The Badlands Hike – Part 1
The clouds high in the big Montana sky were puffy and white. The sun was shining warmly on this early Spring day. The air smelled fresh and the grass rustled near the trailhead. I walked around to the back of my pickup truck and threw the last few items I’d need for the weekend into my pack. Sunscreen, water filter, first aid kit. I was headed out for a weekend of backpacking through the most remote sections of northern Montana; I wasn’t expecting to see too many other people. With my muscular arms I hoisted my fifty-pound pack onto my back, buckled the straps securely around myself, and then set off onto the trail. My long legs were thankful for the exercise. After months of confinement indoors during the winter, it was good to be …