Thanks

Sometime back in May and somewhere in the middle of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I set a personal expectation that I would record the events of each day of my trip in my journal. Even though I made this vow I usually dreaded the prospect of having to actually do it and a deep-down nagging feeling would settle in if I let the blog go for more than a day or two without an update. But as soon I as sat down to type each entry in earnest, I was so happy. I discovered that I like to write. Each time I considered the prospect of viewing, sorting and labeling my pictures, I felt like I was five years old again – and it was Christmas. The flash card was always full of fun surprises.

Even more than those positive feelings, the fuel that really kept the fire (rather, my laptop computer screen) burning was all of the positive feedback and encouragement I received from my friends and family during my trip.

So THANK YOU to everyone that has supported me, given me destination suggestions, and read my blog along the way. Though I was so far away, thank you for keeping in touch with the emails and the calls. Jill, Scott, Matt, Dawn, Jay, Emily, and Matthias; it was great to see you all along the way. I am glad you could join me (or I could join you.)

Briefly, a few numbers:

74 days
~ 13,000 miles
8 states
3 provinces
4 time zones
11 national parks
2 national monuments
2 oil changes & 2 haircuts

I consider myself to be very lucky to have been able to do this. Also, I consider it to be a warm-up drive for my next adventure when I drive to Patagonia (at the southern tip of Argentina.) But first, I’ll need to get back to work.

Talk to you soon...

Leif

I'M HOME ! ! ! !

In anticipation of my last day – and worried about somehow sleeping late despite two set alarm clocks – I did not sleep well during the night. But I was gung ho and chipper this morning to pack up and out, despite the prospect of the 2-mile portage on the return. Like the wilderness pros that we are, Matthias and I packed camp quickly and bolted across the lake. The return portage was sweaty as expected but it helped that the sun hadn’t even risen yet. We shaved 10 minutes off the portage compared to three days ago and were proud of it. It was another successful venture into the Boundary Waters.

Ol’ Conrad finally indicated to me how tired he was on the return drive to Ely. His gas pedal somehow was sticky and it took Conrad nearly 45 seconds to go from zero to sixty once we were back on the highway. Maybe it’s the fuel-injector or something? I hoped that he could get us as far as Minneapolis.

Back in Ely, Matthias and I took showers and cleaned up at the outfitters. Then we walked around the corner to a café for a stack of delicious blueberry pancakes with maple syrup washed down with coffee and tea. Heavenly.

We were soon on our way back to the Twin Cities. Highway 1 led us to Highway 61 which runs north-south along Lake Superior. I sighed to myself as we passed all of the wonderful stops along the shore (rivers, lighthouses, hiking) and I vowed to return before the end of the summer. We didn’t stop until Duluth where we just used the restroom and I called home to my parents and told them I was on my way! My mom offered to whip up some dinner and invited Matthias and me. We happily accepted and pushed on to the south along Interstate 35. We stopped at a Subway along the way to tide us over ‘til supper.

The Minneapolis skyline was a welcomed site. It was so good to be home! And Conrad was still working. Matthias and I entered my apartment without any problems (thanks again for taking good care of my place, Emily) and unpacked for just a bit before getting back on the road to my folks’ place. My dad grilled steaks and my mom prepared salads and macaroni and cheese the way it should be prepared: baked and with real cheese! Yum. My grandpa and aunt were there and it was just plain fun to relax and talk about the trip. Matthias and I returned to my apartment where we met up with Emily (the one and the same that traveled with me for 8 days earlier in the trip) at the hot tub and swapped a few stories before hittin’ the sack.

Return to Angleworm

Another beautiful day was in store for Matthias and me in the Boundary Waters. Our easy goal today was to return to Angleworm Lake in order to best position ourselves to get up and get out very early the following morning. We thoroughly enjoyed our oatmeal and tea around the campsite prior to departure and took our time on the trip. I was sorry to say goodbye to Gull Lake as we had the best campsite on it and the lake to ourselves. Our packs felt considerably lighter as we returned across two lakes and two portages to Angleworm. Once there, we just settled in and read our books. I went for a very short stroll up to the top of the small hill above our campsite. We finished the last of our Mountain House packages for dinner as we shooed the pesky squirrels that tried to grab some scraps. We had eaten well in the Boundary Waters; beef stroganoff, Mexican beans and rice, and pasta for dinners.

As always when I’m in the Boundary Waters, my legs started feeling a little squirrelly on the third day. There is always a lot of exercise for the upper body (paddling and carry the canoe), but there aren’t many hiking trails. So after a couple of days of sitting in the canoe and sitting reading my book, I had a lot of energy stored up. Matthias and I decided to paddle a little more around Angleworm. We paddled to the very south end of the lake to locate (again) the trailhead that would lead us back to the car the next day. When we entered the lake two days prior, we noticed a camp set up near the entry/exit point. It wasn’t marked on the map… As we approach the site in our canoe, a woman hailed us and we made small talk about the weather and such. She explained that she was in the woods by herself. She had planned to come with one other woman, but the other woman backed out at the last minute. So it seemed this woman carried all of her gear along the two-mile portage and set up camp at the entry/exit point to the lake. And she decided that’s as far as she’d go. And she planned on staying there for another 6 days in case her friend came back. It was all very strange and when she asked Matthias and me where we were camped I just waved down the lake and told her we were a couple of campsites down just in case she turned out to be a serial killer or something.

Matthias and I spent some time watching a loon on the lake. It was diving for fish. I did my best to anticipate where it would surface after each dive in order to position Matthias for a good picture. It paid off; he snapped off a few great shots.

We returned to camp and I began to get a little nostalgic about how this was the last night of my trip. Suddenly, I wished I had brought along a little whiskey to make a toast or something. Damn, it’s been a good trip.

We crawled into the tent early and set our alarms for 5:00 AM. The next day, we needed to return the equipment to the outfitters and I wanted us to have plenty of time to stop along the north shore of Lake Superior (if desired) on our way back to Minneapolis. I also thought it would be nice if we had a little down time in Minneapolis prior to getting Matthias on the plane the following day.

