Sun.Sept. 25 - Sun Oct. 2, 05 Lewis/Clark, Sulphur Springs, Glacier Park Montana, Polebridge, 28 mile hike and bear!
Sunday Oct. 2, 2005.
Still raining hard. More snow sprinkled the mountain tops in the valley. A few local people came down to look at the river and said hello as I cooked breakfast beside the car. Hot porridge, boiled eggs, sourdough bread and tea. Each one of my visitors was dressed in camouflage clothing- typical wear in these parts. One man who had moved from the Adirondacks said that Montana was a great physical place to live but one couldn’t earn a decent living here. Although everyone was guaranteed a job the minimum wage was very low. Many of the men here have long hair and or beards. You can tell the outdoor workers or sportsman from their healthy complexions. The vehicles of choice seems to be a truck with a diesel engine.
Completed my laundry and grocery shopping in Columbia Falls. Stocked up for the week as the prices were reasonable after I signed up for the discount card. Caught up on my web banking: put some more money on the credit cards, checked the performance of my portfolio for the past week. I sold my Viceroy gold stock earlier in the week for a $500 profit and now need to reinvest. My guru’s newsletter recommends more energy trusts as the price of oil will stay above $60.
Stopped in at a Montana Coffee House in town which is a franchise that uses Costa Rican coffee (with the laborers getting a fair deal, environmentally responsible, etc.). They have a happy hour with a dollar off an espresso. Because they had not made a fresh pot of regular coffee the waitress gave me an strong espresso at a regular coffee price and the $1 off. Nice bargain but I learned that strong coffee does not agree with me. Too hard on the nervous system. I am going to restrict myself to an early in the day coffee. I had just bought a filter to try and make myself a morning coffee rather than buying it in a restaurant but I think I will have to monitor my caffeine intake.
Wrote this log sitting on a river bank watching fisherman and hunters come and go. Montana obviously attracts the sportsman. Men with guns slung across their back passed the car a few times. The weather is clearing up a bit but the forecast isn’t good. I hope to see the famous “Road to the Sun”, rated as one of the most spectacular highways in the world, but it’s been closed for the past few days due to avalanches. Regardless of the weather I hike tomorrow.
Found another spot to write this blog and sleep by the river. Supper will be a can of locally made stew. Too dark to cook a real meal although I have a good supply of fresh vegetables.
Saturday: Oct. 1, 2005
Hot cinnamon buns and Danish’s with more coffee for breakfast. Deb and her husband (the pastry chef extraordinaire) own and run the operation. They even have apprentices including Sheila. Their granddaughter Daysha joined Dick and I for breakfast in a small nook in the corner of the store.
Dick showed me enlarged colour photos from a small portfolio in his car of some of his previous hikes in Alaska which included close-ups of numerous Grizzly bears feeding and playing. The other notable photos were of him at the peaks of Alaskan mountains in unbelievable snow conditions. I had met a truly remarkable man to take on these challenges on his own. (He climbed some places in Alaska with his brother who lives there. Dick calls his love of adventure ‘personal freedom’ and considers it a rare commodity that most people have relinquished. It ties in with a great respect for the environment and fully appreciating every moment in life.
We said a sad farewell at noon and headed off to our respective destinations. We will keep in touch. Dick publishes his 1000 mile a year hiking itinerary so people can join him part of the way. I promised him I would get ready for back country (overnight) hiking for next year.
It was still raining hard so I headed south about 30 miles out of the Glacier region to the town of Kalispell to shop for gear for my next hike. Purchases included a pair of leather waterproof boots (the price ranges from $40 to $200). I bought mine at Wal-Mart and may rue the day. They were so relatively inexpensive that I could afford to buy better ones if needed. Then at a hunting goods store I bought a basic a headlamp with LED lights, thermal polyester under garments, rain pants, Merino wool socks and a small stash of dehydrated food. E.g Chicken and Rice, two servings for $5.49 US – just add boiling water
I slept on the bank of the Flathead River (which had risen about three feet with the rains) just outside of the village of Columbia Falls. The country roads which led to the river were dotted with modern homes on spacious land. The mountains just a few fields away were snow and cloud covered and were illuminated by occasional moon beams.. Owls hooted around my campsite. Rain pelted down waking me up in the night. This is the life-if you don’t weaken.
Friday. Sept. 30, 2005
Dick and I had breakfast at the store and lashings of good coffee. There was a patio set of willow furniture superbly handcrafted on the store porch and a second round of munchies and coffee helped use up the morning. We chatted with the owners of the store, locals and other tourists that popped in on a regular basis – rather surprising given the remoteness of the place. However, retirees have been buying up properties en masse.
We spent the rest of the day drying out our gear and planning next moves. Dick is going to hike backcountry for 4 days. I am going to try and see the Sun Highway and do day hikes.
Lunch was a beer from the store and another of their great sandwiches. Fochacia cheese, eggplant, mushrooms and other delectable ingredients. I took a photo of the counter display but couldn’t read the ingredients when I processed the pictures, which was a shame because I would like to have tried some home baking when I finally settle down.
