Remember Whensday: Mountain Goats at Cosley Lake

So for this Remember Whensday I'd like to post about something recent that made a really big impact on us. About a month or so ago we took a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana and had one of the best experiences ever. So many posts could be done about our trip, but one afternoon in particular made a really huge impact on Molly and me and I'd just like to share it. We took a five night backpacking trip in the park and, as you'll see in some of the pictures, we stayed on a giant glacial lake called Cosley Lake. At around 45 degrees, the lake was not much of a swimming hole, but it was gorgeous! One day we took a hike to Elizabeth Lake (around 4.5 miles away) and in order to get to the mountain pass we needed, we had to cross Cosley, and because the water and air were both chilly, it made sense to get naked in order to do so. Long story short, we ended up crossing Cosley with our bums hanging out, making it to Elizabeth, hiking back the same day only to cross again, and living to tell about the experience with a video of Molly laughing hysterically as her private parts are playing peek-a-boo with the wilderness.

Nine miles two days in a row is a lot (even for us :)) and the next day we found ourselves a bit wiped out, so we walked to the crossing section of the lake again and fished and napped all day. Although I didn't catch anything, I've never had a more relaxing time--the water was so clear I could literally see my fly sinking from 30 feet away--and Molls seemed to have a very nice time reading in her hammock (I must give her props...she fished for a little while too). Just as we were about to pack up and head back for dinner, a herd of mountain goats walked up behind us and watched us as if we were from another planet. Needless to say, we took as many pictures as possible, Molly stalked them into the undergrowth, and just being close to them was awesome enough, but as we stepped back and started to leave, the goats began to cross the lake at the same point we had the day before. As a family they organized themselves into groups (babies with adults) and then doggie paddled much more gracefully than we had done. When one baby and its baby sitter were left behind (too scared or curious about us to cross), the biggest male goat stood on the cliff across the stream and bleated encouragement. Best of all, he climbed down from his perch, swam back across the freezing water, and then crossed behind his two kids (that's what I like to imagine they were). The scene reminded me so much of my own parents, our Heavenly Father, and the kind of man that I want to be some day, and this simple encounter with nature left both Molly and I equally awed, excited, sort of wanting to have babies, and sort of wanting to get a goat. We were are so thankful for such a lovely memory.