Gull Lake

Waking, I still felt the disc-smashing effects of the previous day’s 2-mile portage on my back and Matthias reported a little pain in his shoulder, unsure if it was caused by the paddling or the portage. On this day we decided to day-trip as we assessed our physical conditions. Following a breakfast of oatmeal and dried apricots, Matthias and I set our sights on a paddle to the east, then south. If we got tired or sore, we’d just turn around. Easy-peasy.

The previous day, I had sat in the stern of the canoe and steered it. Matthias was in the bow and provided the power. We switched roles as we crossed Gull Lake so Matthias could have a little practice in the back. We portaged from Gull to Gunn to Fairy Lake where we pulled the canoe up on an island and rested while we ate our sandwiches. The weather this day was just like the day before; the temperature was in the 70’s and an occasional cloud passed in front of the warm sun. As has been typical of my Boundary Waters experiences, we did not see a lot of wildlife. Just the lakes, the rocks, and the trees. I wondered a bit about the fishing in the area…

We turned the canoe around on Fairy Lake and headed back to camp. As we paddled towards our site, we visited another site on Gull that had been occupied the previous evening by other campers. It was situated facing south and on a flat, rocky peninsula that jutted out into the lake. It was beautiful! We decided that we would return to our camp, pack it, and come back here for the evening.

After having camped with Matthias for two weeks already, we had become very efficient at setting up and taking down camp together. We each knew exactly what to do and how to work together. So it didn’t take long to move our camp. We spent the rest of the day reading, eating and taking pictures.

Angleworm Lake

Matthias and I grabbed a quick carb-laden breakfast at the Super 8 before climbing into Conrad to drive to the trailhead. We headed east out of Ely then north towards Angleworm Lake. With the canoe strapped to the top of the car, it took only a half-hour to get there. As we cruised, the road turned from beautiful new asphalt to leveled gravel. We parked the car at the trailhead lot, took the canoe off the car, pulled our large Duluth packs out of the backseat, and began packing. I suggested that we pack a heavy pack and a light pack; the man carrying the canoe would take the light pack. The other man would take the heavy pack and the paddles. Matthias agreed with my suggestion. When I originally told him about the 2-mile portage, he assumed that we would carry the canoe together. I hadn’t thought to tell him it’s a one-man job. During portages, one lifts the canoe upside-down over one’s head and rests the harness on one’s shoulders.

He carried the canoe and the light pack and I took the heavy pack. The two-mile trudge through the woods took us an hour and even though it was still fairly early in the day, it was hot, and by the time we set our gear down at the water’s edge we were both drenched with sweat. I felt for a while as if I had crushed about 3 discs in my lower back. But as we peered around the little entry inlet and on up into stringy Angleworm Lake, I was SO HAPPY TO BE HERE! It was a great day.

With the wind strongly at our backs, we paddled three (or so) miles to the north end of Angleworm Lake. We had talked the night before about just camping at Angleworm, but the day was still young and we both had a bit of energy left in us. We made two more portages, including one for almost a mile, and entered Gull Lake. We selected a campsite on the northeast end of the lake and erected the tent. Matthias filtered water and read while I hung the bear ropes. An evening paddle might have been appropriate, but we were both pretty tired. For dinner, I cooked the pasta while Matthias prepared his delicious Insalata Caprese. As the sun set, a group of loons (Minnesota's state bird) congregated on our lake. I was used to seeing one or two loons on a lake at a time, but I counted eight altogether. I was fun to watch and listen to their unique calls. We watched the moon and stars come out, read by the light of our headlamps, and called it a night.

Our intention was to keep the campsite for the next night and do a day-trip to the west the next day.

Paul and Babe

To play it safe - and to feel best prepared to enter the Boundary Waters the next day - Matthias and I decided to arrive in Ely, Minnesota, today in order to buy groceries, pick up our canoe, and prep our equipment. We had reached the Bemidji KOA last night. The KOAs I visited on my trip were clean and orderly and every one had wifi access. But I couldn't imagine wanting to spend any time at one except to sleep; they are also crowded and worn.

From Bemidji, it was only 175 miles to Ely, so we had plenty of time to get there this day. We purchased some equipment and food at a Gander Mountain outdoor/sports store in Bemidji. Then we spent a short while walking along Lake Bemidji. The city was celebrating Crazy Days as well its first annual dragon boat races. People swarmed around the town. It was a perfect day in northern Minnesota. We stopped in the Bemidji visitor center and I took pictures of the iconic Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. From Bemidji, we passed through classic northern MN towns on our way to Ely, towns like Grand Rapids, Chisholm, Virginia and Hibbing.

We arrived in Ely in the late afternoon and scrambled to find accommodations for the evening. (We had decided earlier to sleep in a hotel.) We struck out at several places before grabbing the last spot at a Super 8. The room was probably available because it had only one bed, a gigantic hot tub next to it, and cost a (relative) fortune. We convinced the manager to haul in an extra mattress. We stocked up on groceries at Zups and picked our canoe and bear rope at Piragis Outfitters. We dined at Dairy Queen and watched the Twins on television. I felt like I was back in my "element." I love the north woods. I looked forward to dropping the canoe in the water the next morning. However, we would first need to carry it through the woods for two miles. (I wasn't looking forward to that part as much.)

Out of the office

I will be out of the office beginning August 5th and will return to the office on August 10th, during which time I will be paddling in the pure serene waters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. In my absence, please leave a message and I will return your call or email upon my return.

(See/talk to you all soon!)

Across North Dakota and into Minnesota (!!)