I did some self surgery on my heel to relieve the blister and used Uncle Ben’s Bee’s Wax ointment as the salve (contains Zinc). Problem was there were two blisters, one on top of the other and things got a little confusing. I hope the blister doesn’t; infect and trigger off my cellulitis. My poison ivy rash finally subsided this week – almost one month since I picked it up at Devil’s Tower. Other than these two minor irritations I feel very healthy.
Supper at the Saloon next to the grocery store – owned and operated by Heather, I believe related to the store owners.
The saloon was built about 1900. Very small log building (historic site). It survived a fire in the valley in the late 1980’s that destroyed a dozen or so historic buildings. Anna Hoffman was out waitress, the only waitress and she provided superb, highly energetic good service, which included a quick chat showing a genuine interest in her customers. The place was packed (about 20 people) with locals and a few tourists. The menu was a choice of 3 pizzas. Best I have ever tasted. I have a Moose Drool which is a Porter, for libation. The place was cozy, comfortable and will be a special memory. Dick and I sat with Cynda and Richard whom we had met earlier in the day. Cynda teaches rafting on the Glacier rivers. Richard, we were surprised to discover was her father (very young looking) He owns a construction operation in Colorado. I tool pictures of the group and promised to send them on.
We slept in our respective vehicles at the Forks of the Flathead River. It rained hard through the night and temperatures dropped to about 40F.
Thursday: Sept 29
Destination Browns Pass, a 28 mile round day trip if we were lucky. Up at 6.30AM Dick served hot home brewed coffee and porridge to me through my driver’s window. We were off shortly after 7. It was critical to be on the trail shortly after sunrise so that we would be back before dark if at all possible. The hike was marked at about 28 miles with a difficult final accent. Total elevation change about 3000 feet. However, one other factor the weather. It had started to rain and this could turn into snow at the elevation we were going to just below 7000 feet. Regardless we set of. We followed a relatively level trail along Bowman Lake for seven miles through a very leafy and some times dense trail. Then it the trial began to slope. Again walls of forest on either side but then at about the 11 mark the forest opened into a huge canyon amphitheatre with the cliffs rising thousands of feet. Ribbon like waterfalls cascaded from cliff tops fed by glacial lakes. Great expanses of green meadows spread out at the lower slopes and shale rock created skirts at the base of the cliffs. We looked for goats or bears but saw none. What we did see coming from the valley below, drifting upwards assisted by strong winds were dense rain clouds which soon were dumping sheets of water on us. We still had a few miles of the steep train to finish. Dick pointed out numerous previous avalanche falls that had stripped away section of rock and trees of their path. The climb up was goat path, enhanced by Forest Service employees. The grade was called horse grade which was no steeper than 12%. However, the wind and the rain compounded by sweating from the climb made it an uncomfortable climb. I didn’t have all weather gear so I had brought a golfing umbrella which apart from turning inside out every few minutes protected me from getting drenched.
We found a primitive campsite (bare necessities). Just a note on the campsite. The sleeping areas were set up hundreds of feet from the food preparation areas. The food prep. area was just off the trail.
The idea is that bears wood travel the trail just as humans do and come across the food preparation area first – not the sleeping campers. Now there is not supposed to be any hint of food anywhere and one can be fined if there is.
At the campsite we changed into dry clothes. For those experienced in back country hiking this may be ‘old hat’ however, for me discovering what to wear under these conditions was a great learning experience.
On the good side I had a water and wind proof jacket made by Misty Mountain. Under that I wore a 100% polyester track suit jacket and a 100% polyester long sleeved shirt. A wool toque and the hood jacket kept my head dry. All this top end gear worked very well to keep me snug and warm and dispelled moisture from sweating.
On the bad side I had a nylon tracksuit pant which was not water proof and cotton long pants. Soaking wet legs. And I had finally worn out my running shoes and a blister was developing on my right ankle. No good considering we had to walk 7 miles down the mountain on a path which was now a quagmire of mud and rock. Minor detail.
We had a great lunch. The food tasted amazingly good even though it was mostly peanut butter and jam, cheese, celery and avocado. Dick and I traded his home made trail mix and my apricots. We finished lunch and hiked the remainder of the 0.7 mile until we reached our destination which was the Browns Pass that crosses the Continental Divide. Took pictures of me trying to tame the umbrella. The spectacular views of glaciers that the brochure promised were obscured by clouds, but the sights on the way back down more than made up for this.
