2,000+miles+baby. Day 7. Refuge Point, Montana.

Raya text in the morning from West Yellowstone to say there was no reason to rush to meet up since it would be too cold to snowshoe for a little while.  

You don't hear this a lot, but a high of 23 sounds cozy...

Just the weekend before all roads to and from West were closed for days.  Truck drivers lined highway 20, stuck in their vehicles due to eight foot snowdrifts across the highway, dependent on snowmobiles to bring them food, etc.  

They haven't had a storm like this for over 30 years.

Raya and Josh were among those stuck, sending the following picture of the front door of the snowmobile shop...

We would have been happy with the light snow in Idaho because its so much more than we are used to, but we were ecstatic about the opportunity to stay in West and experience serious snow, staying at Raya and Josh's winter apartment.

And, of course, our daughter is always up for an adventure.

The snowbanks were still well over six feet a week after the big storm.

I love this picture.  

Montana is so beautiful.

The roads were clear for pretty much the entire drive.  Unlike Idaho, the state of Montana does not salt their roads.  It is interesting how different states handle snow, some allow chains, other don't, some salt, others don't.. 

Anyways, we made it!  

Luckily most of the drive was on nicely salted Idaho roads.

The second and third stories of what used to be a bank are ours for the next few days, and the view is awesome.  All of the snowcoaches and the snowmobiles going into Yellowstone Park drive right past us.  In March, Yellowstone typically has about 22,000 visitors and the only way to get in is snowcoach, snowmobile or snowshoe.  This may seem like a lot of tourists but its actually only a half of one percent of their average annual visits.  

Raya and I headed about 30 minutes outside of West to one of her favorite snowshoeing spots, Refuge Point.  It got its name from the 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake.  The ridge not only provided protection for survivors of the earthquake but also became an area of rescue operations.  

Unlike August 17, 1959, we did not see any other people on the entire ridge during our outing.  

We did see a bunch of animal tracks which Raya, the guide, happily pointed out.

Once a guide, always a guide.  

A 2.5 mile snowshoe isn't bad for someone who had major surgery three months prior!  

I am pretty proud of myself.  

We met up with the Josh and Eric to do a baby exchange, so they could enjoy the Refuge Point snowshoe.  This is the first day off they have had all season.  Our timing was impeccable. 

Boys...

They didn't follow the trail, but walked down along the river, where they found the coolest animal track I have ever not seen, of a bird taking off for flight.  

Incredible.  

We only saw evidence of animals on the 2.5 mile trail, but the drive was a different story entirely.

It was a tail of big horn sheep and mule deer...  (pun intended).

♥️ Montana.