It was a windy night, but I slept well at the Juniper Campground. With a steamy forecast, I was happy that we would be spending a large portion of it in the air-conditioned car. Following a quick cereal breakfast, Matthias and I were back on the road; we drove north on Highway 85 from Teddy Roosevelt Park’s north unit for a few miles to Watford, North Dakota, where we picked up Highway 23 to the east. We stopped to refuel in New Town and then continued on 23 further to the east where we caught Highway 83 north towards Minot, North Dakota, a town known for its large Air Force Base containing the Stratofortress B-52s. We lunched at McDonalds, caffeinated ourselves at Starbucks, visited the local mall in search of a cowboy hat for Matthias (struck out) and purchased road trip music at Best Buy. An afternoon of large corporation consumerism at its finest!

We headed east out of Minot on Highway 2 on a long stretch of flat road surrounded by farms and grazing land. We stopped at the geographical center of North America in Rugby, North Dakota, for pictures and a coffee and lemonade at the Cornerstone Café as we pondered exactly how this calculation is made. The waitress couldn’t tell us, but she did know that since the location was first identified 45 years ago, it had moved 15 miles away “due to erosion on the coasts.”

We continued further to the east on Highway 2 and exited on Highway 281 to the south around the west side of Devils Lake to Fort Totten, an Indian War era relic that had maintained or restored 16 of its original buildings to include soldiers’ and officers’ quarters, stores, bakery, mess hall, wells, etc, surrounding the parade grounds. In 1890, it was handed over to the local tribe and used as a school until 1959 when it was returned to the state of North Dakota as a historical monument. The exhibits and visitor center closed at 5:00 PM; we arrived at 4:58. The nice lady operating the visitor center let us peek in windows and wander around the grounds while she counted the till and shut down her computer. From the fort, we headed north to Devils Lake where we rejoined Highway 2 to the east. The topography around Devils Lake was quite interesting; we drove on several land bridges in the area. The lake’s waves lapped on both side of the road only a few yards away.

We stopped for supper at the Perkins in Grand Forks at the eastern edge of North Dakota. I had breakfast for dinner and Matthias had soup and apps. The food was ok, but after the McDonalds for lunch and the Perkins for dinner, I felt a little sick. I felt like I needed to work it off by paddling a canoe for about 3 days…

Nearly as soon as we drove out of the restaurant… we crossed the Red River into Minnesota! The air was suddenly cleaner, the scenery more beautiful! I was very happy to be back in my home state.

We set our sights on the KOA in Bemidji, Minnesota, and drove east as the sun set behind us.

The Return to Roosevelt

A shower felt great this morning and I knew it would be needed as we were going to experience another hot day. Matthias and I broke camp, stopped in Medora for a few pictures and supplies, and hopped back on Interstate 94 for a few miles to the east where we picked up Highway 85 to the north towards Teddy Roosevelt National Park’s north unit. We stopped in tiny Fairfield at the Four Corners Café – the only café - for an 80-cent cup of coffee/tea and then pushed on to the park.

We stopped in at the north unit’s visitor center to peruse the books and trinkets and we watched a short video, something I hadn’t done on my first visit. Oh, the temperature was climbing outside… We pitched the tent at the Juniper Campground and then climbed back in the car to drive the 14 mile road through the park. We stopped at all of the informational and scenic pullouts and we walked about a mile and a half to a prairie dog town where I filled up my flash memory card taking pictures of those cute little guys.

We lunched at the picturesque River Bend Overlook where a ranger told us about the population of big-horn sheep that had been introduced into the park about 10 years ago. In his early days, she explained, Teddy Roosevelt considered animal conservation to mean “shooting and stuffing animals so others could see them.” By the time he became president, his view had obviously changed, as evidenced by the millions of acres of land he designated for conservation. But before the park came under protection, the population of big-horn sheep in the area became extinct. Originally, scientists believed that the species had died out and it wasn’t until the early 1990s when DNA testing was conducted to show that the species still survived out west in British Columbia. In 1996, and in secret to avoid meddling protests of animal rights’ activists, the National Park Service sent a team to British Columbia to capture, transport, and reintroduce a group of 20 big-horns (with approval of the Canadian authorities) into the park. The ranger estimated that the park can support a population of about 50 of these sheep, but the population has remained the same size since it was brought to Teddy Roosevelt.

Following this chat with the ranger, Matthias and I continued to the end of the 14-mile road at Oxbow Overlook, then returned to the visitor center to sip on cool sodas in the shade. The temperature today reached 91 degrees. We both indicated we’d like to move on towards the east (Minnesota!) the next day, skipping a return visit to the park’s south unit, because the forecasted temperature was even higher (around 94.)

We returned to our camp and sat in the shade. Matthias read his book while I wrote in my journal. For dinner, Matthias whipped up some ravioli and I cleaned up.

Battlefields and Musicals

With my homecoming on my mind, I made a few calls this morning to make arrangements to re-connect my cable modem in my apartment, restart my monthly magazine subscription, etc. I will be home soon!

Following that brief administrative delay, Matthias and I left the Billings KOA quickly this morning. We visited Billings’ Barnes and Noble and stocked up on reading materials for our upcoming trip to the Boundary Waters, music for the ride there, and a fix of coffee and tea.

Next we visited Montana’s Pictograph Cave State Park, located just 5 miles to the south of Billings. Not only was the scenery beautiful, with three looming caves forming a half-circle around a shaded glade and with a view of a creek below, the trail guide and informational placards around the park were very informative. Matthias and I ambled around the 1000 foot long trail and learned how the caves provided shelters for prehistoric hunters. An archeological dig in the 1930s uncovered paintings on the cave walls depicting meaningful events and spiritual topics. The caves seemed to be a perfect place for a prehistoric home; there was a water supply, fruits and roots nearby, cover from the hot sun, and animals in the plains above and the ravines and creek below. The day was quickly heating up. I was glad that we weren’t doing any serious hiking today.

From Billings, we headed east then south on Interstate 90 towards Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. It was nice to be back on the interstate, but I did miss the intimate feel of the two-line highway. We discovered a Subway, one of Matthias’ favorite American fast food joints, and a Dairy Queen, in Hardin along the way.