When we went back into the canyon from the pass the waterfalls were carrying far more water and the winds were causing enormous bursts of spray. Quite spectacular considering the falls were 1000 or more feet. Now the noise of the rivers had risen considerably and resulted in an unexpected sighting of a bear right on our path. The best way of avoiding confrontation with bears is to make noise while walking. They are usually shy and avoid humans. However, streams make a lot of noise and block the sound us approaching. The bear was medium size (200 pounds) and black. We were about 30 feet away when we saw it on out path. It stood up on its hind legs and sniffed. Dick had begun to raise his arms slowly and spread them out, which makes a human look bigger. There is a different technique for dealing with Grizzly hears. The bear responded by turning and loping back down the path away from us. We followed it’s footprints for a couple of hundred yards before they veered into the bush. We had seen claw marks on some of the trees where the bears had been looking for insects and grubs in rotten wood so we weren’t surprised to have met a bear. It made our day even though there hadn’t been time to take a picture.
We finished the last half hour of the hike in the dark. Dick’s LED headlight worked very well. Next item on my shopping list. My small flashlight was adequate until batteries began to get run down. Back to camp; an overall 12 hour hike. We drove to another camping spot by a meadow a few miles away. This place didn’t cost us a fee and if the weather was good we could start the day with a quick hike. Rain overnight changed the plan. A quick supper of baked beans and sardines and a chunk of bread and my day ended with a good feeling of comfortable exhaustion.
Wed. Sept 28, 05
Decided to do the Numa Peak trail about 6 miles, increase in elevation of 3000 feet. Rated as difficult. I was told by them Ranger snot to hike alone and so when a man pulled up to my car in the parking lot, and he looked very fit, about my age and I asked if he was interested in Numa. He said that’s what he was doing so made introductions and set of. He was indeed experienced. All the right equipment. I led the way and set a good pace and he obviously appreciated the speed we were moving at. We chatted about everything under the sun. He hikes about a 1000 miles in a six month time frame and then works the rest. He was in the military and trained pilots on survival techniques, including bush survival. So within the day I learned a tremendous amount about plants and wildlife, clothing and backcountry hiking. On the track we made lots of noise talking and banging sticks together and making whooping noises so that we would scare the bears away before we reached a spot. It was important to do this especially coming through the thick forest areas and on blinds spots in the path. We arrived at Numa Peak in two and a half hours and reveled in the beauty and the views. Small glacial lakes shone in the mountainsides. Snow covered peaks of granite soared above us. Mount Carter above Bowman Lake was awe inspiring. 3 young and obviously very fit young ladies reached the fire tower at which Dick and I were having lunch. We invited them to join us but they were rangers on a mission and we watched them go round the edge of the mountain as specks in the distance. Their voices carried for enormous distances.
The hike back to camp was uneventful other than stopping to gaze at glaciers and other awe inspiring views.
We got back to camp early – lots of sunlight left and cooked a campfire supper and thoroughly prepared our backs packs for the next days hike. Early to bed, 9PM.
Tues. Sept. 27, 05
Spent quite a b it of time talking Lorie King, Ranger assistant in Glacier Mountain Park. She lives nearby and has traveled through these mountains extensively. She and her husband sound like survivors. They grow their own vegetables and fruit.
Stopped at Goat Lick on Hiway #2. With the railway lines carrying freight trains across a gorge, above a mountain stream, beautiful white fluffy furry goats climbs the bluish grey rock embankment licking the rocks for minerals. An idyllic setting. I cooked breakfast in the parking lot. Tour buses vintage 1930’s from one of the many lodges stopped of with tourists. Many of the persons who came to this spot didn’t read the visitors sign indicating that the better viewing area was down a path about twenty yards to the right and therefore missed the goats.
Drove through beautiful canyons and river trails to West entrance of Glacier Park. Lake was being swept by heavy winds.
Drove to Polerbridge on the west side of the park the most uninhabited place in USA. Rugged scenery. The Flathead River runs close by. Shopped at the store. What an amazing place and food. Has been written up in the National Geographic. World class baked goods on display in a hundred year old store full of dusty displayed mountain artifacts, animal pelts, logging implements, antique snowshoes and so on. A continuous stream of blues and assorted well chosen music comes form a CD player in the back area of the store and various people serve at the counter and bustle around.
Met Zak. Graphic artist from Minnesota. He’s hiking alone. Not good. May never see him again.
Camped, paid the park fee of $6 for the night to save being woken up during the night by a lone/ly Ranger.
Monday, Sept. 26, 2005
Oh the joys; a trout stream, sandstone cliffs, fragrances of fall flowers and a hot sunny day. I set of on the road right away and decided to treat myself to a munch in Great Falls later in the morning. The early morning sunshine on the golden grain fields was Van Goghish. I must mention these grain fields. There are no fences; the fields follow the undulating hills as far as the eye can see for literally hundreds of miles. Periodically a few farm building nestled in sheltered valleys attest to farmers who care for the fields. It is quite astounding to see the magnitude of these operations.
Great Falls welcomed me with an avenue of car dealerships with thousands of trucks on display. When you consider the vastness, ruggedness and methods of making a living off this country you realize why trucks are the vehicle of necessity. The fast food restaurant ally was next and then a surprise. The downtown area was very modern and pleasant to walk around. I had a coffee and fabulous muffin in a café on main street. The waitress guaranteed that their coffee was the best and indeed it was. I asked if they could deliver it intravenously and another waitress came over, rolled up her sleeve and showed me a relatively fresh needle hole in her arm. “That’s how I take it all day long” she said. I chose the conventional method of absorption.
