27th Anniversary of the Incident of 1986

So... I turned 27 today. Perhaps it's that I'm still 'young' but I thoroughly enjoy birthdays and getting older. It just seems to me that the older I get the better life gets. I hope I never feel differently about this.

To celebrate my birthday this year in the same fashion as last year, I dedicated the day to do exactly whatever I wanted to do. At the top of my list the year was to stand on Wild Goose Island in St. Mary's Lake near the east entrance to Glacier National Park. This idea came to me a few weeks earlier as I sat pondering life and snapped this picture.

I've stared at that island several times since I first laid eyes on it at the age of 8, but on a more recent trip it was set in my head that everyone stares at it. Thousands of people a day- in the heat of tourist season- snap photos of it but if I wanted to do something different, I'd have to go to it. Conquer it.

So that's exactly what my roommate, Debbie, & I set out to do. 

However, when we got to Glacier that day we were greeted by nearly 20 mph winds & 3 ft white caps on the lake.

After assessing the situation over lunch at the WGI overlook, we decided to wait it out a bit and head to Many Glacier to see if any bears were out. Lucky for us, my record is still clean and I have yet to visit Many Glacier and not see a bear. After OoOoing and ahhing over the plump grizzly we decided it was time to reassess the situation at the lake.

Despite the strong winds, we decided to take one of the boards down to the rocky beach and test the waters, per say. 

It was too much fun. Even with the less than stellar waters, after playing for nearly two hours Debbie hiked back up to mi Baja & retrieved the second board to make the journey to the island.

While she hiked back up the mountainside, I decided to venture out to the island in an effort to make use of our dying sunlight.

That little dot the the lower right hand of the island is yours truly

There are no pictures of my solo trip to the island but the ones Deb took from the lookout, but I may or may not have sang happy birthday to myself (and a few others), thanked my lucky stars, & proudly stood on Wild Goose Island missing my parents more than ever (I made it Dad! I didn't accidentally kill/harm myself Mom!)

Around that time, Debbie joined me for a last few photos and a return back to the beach to check the time. 

Wild Goose Island from the back

Seeing as we had plenty of time to pack up and get down the road before closing time (they were doing construction on several parts of the Going to the Sun Road & closed from 9pm-7am on weekdays) we did as any Montanan would do when presented w/ a "private" beach and a beautiful lake at sunset; skinny dipping!

Right then the last tour boat of the night made it's round. -_- Here's to hoping NONE of the tourists had telephoto lenses!

A short hike back up the trail and we were on our way down the road. We stopped at Lake McDonald to eat our dinners on the dock & watched the sun set against the continental divide.

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes, phone calls, text messages, facebooks, & instagrams. You have no idea how much it means & how loved a girl can truly feel. 

Here's to another beautiful year. *cheers*