The national monument provided a great visitor center with Indian and cavalry artifacts collected from the battlefield as well as a collection of the accounts of the battle from both sides. On a patio behind the visitor center and just below the hill where Custer made his ‘last stand’, Matthias and I listened to two park rangers tell the story and provide interpretation of the events leading up to the battle, the battle itself, and the aftermath.

During the summer of 1876, three military expeditions left three different forts in the vicinity to pursue Lakota and Cheyenne Indians. In a nutshell, these plains Indians were trying to preserve their way of life (traveling nomadically, hunting on the open plains) and the primarily Euro-American settlers were exploring and moving westward in search of resources (including gold in this particular area.) The Battle of Little Bighorn was one of the last armed conflicts between these two groups. Lt. Col. Custer was the leader of one of the three expeditions and the first to take action with his command when he discovered a large encampment of Indians along the Little Bighorn River. Not wanting to wait for the support of the other two expeditions for fear of allowing the Indians to break camp and escape in the meantime, Custer divided his command into two groups and gave orders to attack. Custer most likely underestimated the power and fighting force of the Indians which included an estimated 1,500 – 2,000 warriors. Custer’s first group attacked, was repelled, and retreated leaving Custer and his men isolated from reinforcements. The made their ‘last stand’ on a grassy hill and no soldier was left alive. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were both present at the battle… I remembered the general story from when I was young – it was great to see the details open before my eyes. The National Park Service has been making an effort, over the past 25 years, to make the park and visitor center more inclusive of both points of view of Custer’s Last Stand, including renaming the park from ‘Custer’ to ‘Little Bighorn’, adding red markers along the plains were Indians had fallen (in addition to the white markers where the cavalry had fallen). Even one of the park rangers was Lakota and she integrated (albeit somewhat confusingly) Lakotan lore into her presentation. Following the presentation, Matthias and I drove along the crest of the hills where the battle had taken place over a period of two hot days in June, 1876. We read the placards (sometimes from the car) along the way.

We were definitely two-for-two on our day’s history tour so far. It was a nice change from hiking. From Little Bighorn, we retraced our path briefly on Interstate 90 to the north, took Highway 47 out of Hardin and connected with Interstate 94 heading east. The specific scenery already escapes me. I remember it was flat… Matthias drove part of the way beginning at exit 49 towards Medora, North Dakota. We rolled into Medora about 8:00 PM. I was back in familiar territory having passed through this area back in May! The famed Medora Musical had not yet opened for the season when I was here the first time, but it was in full swing on this night. All within 20 minutes, Matthias and I located the Medora Campground, bought a tent site for the night and drove up the hill to the top of the Burning Hills Amphitheater.

At the top, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Compared to the small, sleepy, old-western-style, reconstructed town of Medora, this theater was super-tech. We purchased our tickets at the modern ticket counter where the ticket girl accessed her Windows-based PC to select our seats and then we rode an open-air escalator down to our seats. The stage couldn’t have been better placed; the setting sun was shining on the rocky hills behind the old-western-style stage.

The 11-person group, the Burning Hills Singers, sang and danced in this western musical extravaganza while the 6-piece Coal Diggers fiddled and plucked away. Other colorful characters, including Teddy Roosevelt and Sheriff Bear, rounded out the cast. The show also included two featured attractions; a comedian from New York and the Mapapa Acrobats from Mbassa, Kenya. The acrobats were the highlight of the show. I recommend this show to everyone going to Medora.

Following the show, Matthias and I returned to camp and set up the tent. Then I lay out on the picnic table and stared up at the Milky Way for a while. I watched the satellites fly by and the stars shoot. I heard that one can see the international space station on a clear night if one knows where to look (but one didn’t.)

Lewistown and Billings, Montana

Congratulations to the Swiss on this anniversary day marking the founding of their confederation!
…
At Cobalt Lake this morning, Matthias and I heated up some oatmeal, packed the tent, and were on the trail returning to the trailhead by 7:15. The air was so cool, but we quickly warmed up as we hiked. The trip was a breeze; it was downhill nearly the entire way. We made it back in about 2 hours.

After packing the gear in the car, we bought coffee and a hot chocolate in the general store and headed back to East Glacier for a shower and to enter cyberspace. Just after noon, we said good-bye to Glacier National Park, and set off to the southeast towards Billings. We took Highway 89 to Great Falls where we picked up Highway 87 to Lewistown, where we expected to see a ‘classic’ Montana city frozen in time just the way it was in the 1910s. We parked the car on the main street in town and walked a few blocks up and back to the car. The town was quaint and contained a lot of the original building facades dated during the teens with a few placards here and there describing the architecture and history of certain buildings, but it was nothing extraordinary. We stuck around for only a few minutes.

The entire ride to Billings was what I originally envisioned Montana to look like; dry, flat, tree-less prairies with (of course) ‘Big Sky’. The road just rolled on and on. The terrain changed interestingly in Roundup, where sedimentary sandstone full of coal has been pushed up out of the otherwise flat landscape.

I was hoping to introduce Matthias to Dairy Queen on the road to Billings, but somehow that American staple eluded us. At about 6:30 PM, we arrived in Billings. We proceeded to the KOA campground, selected a tent site amongst the chirping crickets, and then made our way into downtown for a steak, Matthias’ treat. We dined at the Lucky Diamond on the 20th floor in the Sheraton Hotel building; Matthias had the filet mignon and I had the New York strip. The food was quite tasty, but the service was very poor and slow. Our waitress seemed more interested in serving a tourist group than a couple of scruffy-looking dudes at the corner window for some reason. The view of the town and the setting sun were quite nice. We drove around town for a little while and stopped at Albertsons to buy hot chocolate and a few other items. Billing is interesting; on the short stretch of road between the hotel and our campground, we passed a women’s prison, an oil refinery, the interstate, city hall, and the railroad.

Back at camp, we heated up the hot chocolate. Matthias read while I wrote in my journal. Tomorrow we plan to visit Pictograph Cave State Monument and Little Bighorn, site of Custer’s last stand.

