ENCORE III: HIDDEN
LAKE
Dave
made another nice breakfast Friday morning.
Afterwards we broke camp and parted ways. He was heading to Waterton
Lakes National Park, in Alberta, Canada.
From there, he planned to continue on to Banff and the heart of the
Canadian Rockies. I was heading in the
other direction, as I needed to be in Missoula that evening.
I
only had about half a day for my last hike of the trip. I needed to be back at the Kalispell airport
by mid-afternoon to swap rental cars. I
had made a separate one-way reservation to Missoula, because making two separate
reservations saved me a couple hundred dollars.
Originally
I thought about doing a short but challenging hike up Elk Mountain on the
southwest side of Glacier. However, the
view from the summit is primarily to the south, into the Bob Marshall
Wilderness. At last check, there was a
major wildfire burning down there. I was
afraid that smoke would ruin the view.
Also, I hadn’t driven Going to the Sun Road on my current trip, and I
wanted to do that before leaving.
Ultimately I decided to drive across the park, with a stop at Logan Pass
so I could do the short, easy hike to the Hidden Lake overlook.
The
highlight of the drive was a stop along St. Mary Lake at a viewpoint of Wild
Goose Island. Dark clouds were hovering
around the peaks along the Continental Divide.
That made for cool photos, but they didn’t bode well for my hike to
Hidden Lake. I was hopeful that
conditions would improve by the time I reached Logan Pass.
That
didn’t happen. It was cold, windy, and
raining when I parked. Unfortunately I
didn’t have time to wait around for conditions to improve. I changed clothes in the bathroom and began
the hike above the Visitor’s Center. The
weather did improve somewhat, as the rain stopped and the clouds began to break
up. The swirling clouds added a lot of
beauty to the hike, as they continuously broke and reformed around the
surrounding peaks.
The
trail was incredibly busy despite the marginal weather. I guess it’s always busy, since it is an easy
but exceptionally scenic hike.
I
hiked on to the Hidden Lake overlook.
Fog was obscuring the lake when I arrived, but it followed the pattern
of clearing and re-forming that I was now familiar with. At various times I was treated to nice views
of the lake and Bearhat Mountain beyond. Unfortunately the resident mountain goats
were absent during my visit. I loitered
there for a bit, but the wind was howling across the pass, and it was still
chilly. I hiked back quickly, and
continued on down the Sun Road. By the
time I reached Lake McDonald the sun was out.
I stopped at the Sprague Creek Picnic Area, where I had a quick
lunch. Then I drove down to Apgar village,
where I picked up some gifts for my wife.
I also checked at the ranger station to see if my duffel bag had turned
up, without luck.
From
there it was on to the Kalispell Airport.
I swapped rental cars, before driving south towards Missoula. I drove down the east side of Flathead Lake,
which is huge and impressive. Even more
appealing were the views of the Mission Mountains from the town of Polson. Those peaks are impressive, and even feature
some glaciers. It might be worthwhile to
spend a few days hiking there on a future trip.
MISS YOU SO BADLY
“I
guess it all blew up in Missoula
There
just was no other way
After
months of going crazy, there was nothing left to say
But
when the dust had finally settled
And the
air had quickly cleared
Well,
things were better off than I had feared.
And I
miss you so badly, girl I love you madly
Feeling
so sad now since I’ve been gone, gone, gone
It gets
quite confusing, it seems that I’m losing
Track
of the long days since I’ve been home.
We’re
staying in a Holiday Inn full of Griz fans,
I guess
they meet there 6 times a year
They
exchange football stories
And get
drunk on Moose Drool beer
Then
they’re off to Washington-Griz
With
their eyes glued to the field
I don’t
think I would ever let ‘em medicate
me.
From “Miss You So Badly”, by Jimmy Buffett,
written by Jimmy Buffett and Greg Taylor, with a few minor alterations in the
last paragraph.
I
drove on to Missoula. I picked up some
Moose Drool on my way into town, and then checked in at the Holiday Inn. My wife had shipped me a package a couple of
weeks earlier containing clean clothes and a pair of tickets to the Appalachian
State / Montana football game on Saturday night. Getting that package was a huge relief! I had originally planned this whole trip
around the football game. When the
football schedule came out a year earlier, I knew there was no way I could miss
the game. The University of Montana has
one of the best stadiums and game day experiences in FCS (formerly 1-AA)
college football. Appalachian State, my
Alma Mater, had played there twice before.
We lost twice in the semifinals of the playoffs; once in overtime, in a
blizzard, and once on the last play of the game, again in a blizzard. I had high hopes that this game would have a
different ending, or at least that it wouldn’t be played in a blizzard.
I
took a shower and drank a Moose Drool (simultaneously) before driving the
rental car over to the Missoula airport.
The Holiday Inn sent a shuttle over to pick me up. It was nice to be once again liberated from
having a car! I got a call from my friend
Brian while I was on my way back to the hotel.
