RED, RED SUN
We had a little trouble
getting up the next morning, knowing that it would be our last in the
Park. For breakfast, we had everything
that was left, which consisted of eggs and cinnamon buns. We broke camp and drove to Logan Pass, where
we stopped at the Visitors Center to buy postcards. It was a cloudy morning, and we noted that it was only 58 degrees
there at 11AM. While we were there, we
spotted three male Bighorn Sheep posing along the road. They created quite a stir, but we only watched
them long enough to get a few photos.
Afterwards, we endured a slow drive down to the Avalanche picnic
area. We found a spot there to park,
just off the Sun Road. Christy decided
to wait for me there, while I did a quick hike up to Avalanche Lake.
I left at noon, telling
Christy I’d be back before 3pm. The
hike started out nice, as I followed a boardwalk through a forest of old-growth
cedar. Eventually the cedars gave way
to water-scoured rocks of Avalanche Gorge.
This was also interesting, but unfortunately, the gorge and the cedars
ended up being the best part of the hike.
Hiking from there to the
lake was like trying to run through a parade going in both directions. I’ve never seen that many people on a trail
before. Most of the hikes we did in the
park were busy, but this was incredible.
I weaved my way through the crowds, and after an hour of tedious hiking,
finally reached the lake. Avalanche
Lake was a little disappointing, although the day probably had a lot to do with
it. It was cloudy and smoky, although
the surrounding peaks were still in view.
It was interesting to look up at the ridge high above, where we’d eaten
lunch on our way to Floral Park.
Avalanche Lake is probably a more desirable destination earlier in the
year. During snowmelt, there are
multiple waterfalls tumbling down the cliffs and into the lake. Today, there was only one with a significant
amount of water.
I had a brief snack and
walked part of the lakeshore before heading back. I was shooting for the all-time speed record on my return, but
the crowded trail slowed me down.
Despite battling the hordes, I reached the road in just over 30 minutes.
When I arrived, I was
startled to see an ambulance, with lights flashing, parked in front of our
picnic site. This was alarming, as it
was right in front of the spot I’d left my wife 2 hours earlier. I hurried over, and spotted Christy
immediately. She looked shaken, but
unharmed. She quickly filled me in. Shortly after I’d left, there had been a
horrific bike wreck right in front of our picnic site. Apparently some touron had been driving up
the Sun Road, towards Logan Pass. When
he reached the picnic area, he turned left, but he stopped in the middle of the
road. Unfortunately, there was a large
group of cyclists coming down the road at that moment. Apparently he didn’t see them. They were going downhill, and had no chance
to stop. Three cyclists hit the stopped
car, with two flying over the roof.
My wife saw the whole
thing. She’s an avid road cyclist, and
she was rather traumatized by the whole event.
She did her best to help the injured, providing first aid until the
ambulance arrived. There were some
serious injuries, but fortunately, nobody was killed.
The ambulance left shortly
after I returned. At this point, we
were both ready to hit the road. We
stopped at the Apgar Transit Center, and picked up Christy’s boots from the
lost and found. Then it was on to
Kalispell, and an extremely late lunch at Taco Johns. From there, we drove down the east side of Flathead Lake. Unfortunately, the view from there was the
same as it had been when we’d driven in 10 days earlier – smoky. In fact, you could hardly see beyond the
lakeshore. We could’ve been driving
along the coast of Maine on a calm, foggy day for all I knew. On a couple of occasions, the smoke thinned
enough that we could see the fiery red ball of the sun burning through the
smoke.
The smoke continued all the
way to Missoula. In fact, as we started
to close in on I-90, it actually got worse. Then, we passed a sign warning that the road ahead was
closed. We continued on, and soon began
passing dozens of highway patrolmen. What
was going on? The road was still open,
but it looked like it might be closed at any moment.
