Bear Report and The See Food Diet

Well, I am sure I'm going to have to start some kind of weight loss program...

While on vacation, we did major hikes. I even managed a 10 mile hike up a mountain!!! Yes, folks! I was determined! (I'm kinda stubborn that way....) You see, there were a ton of grizzlies and black bear everywhere you turned at Glacier. There were certain trails you just could not hike. It was not unusual to see signs posted like this:

 And this:

This Iceberg Lake trail was a trail I wanted to hike SO BAD!!!! It was a 10 mile hike, but ended at a lake with icebergs in it - glacier caps...really beautiful. Really COLD, too! But, all week it kept opening for about an hour, and then was shut down because a guest or a ranger had to use pepper spray on an aggressive bear. Ugh! So many hikers were getting mad because they had traved hudreds or even 1,000 miles to get to Glacier just to hike this particular trail and only had a few days or a week - and it was closed the whole time. I WANTED TO HIKE it! It was the only trail with a grade that wasn't too steep for these legs of mine to make it...possibly.

So we waited, and waited - and the second to last day we were at Glacier, the Iceberg Lake trail opened up. It was so great. I had to rest a lot along the way. But the whole hike was worth it.

This is what my family looks like when we haven't showered in 3 days, and have just hiked a bunch of miles up part of a mountain. Pretty gorgeous, don't you think? ha ha

This was a lake that part of the view...about a mile or so before we got to Iceberg lake. The water in many of the lakes there were the color of the Carribean. Seriously. Beautiful!

This is Iceberg Lake. So pretty! It was hazy and raining that day, and really cold. But, we had such a long way to walk. It took us ALL DAY - probably because we all had to rest every little while because of me. But, this was the only substantial walk I could go on because the grade wasn't too steep.

And, that was probably the only walk where we DIDN'T see a bear!

Our whole vacation was all about exercise, exercise, exercise. We walked, hiked, and biked - every day. (I did it in small doses, of course - but consistently.)

And what have I done since I've been home?

Let's see...yesterday, I went to lunch with my friend Megan.

In a little while my girlfriends Robbin and Bonnie are taking me to my favorite restaurant for my early birthday lunch.

Tonight I have a board meeting - at a restaurant.

Tomorrow, Shelly and I are having a birthday lunch.

And tomorrow night Mike and I are having a birthday dinner before we have a triple date with Michelle & Melissa and their hubbies (we're seeing "Dinner for Schmucks" - hope it's funny!) and then out for birthday cake and ice cream.

At least I'm getting exercise for my jaws, right?