Then a visit to the Charles Russell Museum. It was named after a famous artist and cowboy. The museum is a top notch exhibit housed in a well designed modern building. The sculptures and paintings are primarily of cowboys and Indians. The artist captured the essence of Indian and cowboy life in hundreds of paintings which had been collected or donated. I took permitted photographs of some of my favourites. I also visited the log cabin adjacent to the building in which Russell worked and entertained. Well worth a visit.
Continued my drive north of #89 through Choteau and Dupuyer. The French names are because refugees of the Riel Revolution moved here. I picnicked at a rest stop and admired the setting sun on the mountain ranges a few miles west. I would be sleeping in the Rockies tonight. Entered Glacier National Park at the east entrance. It was dark so I found a logging road a few miles into the park drove in another couple of miles into dense woods and set up camp for the night-that is I slept in the car. This is serious Grizzly Bear country. All open food in the car was tightly wrapped in plastic bags and place in the car. My night clothes are kept so that they don’t pick up food odors when I am cooking.
I slept soundly under a starlit sky.
Sunday. Sept. 25,05
I slept Sat. night at a highway rest stop and tried my new sleeping bag. The night temperature dropped to 35F. and my bag is rated at -15F. I almost died of heat prostration. The bag is more bulky that my previous one and wrestling it out of its compression bag was a bit of work. Then getting it into the right position used more effort. Then when I zipped it up with me inside it was an oven. I left the zipper open all night.
I followed a Lewes and Clark Trail north on Hiway 89. Gold and silver mining areas and magnificent farm land. Then stopped of at a motel in White Sulphur Spring to which the public swimming pool is attached. $4.50 for as long as wish in the sulphur spring fed pool. Deliciously warm. Chatted with a few locals and regular visitors who came for a tonic. The water is chemically identical to Baden Baden in Germany. However, the owner of this spring doesn’t want crowds so one economy motel and a couple more motels up the street in a very small community. I lounged in the 100F water for an hour and a half. And came out thoroughly refreshed and relaxed. Little did I know what was in store for me later on. Hiked the memorial waterfall trail – short and pretty. The area has a lot of Neihart Quartz which is one of the hardest rocks in the Rockies. The rocks sparkled in the sunlight. The surrounding woods were dense Lodge Pole Pine. Behind was Big Baldy mountain at 9,000 ft. plus. I wondered if it was possible to climb it. I learned from a store owner in the hamlet of Neihart that one could . HE had a vision up there that god wanted him to build a sanctuary on Big Baldy and a large administration centre in Neihart. He had aerial photographs of the whole region and identified landmarks that looked like heart shapes which had some significance – oh, I remember the love of god. This is where the second coming of Christ is going to take place once Ed gets it ready. ED noticed that Jerusalem contains the letters USA and when he looked at a map of Israel notice that there was a town of Mizrah. It has a namesake just down the street from Neihart, USA. The dots began to connect in Ed’s mind.
I received a very professional pamphlet and DVD disc on the subject. Spread the word is the message. It’s called the Son of Man Project. That’s also the name of the convenience store. Remind me to check the name of stores before I go in for my lima beans. Ed Ellerman is the cofounder of the project. He can be reached at www.srnow.net/sonofmanproject.com.wrk/ or by Email:eeesompj@3rivers.net. Please ask President Bush to donate Big Baldy to the Son of Man Project: write to President of the United States, White House, Washington DC., 2051 or Email: www.whitehouse.gov. What the heck. If a man has a mission and needs a mountain it’s not too much to ask.
Decide to hike part of the Sluice Boxes Wilderness Park. It follows an old railway track now removed though a pretty canyon for a number of miles. Well I somehow lost the railway bed and had to cross the fast flowing river in bare feet; it was only about thirty feet across but I almost died with the cold. Pain started half way across. The rocks were slippery so I couldn’t rush. No more nice and warm and relaxed. I walked down the valley a little more, eating wild Choke Cherries. Then it started getting dark so I jogged back a bit looking for a crossing. Found some big boulders that would making crossing back easier. The trouble was the water was deeper around the boulders. It was harder to see now and I had to take a chance on how deep the water was, and shortening my time with my feet in the water, versus depth hazard. I lowered myself of a big rock. Waist deep at least. Back to shallow water and another thirty feet of numbing cold. Came across an abandoned lodge and outbuildings on the way back that had been trashed by campers or squatters had lived there. Lovely setting nested in the ravine and now a monument to senselessness.
A hot supper on the camp stove soon warmed me up. Hard to believe that Lewes and Clark probably ate a meal in the very same spot. Taking a chance that a Ranger would wake me up in the middle of the night - it was not a camping area, I crawled into sleeping bag and gazed up at a perfect night sky. Clean air, no city lights. Idyllic.