A few minutes later, we
discovered the reason for the impending closure. A massive wildfire was burning on the hillside above us. We passed through a small neighborhood, and
saw the flames racing through dry grass towards a handful of homes. There was a large group of firefighters
there trying to save the houses, but the outlook looked bleak. The fire was already less than a hundred
yards from the first homes, and the fire was racing out of control. It was an ugly situation, and, having never
seen anything like it before, it was rather frightening. We passed by a large group of people in lawn
chairs along the side of the road. At
first I thought they were spectators, but then I realized that they were
probably residents of the neighborhood that had been evacuated. Christy and I were both subdued by this
depressing sight for the rest of the drive to Missoula.
The smoke actually got worse
in Missoula. The city was directly
downwind of the fire, and we couldn’t see much of anything when we arrived at
the Hilton Garden Inn. Despite the
conditions, we drove into downtown.
Visibility was reduced to a block or two, and simply breathing was a
challenge. Despite this, the people in
Missoula didn’t seem to let it faze them.
They simply went about their lives.
We saw folks enjoying a minor league baseball game, and others at some
sort of fair. Lots of folks were out
walking in downtown. Everybody we met
was friendly, and I admired their spirit.
The city seemed quite attractive, even though we couldn’t see much of
it. Missoula’s definitely a place I’d
like to visit again, hopefully in better conditions.
We had dinner and Moose
Drool on draught at the McKenzie River Pizza Company. Then we headed back to the hotel, where we spent a quiet evening.
We checked out early the
next morning, and had breakfast at the IHOP next door. Then we headed out I-90 west, passing right
by the edge of the Black Cat fire once again.
There was only a little bit of actual flame visible now, but the smoke
was still awful. In fact, we were most
of the way to Idaho before we could see blue sky again.
It took us 8 hours to drive
from Missoula to Seattle. Once back in
Seattle, we headed downtown to my all-time favorite Thai restaurant for a late
lunch. We endured some insane driving,
but managed to snag a choice parking spot along the waterfront. After a short walk, we arrived at Typhoon
only to find out that they were closed until 4pm! We settled for a quick bite at a teriyaki place, before returning
to the car. We then ran back up to REI,
where I picked up a replacement cartridge for my water filter and another
canister of stove fuel. Then we headed
back to the ferry terminal, where we just missed the ferry, as usual. The 4:40 ferry finally delivered us to
Bainbridge Island, and we headed back over to Brian and Jill’s. Once there, we had fun cleaning out the
rental car and packing Christy’s luggage in their driveway.
That evening, Jill made us
some awesome BBQ chicken. We hung out
that evening, but the exhaustion of our travels sent us to bed early.
We were up at 6 the next
morning to go to the airport.
Saturday’s logistics were challenging.
After I dropped Christy off at the airport, I was heading to the North
Cascades for two more weeks of hiking.
Unfortunately, I had to return the rental car that morning. Brian was nice enough to let me borrow his
car (he commutes to work by bus, ferry, and foot), which saved us quite a bit
of money on this trip. Somehow we
managed to get all of Christy’s luggage and my gear into his ’88 BMW. Christy drove his car to the airport,
following me in the rental. We stopped
at Thrifty first, and dropped off the Jeep.
At the airport, we parked, and I helped Christy inside with her
luggage. I waited with her in the
security line, until we approached the screening area. At that point, I had to leave. The moment was a little bittersweet. I was looking forward to hiking in the North
Cascades, but I knew that my 2 weeks up there wouldn’t be the same without her.
Christy and I had a great
time in Glacier. The trip was barely
over when she declared it her new favorite National Park. For me, it’s right up there, along with
Olympic and some of the parks in southern Utah. The hiking was fantastic, and we saw far more wildlife in Glacier
than in any other park we’ve visited. Our
hike through Floral Park was the most scenic, challenging, and adventurous of
our lives. We’ll definitely be
back. I’d like to do a couple of hiking
trips taking advantage of the chalets at Granite Park and Sperry (including
another visit to Floral Park). My dream
trip, though, is a week-long backpacking trip traversing the northern part of
the park, from Chief Mountain customs at the Canadian border to Kintla
Lake. The logistics involved in pulling
that route off are daunting, but I think the trip would be worth it.
Back to Montana
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!