"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." {Luke 2:4-7}
There is just something utterly romantic about being a lone traveler over Christmas. No, I'm not talking about traveling to see family, while that is always nice. But something a little more uncommon. The thought that it is "ok" to spend a Christmas alone is a very curious thought to almost everyone. It was certainly for me. My parents were talking about going to New York City for Christmas, but I had already planned my trip for New York in October and did not have any more vacay time at work. It wasn't until early November that I started thinking about what I was going to do for 3 glorious days on my own while everyone else had their own festivities to attend.... why not another mountain adventure?? Of course with this white slippery stuff called snow and below freezing temps, might be a teensy bit more difficult. Alas, I could not think of a better way to spend Christmas than to get away from all the distractions and materialism of the holiday season and subject myself to bitter cold temps and spectacular mountain views of the Bitterroot Mountains in Montana. Someplace I had heard a lot about from my grandmother, but never gone before.
So. Here I am. I left after I got off work yesterday. I took the long way to get here - down Highway 95 to Lewiston then through the gorgeous Clearwater National Forest on Highway 12. I spent the night parked at a trailhead in the forest - I flattened down the backseat of my Chevy Malibu Maxx, blew up an air mattress and bundled myself and my little dog up in two sleeping bags. Yep. It was a tad chilly to say the least. My little dog helped keep me warm and vice versa. I woke up in the morning and did not want to leave my sleeping bag, neither did my little dog. Finally got it together to get going about 8:30ish. My phone was literally too frozen to take a charge. Drove the rest of the way through the forest and stopped at Lochsa Lodge to use their restroom, change and got a cup of coffee. I then continued over Lolo Pass and into the Bitterroot Valley.
After exploring the Valley a bit, the mountains started calling my name so I started up this small country road... that turned into a mountain road... and I just went up and up and up and up until I noticed that my car was slipping around a little too much on the ice, so I decided to turn around. Big mistake. The place I choose to turn around was perhaps the most precarious place to do so. I would have to make a several point turn with one side being an almost vertical mountainside and the other side being an almost vertical dropoff. I found myself high centered on the snowbank, half my car on the road, the other half in the ditch and it wasn't going anywhere. To "gun it" would have sent me flying off the side of the mountain. eeek! I tried pushing my car and even digging it out with nifty little shovel/pick axe that just happens to be in my car. After talking with daddy.... I called for a tow and then took pictures just as the sun broke through the clouds across the valley.
After getting off the mountain, I explored a bit more, then settled into this cute little motel room where I am just chillin' and knittin' ... and bloggin' :)
This is the mountain I got stuck on:
And here is a cute little holiday tune about another Christmas traveler:
:)
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