Glacier National Park - Cobalt Lake

As far as I was concerned, we couldn't leave Browning early enough this morning. We returned to East Glacier and stopped at a little cafe, Brownie's. The service was horrendous and my food was crap. Brownie’s slyly renamed the ‘Egg McMuffin’ the ‘Sunrise Breakfast’ and charged me triple for it. (However, Matthias reported eating a tasty strudel.)

There was a train station in town; I was happy to learn later in the day that I could have ridden the train directly to Glacier National Park from St. Paul, Minnesota, a 22-hour ride. I put it on my list of things to do in the future…

The air temperature in East Glacier was much cooler than we had experienced the previous several days in other parts of the park. I’m not sure if it was due to our slightly higher elevation or good luck. It was welcomed. Matthias and I visited the Two Medicine Ranger Station to pick up our backcountry camping pass; we would hike to Cobalt Lake, 5.7 miles away and 1400 feet up, and camp for one night. We then proceeded to the trailhead at Two Medicine Lake where we parked the car and loaded our packs. We were already a well-oiled machine and it took just a few minutes. Matthias stopped in at the general store and purchased some gear, including a couple of handy Nalgene-like bottles which would help him more easily filter and carry his water.

We quickly passed around the east side of Two Medicine Lake, ascending briefly through marshland, then prairie, then forest. We stopped for pictures and to catch our breath at beautiful Rockwell Falls, then we proceeded up a series of switchbacks to a great terrain full of slate-like rocks and low conifers with a stream cutting through it all. The hike took only about two hours and fifteen minutes. I recommend it to everyone! Eventually, we found Cobalt Lake framed by the Continental Divide located above and beyond it. We erected the tent, hung our food on the bear pole, and rested for an hour. Matthias loaned me Robert Byron’s “The Road to Oxiana” which I read. Matthias brought his Montana guidebook along to plan our future endeavors.

Having regained our energy, we set off again to the top of the Continental Divide. This continental divide (aka the ‘Great’ Continental Divide) is the border between the two watersheds that flow to the Pacific and Atlantic (via the Gulf of Mexico) oceans, meaning that the water that runs and falls to the east of the divide goes to the Atlantic eventually and the water on the west side runs to the Pacific eventually. We saw mountain goats and big horn sheep on our way to the top. Just as we gained the hill, I realized how underdressed I was in my shorts and tee shirt. The wind was blowing extremely hard and it was cold! Smartly, Matthias was already wearing pants and he whipped out his windbreaker. The view was stunning; you could look for miles down a different valley on both sides of the divide.

The hike to the top was only about a mile and a half. We returned to camp, read and rested some more, filtered water from Cobalt and eventually made our way down to the food preparation area to cook supper. We met the threesome that was occupying the second campsite at Cobalt; a brother, sister and friend, all likely in their 50’s on a four-night hiking journey through the area. The ‘friend’ was an outdoor (fishing/hunting/hiking) writer who maintained a couple of columns and did freelance writing to fill in the gaps. He told us all about his craft and what it takes to get started. I listened intently and took mental notes. That sounds like fun!

Matthias and I returned to our site and eventually crawled into the tent. We discussed our attack plan for the next few days. So much to see and do! We set the alarm for 6:00 AM, planned get a shower and access the internet in East Glacier the next day, then push on to Billings, Montana, with perhaps a detour or two on the way.

Browning, Montana

The wind blew especially hard during the night and the rain started sometime around daybreak. The ‘plops’ on the tent kept Matthias and I inside for a little longer than we otherwise would have stayed. Eventually, the rain stopped and we exited the tent to heat up some oatmeal and pack up before walking back to the car. A few raindrops fells on us as we walked along Glenn Lake, but the weather improved the rest of the way. The sky to the south was hazy due to, we guessed, the fire around St. Mary. (Notice the haze in the attached picture!) We wisely took a longer break on the way back and conserved a little more energy for the steep push back up the hill to the car. We arrived sweaty and tired about four and a quarter hours after leaving our campsite. It was our first successful overnighter in Glacier; we would do one more before leaving the area.

Our plan was to head back to St. Mary for a shower at KOA. Then we would figure out the night’s sleeping arrangements. From a distance on our approach to the town, we could clearly see that the fire had spread during the night. Less than a mile from St. Mary, a man was standing guard at a road block; the town of St. Mary was being evacuated. The hard wind during the night had increased the affected area to 3,000 acres! St. Mary, the guard explained, was a ghost town and was currently being fire-proofed, (whatever that means exactly, I don’t know.)

We followed the detour along Highway 464 deeper into the Indian reservation to Browning, Montana. For about 10-miles along the way, we passed through the thickest smoke from the fire; the yellowish haze made the landscape surreal. We had identified a hotel in Browning in our guidebook just in case, but once we arrived in town, we decided to push on further to East Glacier, which would put us in a better location for the backcountry hike we had planned the next day. East Glacier existed, obviously, to provide services, meals and accommodations to the Glacier NP tourists. Due to the St. Mary refugees as well as other displaced tourists whose plans had been affected by the St. Mary fire, there were no rooms available anywhere in the town (or at least not at the 8 or 9 hotels we checked with.) We popped into a local laundromat/internet café to check our email and called ahead to the hotel back in Browning. We reserved their last room.

The rest of the day was administrative. We ate dinner at Taco Johns, cleaned our clothes at the laundromat across the street and bought groceries at IGA a couple of doors down. Highlights included the clean hotel room with the firm beds as well as the nice girl at Taco John's that gave us free drinks. Lowlights included the drunks, beggars, stray dogs, and other scaries around Browning. Nevertheless, it was a nice evening. Back the hotel, Matthias and I watched the Angels take on the Red Sox at Fenway. He read, I blogged.

Matthias and I were very lucky to have driven the Going-to-the-Sun Road just the day before it closed. With St. Mary evacuated and closed, there is no longer a way to access that road from the east.