Still raining hard. More snow sprinkled the mountain tops in the valley. A few local people came down to look at the river and said hello as I cooked breakfast beside the car. Hot porridge, boiled eggs, sourdough bread and tea. Each one of my visitors was dressed in camouflage clothing- typical wear in these parts. One man who had moved from the Adirondacks said that Montana was a great physical place to live but one couldn’t earn a decent living here. Although everyone was guaranteed a job the minimum wage was very low. Many of the men here have long hair and or beards. You can tell the outdoor workers or sportsman from their healthy complexions. The vehicles of choice seems to be a truck with a diesel engine.
Completed my laundry and grocery shopping in Columbia Falls. Stocked up for the week as the prices were reasonable after I signed up for the discount card. Caught up on my web banking: put some more money on the credit cards, checked the performance of my portfolio for the past week. I sold my Viceroy gold stock earlier in the week for a $500 profit and now need to reinvest. My guru’s newsletter recommends more energy trusts as the price of oil will stay above $60.
Stopped in at a Montana Coffee House in town which is a franchise that uses Costa Rican coffee (with the laborers getting a fair deal, environmentally responsible, etc.). They have a happy hour with a dollar off an espresso. Because they had not made a fresh pot of regular coffee the waitress gave me an strong espresso at a regular coffee price and the $1 off. Nice bargain but I learned that strong coffee does not agree with me. Too hard on the nervous system. I am going to restrict myself to an early in the day coffee. I had just bought a filter to try and make myself a morning coffee rather than buying it in a restaurant but I think I will have to monitor my caffeine intake.
Wrote this log sitting on a river bank watching fisherman and hunters come and go. Montana obviously attracts the sportsman. Men with guns slung across their back passed the car a few times. The weather is clearing up a bit but the forecast isn’t good. I hope to see the famous “Road to the Sun”, rated as one of the most spectacular highways in the world, but it’s been closed for the past few days due to avalanches. Regardless of the weather I hike tomorrow.
Found another spot to write this blog and sleep by the river. Supper will be a can of locally made stew. Too dark to cook a real meal although I have a good supply of fresh vegetables.
Saturday: Oct. 1, 2005
Hot cinnamon buns and Danish’s with more coffee for breakfast. Deb and her husband (the pastry chef extraordinaire) own and run the operation. They even have apprentices including Sheila. Their granddaughter Daysha joined Dick and I for breakfast in a small nook in the corner of the store.
Dick showed me enlarged colour photos from a small portfolio in his car of some of his previous hikes in Alaska which included close-ups of numerous Grizzly bears feeding and playing. The other notable photos were of him at the peaks of Alaskan mountains in unbelievable snow conditions. I had met a truly remarkable man to take on these challenges on his own. (He climbed some places in Alaska with his brother who lives there. Dick calls his love of adventure ‘personal freedom’ and considers it a rare commodity that most people have relinquished. It ties in with a great respect for the environment and fully appreciating every moment in life.
We said a sad farewell at noon and headed off to our respective destinations. We will keep in touch. Dick publishes his 1000 mile a year hiking itinerary so people can join him part of the way. I promised him I would get ready for back country (overnight) hiking for next year.
It was still raining hard so I headed south about 30 miles out of the Glacier region to the town of Kalispell to shop for gear for my next hike. Purchases included a pair of leather waterproof boots (the price ranges from $40 to $200). I bought mine at Wal-Mart and may rue the day. They were so relatively inexpensive that I could afford to buy better ones if needed. Then at a hunting goods store I bought a basic a headlamp with LED lights, thermal polyester under garments, rain pants, Merino wool socks and a small stash of dehydrated food. E.g Chicken and Rice, two servings for $5.49 US – just add boiling water
I slept on the bank of the Flathead River (which had risen about three feet with the rains) just outside of the village of Columbia Falls. The country roads which led to the river were dotted with modern homes on spacious land. The mountains just a few fields away were snow and cloud covered and were illuminated by occasional moon beams.. Owls hooted around my campsite. Rain pelted down waking me up in the night. This is the life-if you don’t weaken.
Friday. Sept. 30, 2005
Dick and I had breakfast at the store and lashings of good coffee. There was a patio set of willow furniture superbly handcrafted on the store porch and a second round of munchies and coffee helped use up the morning. We chatted with the owners of the store, locals and other tourists that popped in on a regular basis – rather surprising given the remoteness of the place. However, retirees have been buying up properties en masse.
We spent the rest of the day drying out our gear and planning next moves. Dick is going to hike backcountry for 4 days. I am going to try and see the Sun Highway and do day hikes.
Lunch was a beer from the store and another of their great sandwiches. Fochacia cheese, eggplant, mushrooms and other delectable ingredients. I took a photo of the counter display but couldn’t read the ingredients when I processed the pictures, which was a shame because I would like to have tried some home baking when I finally settle down.
