Onwards, Upwards, Outwards

This is it. The final week before I say farewell to Bozeman and begin my journey.
Isn't it strange how one feels most connected to a place right before transitioning away from it?

It seems like ages ago that I was sitting at the house, trying to piece together all the details, deciding what to do.  Now, the time has arrived, the plans are set and soon I shall be back on the road.  My final week filled with hunting down boxes, narrowing out what to keep and what to pass along, spending final moments with friends and squeezing in last minute adventures.  Have I filled my time accordingly here in Montana? Done all that I set out to do?
There are many trails, still needing to be explored in the area, but I made it out to many, and found at last the elusive Palisade falls, which only took three tries before uncovering its not so very secretive spot. It just so happened that I was headed in the wrong direction!  But regardless of the direction, the searches each revealed new areas of exploration, sights of beauty that would have otherwise remained a mystery, and the slushing through the snow with the mountains always quietly watching, maybe even at times laughing.  Oh the wisdom they impart, what I have already learnt from them.
Yesterday, took me and my good friend Nina to Yellowstone National Park.  I have wanted to return for further exploration since my last visit in the fall, and boy was the day worth it.  Along our drive, we saw two wolves, each traveling solo...or were they playing a large game of hide and seek with one another? Capture the flag?  Wooly elk, greeted us from time to time along the road. At one point, I had rolled down the window, in hopes to catch a better glimpse, and to hear the heard's infamous bugling. One curious elk, came right up to the car, looking at the two of us looking at him, and nearly popped his head into the car! What an experience that would have been! I don't think I would quite now what I would do, if an elk put its hear right in the window. Pet it? Squeal with delight? Imitate a stone and not move?  What would you do?
Our days hope was to make it down to see Old Faithful.  The drive was amazing, with still much snow covering the ground. Every now and again, we'd come around a bend, steam coming up out of the ground. I never fully realized how many hot springs/ geyser sights there actually were within the park.  Once we had arrived in Old Faithful, we were lucky to tour the visitors centre, which has a great little exhibit room with great information about the park, in particular about how geysers work.  We explored the area while waiting for the next eruption, as we had about an hour of time. Letting our curiosity run wild, we peeked into the windows of the old Old Faithful Lodge.  Sadly it was closed for the season, but a few looksees into the windows revealed enough to let the imagination wander on what it must have been like to visit and stay in Yellowstone during the early 1900's.  Such a different world back then compared to now. I dare wonder what a family vacation would have been like. At 6:40pm, true to form, Old Faithful erupted, steam and water shooting high into the air.  It is an incredible phenomenon. What must it have been like, to be the first person to come across this site, and watch it erupt? Mind blowing is what comes to mind. Still is.
We watched the day pass in the park, leaving at sundown, making a long and snowy trip back home. Content.  On the way out of Gardiner, stood a small herd of Bison, peacefully grazing on the newly exposed grass, their backs slowly turning white from the fresh snowfall.  As I glanced at them, I thought how similar a look I shall be wearing in a few short weeks. I too will be out in open fields, though not grazing on grass, I have a feeling that even with planting, the snow shall fall some days, and my shoulders also, will have a dusting of snow.

Today, I pack.
As I begin to gather my things and fit them into boxes, I wonder if I will return to Bozeman to live here for another season.  The fall, still too far away to begin to know where life will propel me next. This is what the trail ahead is for, having the time to piece together the next plans, whatever they may be.  I do my best thinking while walking.