Glacier National Park - Belly River Valley

We rose early, packed up camp, and set off back towards the US/Canadian border to find the trailhead to our Belly River Valley backcountry trail – the first of 2 trails we would hike while in Glacier National Park. The sky to the northeast was hazy due to the spreading fire. On the way to the trailhead, we inquired at the ranger station where they told us that the fire had increased to 250 acres and would probably last for weeks. Fortunately, it wouldn’t affect our hiking plans. Matthias and I then stopped in town for a coffee for me and a tea for him. We each made a couple of calls. Matthias is attempting to extend his trip for a day so we have a little more time to explore my hometown.

In the trailhead parking lot, just 100 yards or so south of US Customs, we packed our camping gear into our packs and walked into the woods. Ahead of us, we expected a hike of 10.3 miles along the Belly River and then the Mokowanis River, with a 700-ft decrease and a 300-ft increase in elevation. The trail descended through a forest following switchbacks then plateau-d in a vast meadow surrounding the Belly River. We followed the river until we crossed it on a wire-suspension bridge. We perfected our bear-calls as we walked. Our packs felt pretty heavy and were both relieved as we finally arrived at our Glenn Lake campground. Park Rangers’ horses were tied up at a nearby hitching post, but we never did see the rangers. There were four tent sites available, but Matthias and I were the only campers there. We had the place – including a pit toilette, food preparation area, food hanging area, and, best of all, a beach on Glenn Lake – all to ourselves. We arrived mid-afternoon and spent the rest of the day wading in the lake, reading, and journaling. The sky was clear, but the wind was blowing extremely hard. For dinner, Matthias cut up a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese while I cooked the pasta. I swear everything tastes better when camping.

Hungry squirrels and a mule deer popped by for a visit during the evening. Matthias and I crawled into the tent this night about 8:30 and spent a while talking before fading off to sleep.

Glacier National Park - Going to the Sun

I slept like a champ last night, probably due to the cool night air and the long hike the day before. After a quick breakfast of granola and tea, Matthias and I packed up camp, said good-bye to Waterton, and made for the border. We took Highway 6 to the southeast, which changed to Highway 17 once we crossed back into the US (Montana, to be exact.) Ahhhh, the US… It’s great to be back! Our encounter at Customs was brief, but thorough. We had to park the car, and the border agent told us about how Switzerland is an ally of the US – while he photographed and fingerprinted Matthias. One of the other agents confiscated an apple from the trunk.

From Highway 17, we turned south on 89 toward St. Mary, Montana. St. Mary is on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and serves as a gateway town to Glacier National Park (which we were about to explore.) Once in St. Mary, we took the Going-to-the-Sun Road (GttS) to the west. We stopped at the park’s St. Mary visitor center to get a better understanding of the lay of the land – and we reserved two backcountry camping permits for two different trips into the wilderness. We continued further to the west on GttS to the park-operated Rising Sun campground where we pitched our tent. The campground really wasn’t in very good shape and the tent-sites were close together. I’d recommend going to the Kampground of America (KOA) to anyone visiting.

We returned to the small town of St. Mary, bought groceries, ate a late lunch of burgers and fries at a local lodge and then we drove to the St. Mary KOA, because we were told they provided wifi access. As we were checking into cyberspace, there was a little commotion just outside the front door; someone noticed smoke coming from a forest fire burning to the south. Unaware of the consequences, I kept right on blogging…

Emails and blogs complete, Matthias and I got back on GttS and stopped again at the ranger station to inquire about the fire. It was about 8 miles to the south of St. Mary near Red Eagle Lake and was reportedly started by a human. The fire, it seemed, was quickly spreading. We stopped along the north shore of St. Mary Lake and looked to the south about 4 miles. Smoke jumpers were diving from planes into the vicinity to assess of the fire. Talk about on-the-job hazards; these jumpers were coming in low and fast. We took pictures and conjectured about what was happening.

We decided to take the GttS further to the west. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect besides higher altitude and a great view. The road opened in 1933 and at the time was considered narrow even for the Model T’s that dared to make the climb. The road stretches 52 miles east-west across the park, across a strand of the Rockies, and follows the Continental Divide for a short while half-way up from the base of nearly sheer cliffs. The ride was truly amazing. Even the crazy drivers that chose to delay 15 to 20 cars behind them by traveling at half the legal speed limit couldn’t ruin it. Logan Pass was the highest point on the drive and contained a wonderful ‘backyard’ with hiking paths up and around the open mountain meadow. Matthias and I stopped at the pass for a little while, took pictures of the mountain goats in and around the parking lot, and Matthias bought a couple of things at the visitor center.

We descended to the west and drove as far as Lake McDonald Lodge, a rustic old place built before the land was designated a national park. We sat by the lake for a while and peeked into the lodge then we got back into the car, crossed over Logan Pass again, and returned to a different lodge near our campsite that provided showers for $1.25. By this point, it was getting dark. We drove to a spot again on St. Mary Lake and looked across for a great view of the forest fire. Clearly it was spreading. It was beautiful to behold. We watched as trees torched. A note from the park warden placed under a rock on our picnic table back at our campsite told us that at 5:00 PM this day, the fire had spread to 50 acres and that a voluntary evacuation warning had been issued for the town of St. Mary. The warning didn’t include the campground, likely because we were more insulated from the fire by St. Mary Lake. Because it was late and because we had a late lunch, we skipped dinner and went to bed.

Waterton Lake NP - Crypt Lake

The Crypt Lake trailhead is accessible only by boat from Waterton town. Wanting to be on the first boat (at 9:00 AM) to the trailhead, Matthias and I rose early and wolfed down some cereal prior to heading to the marina to buy two round-trip tickets across the lake. We bought the tickets, and then packed our lunches before boarding the Miss Waterton. The ride was short and there were a lot more people on the boat than I expected going up to Crypt (about 40, I guess). Matthias and I should have positioned ourselves nearest to the exit on the boat so as to be the first ones off at the trail; instead, we were held up in a long line of people on the trail for the first hour of the hike.