I did some self surgery on my heel to relieve the blister and used Uncle Ben’s Bee’s Wax ointment as the salve (contains Zinc). Problem was there were two blisters, one on top of the other and things got a little confusing. I hope the blister doesn’t; infect and trigger off my cellulitis. My poison ivy rash finally subsided this week – almost one month since I picked it up at Devil’s Tower. Other than these two minor irritations I feel very healthy.
Supper at the Saloon next to the grocery store – owned and operated by Heather, I believe related to the store owners.
The saloon was built about 1900. Very small log building (historic site). It survived a fire in the valley in the late 1980’s that destroyed a dozen or so historic buildings. Anna Hoffman was out waitress, the only waitress and she provided superb, highly energetic good service, which included a quick chat showing a genuine interest in her customers. The place was packed (about 20 people) with locals and a few tourists. The menu was a choice of 3 pizzas. Best I have ever tasted. I have a Moose Drool which is a Porter, for libation. The place was cozy, comfortable and will be a special memory. Dick and I sat with Cynda and Richard whom we had met earlier in the day. Cynda teaches rafting on the Glacier rivers. Richard, we were surprised to discover was her father (very young looking) He owns a construction operation in Colorado. I tool pictures of the group and promised to send them on.
We slept in our respective vehicles at the Forks of the Flathead River. It rained hard through the night and temperatures dropped to about 40F.
Thursday: Sept 29
Destination Browns Pass, a 28 mile round day trip if we were lucky. Up at 6.30AM Dick served hot home brewed coffee and porridge to me through my driver’s window. We were off shortly after 7. It was critical to be on the trail shortly after sunrise so that we would be back before dark if at all possible. The hike was marked at about 28 miles with a difficult final accent. Total elevation change about 3000 feet. However, one other factor the weather. It had started to rain and this could turn into snow at the elevation we were going to just below 7000 feet. Regardless we set of. We followed a relatively level trail along Bowman Lake for seven miles through a very leafy and some times dense trail. Then it the trial began to slope. Again walls of forest on either side but then at about the 11 mark the forest opened into a huge canyon amphitheatre with the cliffs rising thousands of feet. Ribbon like waterfalls cascaded from cliff tops fed by glacial lakes. Great expanses of green meadows spread out at the lower slopes and shale rock created skirts at the base of the cliffs. We looked for goats or bears but saw none. What we did see coming from the valley below, drifting upwards assisted by strong winds were dense rain clouds which soon were dumping sheets of water on us. We still had a few miles of the steep train to finish. Dick pointed out numerous previous avalanche falls that had stripped away section of rock and trees of their path. The climb up was goat path, enhanced by Forest Service employees. The grade was called horse grade which was no steeper than 12%. However, the wind and the rain compounded by sweating from the climb made it an uncomfortable climb. I didn’t have all weather gear so I had brought a golfing umbrella which apart from turning inside out every few minutes protected me from getting drenched.
We found a primitive campsite (bare necessities). Just a note on the campsite. The sleeping areas were set up hundreds of feet from the food preparation areas. The food prep. area was just off the trail.
The idea is that bears wood travel the trail just as humans do and come across the food preparation area first – not the sleeping campers. Now there is not supposed to be any hint of food anywhere and one can be fined if there is.
At the campsite we changed into dry clothes. For those experienced in back country hiking this may be ‘old hat’ however, for me discovering what to wear under these conditions was a great learning experience.
On the good side I had a water and wind proof jacket made by Misty Mountain. Under that I wore a 100% polyester track suit jacket and a 100% polyester long sleeved shirt. A wool toque and the hood jacket kept my head dry. All this top end gear worked very well to keep me snug and warm and dispelled moisture from sweating.
On the bad side I had a nylon tracksuit pant which was not water proof and cotton long pants. Soaking wet legs. And I had finally worn out my running shoes and a blister was developing on my right ankle. No good considering we had to walk 7 miles down the mountain on a path which was now a quagmire of mud and rock. Minor detail.
We had a great lunch. The food tasted amazingly good even though it was mostly peanut butter and jam, cheese, celery and avocado. Dick and I traded his home made trail mix and my apricots. We finished lunch and hiked the remainder of the 0.7 mile until we reached our destination which was the Browns Pass that crosses the Continental Divide. Took pictures of me trying to tame the umbrella. The spectacular views of glaciers that the brochure promised were obscured by clouds, but the sights on the way back down more than made up for this.
When we went back into the canyon from the pass the waterfalls were carrying far more water and the winds were causing enormous bursts of spray. Quite spectacular considering the falls were 1000 or more feet. Now the noise of the rivers had risen considerably and resulted in an unexpected sighting of a bear right on our path. The best way of avoiding confrontation with bears is to make noise while walking. They are usually shy and avoid humans. However, streams make a lot of noise and block the sound us approaching. The bear was medium size (200 pounds) and black. We were about 30 feet away when we saw it on out path. It stood up on its hind legs and sniffed. Dick had begun to raise his arms slowly and spread them out, which makes a human look bigger. There is a different technique for dealing with Grizzly hears. The bear responded by turning and loping back down the path away from us. We followed it’s footprints for a couple of hundred yards before they veered into the bush. We had seen claw marks on some of the trees where the bears had been looking for insects and grubs in rotten wood so we weren’t surprised to have met a bear. It made our day even though there hadn’t been time to take a picture.