He had just arrived! I’d talked
him into riding out from Seattle to join me for the weekend in Missoula. He had recently purchased a motorcycle, and
had survived the 10 hour ride on I-90. I
was really psyched that he had made it out.
The weekend in Missoula would be a lot more fun with his company!
That
night we explored downtown Missoula. The
Holiday Inn is strategically located in the heart of town, just across the
river from the University of Montana campus.
We strolled through town, and ended up at Biga
Pizza. This restaurant had been
recommended to me by a family I’d met at the Hole in the Wall campsite half way
through my backpacking trip. It was a
fantastic recommendation! Biga’s served us the best pizza I’d had in a long, long
time. We enjoyed a few local brews while
we were there, too.
Afterwards
we went bar hopping. The first bar we
visited was festive, but really loud.
After a couple of beers there we decided to roam. We headed over to Red’s, which is more of a
sports bar. This decision was
fortuitous, because we ran into my friends Bill, Sallie, Iggy, and Jen
there. My wife, my buddy Eric, and I sit
with them at all of the Appalachian football games. This was cool, because I didn’t know they
were coming, and they didn’t know I was going to be there, either. The Missoula weekend was just getting better
and better.
We
had a couple more beers there before heading back to the hotel. Bill and Sallie were still partying, but
Brian and I are just a little too old to keep up that pace for a full weekend.
The
next morning started with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Then we wandered through the local farmer’s
market, which is massive. We strolled
around downtown, and did some actual shopping.
Brian bought gifts for his wife and daughters, and I picked up a wallet
and a few other odds and ends. We also
toured another street market, which was more geared towards arts and
crafts.
I
was really impressed with Missoula. This
was my third visit, but my first chance to really spend a lot of time in
town. Missoula is either a small city or
a really large college town, depending on how you look at it. Either way, it’s vibrant, with an incredible
amount of youthful energy. It reminds me
a bit of Asheville, NC, with its emphasis on the arts, music, food, and
beer. Oh, and there are dogs
everywhere. I hadn’t seen my dogs in a
month, so I took a few opportunities to pet random dogs that we passed on the
street.
We
returned to the hotel for some early afternoon recovery. Then we went to work on the case of Moose
Drool I’d picked up the previous day.
After that warm up, we hoofed it across town for an early dinner and
some pre-tailgating at the Iron Horse Brew Pub.
I indulged myself in wings and beer, while Brian had something more
sensible, like a salad or something.
Afterwards we headed over to Washington Grizzly stadium to see what kind
of trouble we could get into. It was
weird to plan on tailgating without food or beer or music or a car, but I
figured it would work out. And it
did. The tailgating scene outside the
stadium was fantastic. Practically every
tailgate we passed offered us food and beer.
Griz fans sure know how treat their
guests! In fact, one of them had
organized a tour of Missoula on a “beer bus” for Appalachian fans the previous
afternoon. It had included a tour of the
city, Big Sky Brewery, and Washington Grizzly stadium. Oh, and the bus featured a full keg of Moose
Drool. I hated that I missed that!
Before
long we ran into Bill, Sallie, Iggy, and Jen again. We all hung out with a bunch of Griz fans until shortly before kickoff. On the way into the stadium we passed a
couple dozen people looking for tickets.
The game was sold out, which is rather unusual for FCS college football. Montana football is a big deal regardless of
the opponent, but the Griz fans were definitely
excited about this game. Appalachian
brought quite a few fans too, despite the fact that most of us traveled all the
way across the country. Brian and I
couldn’t believe how many we ran into roaming around downtown Missoula.
The
game featured an 8pm kickoff, which was a good thing. It was sunny with temperatures in the 80’s at
game time. I was wearing jeans because I
didn’t know what to expect from the weather when I packed my box of clean
clothes a month earlier.
Brian
and I had a blast right up until kickoff.
Things went downhill after that.
Montana always has a good team, and we usually do, too. However, as the game unfolded, it became
apparent that we were outmatched. That
was ok, though. It was still worth going
to the game to visit Missoula and experience the tailgating and the atmosphere
in Washington Grizzly stadium. Wa-Griz is one of the loudest stadiums I’ve been in, and
that includes Penn State and LSU, among others.
Brian
and I attempted to hit a bar after the game, but every place we went was packed
with celebrating Griz fans. We eventually conceded defeat and headed back
to the hotel.
The
next morning we had another leisurely breakfast before Brian hit the road. I then caught a shuttle over to the Missoula
airport. An Alaska Airlines flight took
me to Portland, where I had an 8 (!) hour layover. I spent most of that time reading the first
book of The Game of Thrones, which Brian talked me into buying. That proved to be a great way to kill
time. I took a red eye flight on USAir from
there to Charlotte, arriving early on Labor Day morning. It was great to see the wife and dogs after a
fantastic trip to Montana!
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