We ascended through dense forest, then dusty hills on our 5-mile ascent to the lake. I was especially glad we had started early as the air temperature was quickly increasing. Near the end of the ascent, the terrain got interesting; in order to get to the lake, we had to tiptoe along a steep precipice, climb a ladder, and scamper through a tunnel which had developed naturally and was later enlarged. A marmot guarded the exit to the tunnel.

The lake was beautiful. We had lunch there, rested and stretched our legs, and I went for a swim. All the while, we shooed pesky horseflies. On our way back to the boat, we took a detour through Hell-Roaring Falls. They did roar like hell, but we could hardly see them and were not too inclined to get off the trail to see them, because there were reportedly bears around and we were pretty hot and tired. We made the 4:00 PM boat back to Waterton town and stopped again for a shower. We rested a bit on a bench at the marina, did a little shopping (for things like a newspaper, ice, and after-bite), then we had dinner at Subway. We visited a pavilion dedicated to the International Peace Park – a joint effort between Waterton Lake and Glacier National Parks to promote harmony, cooperation, etc…

We stopped at the Prince of Wales Hotel for a drink in the lounge overlooking the lake, and then we drove back toward our campsite, then beyond it, to the Red Rock Canyon where we walked the short self-guided trail and learned more about the geology of the park. Back at camp, I took no prisoners on the day’s sudoku while Matthias read his book. Later, I blogged while Matthias practiced his photography skills while shooting our fire, its reflection on a tree and the horizon. We intended to leave Waterton Lake early the next morning for Glacier in order to find a campsite over the weekend.

Waterton Lake NP - Rowe Lakes

Matthias and I visited the campground attendant this morning to switch our campsite to one with a fire pit - and we purchased camp and fire permits for the next two nights. Following a bowl of instant oatmeal for breakfast, we headed into Waterton town to refuel Conrad. The town is a quaint little place which was built up, it seemed, to cater to tourists. We drove around town a bit and identified all of the amenities we might need later.

Waterton Lake became Canada’s fourth national park in 1895. It is situated along the US/Canadian border in southern Alberta and the protected land continues across the border in the form of Glacier National Park in Montana. Wateron Lake’s popular catchphrase is, “Where the prairie meets the mountains.” It’s true; the grassy lands roll right up to the towering rocky hills. Interestingly, the first oil drilled in western Canada was drilled at Waterton Lake (around the turn of the century.)

Matthias, Conrad and I followed the Akamina Parkway out of Waterton town for about 5 miles to the west to a trailhead at Rowe Creek. The trail set off through the forest to a branch where we could follow the trail to Upper or Lower Rowe Lakes. We chose Upper and continued through a meadow, then switchbacks up to the lake. The trail was about 4.5 miles one way. We ate our packed lunch (ham & cheese sandwiches, trail mix) and rested in the grass, then followed the shore of Upper Rowe for a short ways to a creek that flowed out of the lake down to a smaller lake. We walked around the smaller lake, then down a dry creek bed at the end of which was a cliff with a stunning view of the Rowe River Valley and, straight below us, Lower Rowe Lake.

We returned to the car about 4.5 hours after we left it. We drove further west along the parkway to Cameron Lake, but were turned off by the large packs of people milling around so we headed back to town.

The weather was hot and sunny all day. We were tired and sweaty following our hike, so we ponied up for a $2 shower at the recreation center at Waterton Lakes Lodge. Following that, Matthias emailed while I scarfed down delicious triple chocolate fudge ice cream and made a couple of phone calls.

We returned to our hot windy campsite where we started a fire. I read the National Post while Matthias worked on a novel. For the first time ever, a sudoku puzzle stumped me. I turned it over to Matthias, but he didn’t fare any better. So we burned it in the fire. We fired up a two-course dinner consisting of Matthias’ famed Insalata Caprese and canned ravioli. I sorted through the days pictures before crawling into the tent for the night.

We planned to do a day hike to Crypt Lake, one of the park’s most popular hikes, the next day.

Head-Smashed-In

Matthias seemed to have kicked his jetlag with one night’s rest; we were up about 7:00 AM and enjoyed breakfast in the hotel lobby. We then packed and got directions to Wholesale Sports in Calgary before rolling out of the hotel towards downtown and the Glenbow Museum. Downtown Calgary was nice, although it felt a bit deserted. We parked next to the museum and walked along the pedestrians-only Stephen Avenue. We peeked into a couple of the shopping malls and took the elevator up to the third floor of one of the downtown malls to have a look around the Devonian Botanical Gardens, a glass enclosed garden complete with fish ponds and a glass ceiling about that allowed a view of the steel skyscrapers above and around us. We fed our caffeine monkeys at Starbucks.

As we strolled back toward the museum, we decided that primarily due to the great weather, today wouldn’t be a museum day after all. I think we just both wanted to head south to see Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and the push on to Waterton Lake National Park. We struck out finding a camping chair for Matthias at Wholesale Sports, but crossed the street to stock up on groceries at “The Real Canadian Wholesale Club”, which is like Sam’s Club or Costco, but without the membership fee. They didn’t accept credit cards and wanted to charge us four cents for each plastic bag we used to carry our groceries out to the car. We saved nearly a quarter by loading all of our groceries onto a flat-bed push cart.

On our way out of Calgary, we stopped at Heritage Park, but again, the wilderness was calling, so we took a look inside and decided to skip that one too. So we cruised south out of Calgary on Highway 2 and exited to the west on Highway 785 towards Head-Smashed-In.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that provides information on the history and culture of the Blackfoot nation and how they used this particular location – on the plain near a precipice - to drive buffalo to stampede over the cliff to their death below where the Blackfoot would in some way utilize all of the parts of the buffalo. The site is impressively built into the cliff. The name comes from the legend of a young brave who, about 170 years ago, wanted to watch the buffalo stampede over this cliff. He took a position under a ledge at the base of the cliff, like a man standing behind a waterfall. The buffalo jump was particularly good that day and as the buffalo piled up, they smashed in the poor brave’s head.