We finished the last half hour of the hike in the dark. Dick’s LED headlight worked very well. Next item on my shopping list. My small flashlight was adequate until batteries began to get run down. Back to camp; an overall 12 hour hike. We drove to another camping spot by a meadow a few miles away. This place didn’t cost us a fee and if the weather was good we could start the day with a quick hike. Rain overnight changed the plan. A quick supper of baked beans and sardines and a chunk of bread and my day ended with a good feeling of comfortable exhaustion.
Wed. Sept 28, 05
Decided to do the Numa Peak trail about 6 miles, increase in elevation of 3000 feet. Rated as difficult. I was told by them Ranger snot to hike alone and so when a man pulled up to my car in the parking lot, and he looked very fit, about my age and I asked if he was interested in Numa. He said that’s what he was doing so made introductions and set of. He was indeed experienced. All the right equipment. I led the way and set a good pace and he obviously appreciated the speed we were moving at. We chatted about everything under the sun. He hikes about a 1000 miles in a six month time frame and then works the rest. He was in the military and trained pilots on survival techniques, including bush survival. So within the day I learned a tremendous amount about plants and wildlife, clothing and backcountry hiking. On the track we made lots of noise talking and banging sticks together and making whooping noises so that we would scare the bears away before we reached a spot. It was important to do this especially coming through the thick forest areas and on blinds spots in the path. We arrived at Numa Peak in two and a half hours and reveled in the beauty and the views. Small glacial lakes shone in the mountainsides. Snow covered peaks of granite soared above us. Mount Carter above Bowman Lake was awe inspiring. 3 young and obviously very fit young ladies reached the fire tower at which Dick and I were having lunch. We invited them to join us but they were rangers on a mission and we watched them go round the edge of the mountain as specks in the distance. Their voices carried for enormous distances.
The hike back to camp was uneventful other than stopping to gaze at glaciers and other awe inspiring views.
We got back to camp early – lots of sunlight left and cooked a campfire supper and thoroughly prepared our backs packs for the next days hike. Early to bed, 9PM.
Tues. Sept. 27, 05
Spent quite a b it of time talking Lorie King, Ranger assistant in Glacier Mountain Park. She lives nearby and has traveled through these mountains extensively. She and her husband sound like survivors. They grow their own vegetables and fruit.
Stopped at Goat Lick on Hiway #2. With the railway lines carrying freight trains across a gorge, above a mountain stream, beautiful white fluffy furry goats climbs the bluish grey rock embankment licking the rocks for minerals. An idyllic setting. I cooked breakfast in the parking lot. Tour buses vintage 1930’s from one of the many lodges stopped of with tourists. Many of the persons who came to this spot didn’t read the visitors sign indicating that the better viewing area was down a path about twenty yards to the right and therefore missed the goats.
Drove through beautiful canyons and river trails to West entrance of Glacier Park. Lake was being swept by heavy winds.
Drove to Polerbridge on the west side of the park the most uninhabited place in USA. Rugged scenery. The Flathead River runs close by. Shopped at the store. What an amazing place and food. Has been written up in the National Geographic. World class baked goods on display in a hundred year old store full of dusty displayed mountain artifacts, animal pelts, logging implements, antique snowshoes and so on. A continuous stream of blues and assorted well chosen music comes form a CD player in the back area of the store and various people serve at the counter and bustle around.
Met Zak. Graphic artist from Minnesota. He’s hiking alone. Not good. May never see him again.
Camped, paid the park fee of $6 for the night to save being woken up during the night by a lone/ly Ranger.
Monday, Sept. 26, 2005
Oh the joys; a trout stream, sandstone cliffs, fragrances of fall flowers and a hot sunny day. I set of on the road right away and decided to treat myself to a munch in Great Falls later in the morning. The early morning sunshine on the golden grain fields was Van Goghish. I must mention these grain fields. There are no fences; the fields follow the undulating hills as far as the eye can see for literally hundreds of miles. Periodically a few farm building nestled in sheltered valleys attest to farmers who care for the fields. It is quite astounding to see the magnitude of these operations.
Great Falls welcomed me with an avenue of car dealerships with thousands of trucks on display. When you consider the vastness, ruggedness and methods of making a living off this country you realize why trucks are the vehicle of necessity. The fast food restaurant ally was next and then a surprise. The downtown area was very modern and pleasant to walk around. I had a coffee and fabulous muffin in a café on main street. The waitress guaranteed that their coffee was the best and indeed it was. I asked if they could deliver it intravenously and another waitress came over, rolled up her sleeve and showed me a relatively fresh needle hole in her arm. “That’s how I take it all day long” she said. I chose the conventional method of absorption.
