sure we know all there is to see and do and take time to plan the best vacation ever. Maybe next year.

Back to the drawing board with a sense of urgency.Where to backpack, where to backpack? We've hit our bucket list trails, though there are more areas we've always been interested in checking out. After a few days of investigation, with mutual excitement, we settled on "The Winds". For you folks not in the know, this refers to the Wind River Mountains, which span a length of 100 miles from NW Wyoming to SE Wyoming. The Winds are a rugged granite portion of the Rocky Mountain Range. The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Wyoming's tallest mountain, Gannett Peak (13,804 ft). The Winds are packed full of wildlife (grizzlies, black bears, big horn sheep, etc.), mountain lakes and towering grey peaks. There is no permit or reservation system. They remain a hidden gem for people who really seek the solitude not found in more popularized backpacking haunts.

This weekend we hope to finalize a 5 day, 50+ mile route, with a possible peak grab (Gannett? Fremont?) tossed in for good measure. The one thing we know for sure is that we will be walking through this picture! Titcomb Basin is a must do. So, maybe Montana didn't f*ck us - maybe it gifted us, maybe The Winds will be just what we didn't know we needed☺

Titcomb Basin in the NW section of  The Winds