Then a visit to the Charles Russell Museum. It was named after a famous artist and cowboy. The museum is a top notch exhibit housed in a well designed modern building. The sculptures and paintings are primarily of cowboys and Indians. The artist captured the essence of Indian and cowboy life in hundreds of paintings which had been collected or donated. I took permitted photographs of some of my favourites. I also visited the log cabin adjacent to the building in which Russell worked and entertained. Well worth a visit.
Continued my drive north of #89 through Choteau and Dupuyer. The French names are because refugees of the Riel Revolution moved here. I picnicked at a rest stop and admired the setting sun on the mountain ranges a few miles west. I would be sleeping in the Rockies tonight. Entered Glacier National Park at the east entrance. It was dark so I found a logging road a few miles into the park drove in another couple of miles into dense woods and set up camp for the night-that is I slept in the car. This is serious Grizzly Bear country. All open food in the car was tightly wrapped in plastic bags and place in the car. My night clothes are kept so that they don’t pick up food odors when I am cooking.
I slept soundly under a starlit sky.
Sunday. Sept. 25,05
I slept Sat. night at a highway rest stop and tried my new sleeping bag. The night temperature dropped to 35F. and my bag is rated at -15F. I almost died of heat prostration. The bag is more bulky that my previous one and wrestling it out of its compression bag was a bit of work. Then getting it into the right position used more effort. Then when I zipped it up with me inside it was an oven. I left the zipper open all night.
I followed a Lewes and Clark Trail north on Hiway 89. Gold and silver mining areas and magnificent farm land. Then stopped of at a motel in White Sulphur Spring to which the public swimming pool is attached. $4.50 for as long as wish in the sulphur spring fed pool. Deliciously warm. Chatted with a few locals and regular visitors who came for a tonic. The water is chemically identical to Baden Baden in Germany. However, the owner of this spring doesn’t want crowds so one economy motel and a couple more motels up the street in a very small community. I lounged in the 100F water for an hour and a half. And came out thoroughly refreshed and relaxed. Little did I know what was in store for me later on. Hiked the memorial waterfall trail – short and pretty. The area has a lot of Neihart Quartz which is one of the hardest rocks in the Rockies. The rocks sparkled in the sunlight. The surrounding woods were dense Lodge Pole Pine. Behind was Big Baldy mountain at 9,000 ft. plus. I wondered if it was possible to climb it. I learned from a store owner in the hamlet of Neihart that one could . HE had a vision up there that god wanted him to build a sanctuary on Big Baldy and a large administration centre in Neihart. He had aerial photographs of the whole region and identified landmarks that looked like heart shapes which had some significance – oh, I remember the love of god. This is where the second coming of Christ is going to take place once Ed gets it ready. ED noticed that Jerusalem contains the letters USA and when he looked at a map of Israel notice that there was a town of Mizrah. It has a namesake just down the street from Neihart, USA. The dots began to connect in Ed’s mind.
I received a very professional pamphlet and DVD disc on the subject. Spread the word is the message. It’s called the Son of Man Project. That’s also the name of the convenience store. Remind me to check the name of stores before I go in for my lima beans. Ed Ellerman is the cofounder of the project. He can be reached at www.srnow.net/sonofmanproject.com.wrk/ or by Email:eeesompj@3rivers.net. Please ask President Bush to donate Big Baldy to the Son of Man Project: write to President of the United States, White House, Washington DC., 2051 or Email: www.whitehouse.gov. What the heck. If a man has a mission and needs a mountain it’s not too much to ask.
Decide to hike part of the Sluice Boxes Wilderness Park. It follows an old railway track now removed though a pretty canyon for a number of miles. Well I somehow lost the railway bed and had to cross the fast flowing river in bare feet; it was only about thirty feet across but I almost died with the cold. Pain started half way across. The rocks were slippery so I couldn’t rush. No more nice and warm and relaxed. I walked down the valley a little more, eating wild Choke Cherries. Then it started getting dark so I jogged back a bit looking for a crossing. Found some big boulders that would making crossing back easier. The trouble was the water was deeper around the boulders. It was harder to see now and I had to take a chance on how deep the water was, and shortening my time with my feet in the water, versus depth hazard. I lowered myself of a big rock. Waist deep at least. Back to shallow water and another thirty feet of numbing cold. Came across an abandoned lodge and outbuildings on the way back that had been trashed by campers or squatters had lived there. Lovely setting nested in the ravine and now a monument to senselessness.
A hot supper on the camp stove soon warmed me up. Hard to believe that Lewes and Clark probably ate a meal in the very same spot. Taking a chance that a Ranger would wake me up in the middle of the night - it was not a camping area, I crawled into sleeping bag and gazed up at a perfect night sky. Clean air, no city lights. Idyllic.
posted by Fred Pentney | 9:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home