At the information center just behind the entrance gate, a girl robotically pointed out to Matthias and I the exact path we should follow through the exhibit. We rode the elevator to the top, visited the cliff, then walked down 4 stories through exhibits chronicling the history of the buffalo and their intertwined history with the Blackfoot.

Instead of going back to Highway 2, I decided to continue along 785. The asphalt promptly turned into loose mounds of gravel, so the going was slow, but we pushed on. We passed through hay fields and around several wind farms in which huge windmills were collecting power from the wind. Finally we rejoined the road to Waterton Lake on Highway 3. A few kilometers short of the park, we stopped for a very late lunch (at about 5:00 PM) at a spot on top of a hill with a great view of the park.

The camping gods were smiling down upon us and rewarded us with the last tent site at Crandell Campgrounds. Just inside the park, a black bear sprinted across the path of the car. It was funny to watch and listen to Matthias scramble to get his camera out to capture the sight. Our tent site was not shaded and didn’t include a fire pit, but no matter – we were happy to be there. We unpacked and erected the tent. Then we set off for a quick 2-mile round trip up to Crandell Lake. We did our bear calls on the way up and on the way back, Matthias filled is plastic water bottle with rocks and shook it like a rattle to scare off the bears.

We had the most delicious dinner; while I prepared an instant parmesan pasta packet (my specialty), Matthias concocted Insalata Caprese – tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, olive oil, vinegar, oregano and pepper. We topped it off with tea and Swiss chocolates Matthias had brought me from Switzerland. We tidied up camp, reviewed the day's pictures, and went to bed.

We were looking forward to a hike the next day.

Kings of Calgary

The rain didn’t help to dry my clothes during the night, but it did help to dissipate the humid air. The air was cool and dry this morning as I spent a while reorganizing the car to make room for Matthias. I was sad to leave my nice tent site, but I was looking forward to pushing on to Calgary to pick up my old buddy.

I headed south out of Lake Louise along the Bow River Parkway, an alternate route that runs parallel to Highway 93, then Highway 1, to Banff. The trees were closer to the highway and the road was much narrower so my speed was much slower, but the drive was nonetheless beautiful. I passed right by a multi-point buck as I drove. I turned off into the town of Canmore just as the highway bent to the east towards Calgary to ask a staffer at the visitor center where I could find a place to wash and vacuum my car. She gave me a map and told me all about my car-washing options in Canmore. I gave Conrad one final scrubbing before I drove to Calgary.

I lunched at McDonalds in West Calgary as I gazed across the freeway at the enormous ski jump which was used during the 1988 Olympics, then I drove to the airport to scout out hotels in the vicinity; I booked a place at the Best Western Airport. It is clean, the staff is courteous, and the beds are flat and firm. That gets five stars from me. Tonight would be my first night in a hotel bed since June and I was looking forward to it. I checked into cyberspace for a few minutes before I left for the airport.

Just as I was walking into the Calgary International Airport, the power in the entire complex went out. The lower level of the terminal was pitch black. People stopped walking and talking and you could have heard a pin drop. My first thought was that something sinister was happening. The auxiliary power kicked in after about 20 seconds and I heard a woman behind a car rental counter complain that that was the fourth time that’s happened in the last month due to some ongoing construction around the terminal.

That 20-second power outage would affect the flight traffic for the rest of the day. The computer systems went down, the escalators and elevators stopped working, and for a brief while the baggage carousel system was down. Flights backed up, and Matthias’ arrived about an hour later than scheduled.

But finally he arrived! He had endured a long flight from Frankfurt, but was nevertheless upbeat. It was great to see him. We cruised back to the hotel as we started getting caught up on our lives. We spent a while viewing pictures of his recent trip to Italy (and by recent, I mean very recent - he was there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and today is Monday) and his 2003 trip to Alberta and British Columbia. We compared notes on a few of the places we visited that we had in common. Neither of us was very hungry, but we decided to go out in search of dinner. We drove in the car, it turned out, across the street to Denny’s. He had a chicken salad while I had the All-American Slam breakfast. Mmm, good.

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was about 6:00 AM Swiss time. Matthias climbed into the sack and I wrote my journal.

Columbia Icefield, Moraine Lake

I woke up this morning because the sun was so high it was heating up the tent. I had slept very well. Hiking, I decided, would wait until the evening. I climbed into the car and headed back to the north on Highway 93 for about 80 miles towards the Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Glacier.

The Columbia Icefield is situated among the peaks of the craggly Canadian Rockies. About 30 glaciers flow outward from the icefield, including the Athabasca. The icefield is the largest in the Rockies and feeds many of the surrounding river systems, including the Columbia. I wouldn’t actually visit the icefield; that would take a day or two with either a guide or a lot of luck so as not to fall into a crevice on the ascent. So I first visited the Icefield Center, which seemed more like a modern airport terminal than a visitors’ center. Bustling with tourists, the climate controlled building contained numerous ways to spend money, information video screens, and electronic signs indicating departure times for the “snocoaches” – large ATVs – departing for Athabasca Glacier every 15 minutes or so. These snocoaches are monsters and cost nearly $500,000 each.

The Icefield Center also contained a nice museum/exhibit containing more information on the natural and human histories of the icefield. I especially liked the hand-carved oak sign that once marked the boundary between Jasper and Banff national parks. It was carved by Hans Mauer in the 1940’s while he was working at an Alternate Service work camp for people who wanted to serve their country, but were conscientious objectors to WWII. Also on display was interesting time-lapse video of glacier movement and erosion.

I drove to near the foot of the Athabasca Glacier and hiked a short distance the rest of the way. It was cool and very windy at the base. The short hike included many signs identifying the dangers of falling into a glacier crevice. In a nutshell, hypothermia sets in within minutes and then you die. The last three people who slipped into a crevice in the area perished – including one boy who only 5 years ago slipped in just meters from the path. I got the point and stayed within the designated hiking boundaries.

It was a nice visit, but I had several things I wanted to do during the day, including laundry, blogging, and a hike around Moraine Lake, near Lake Louise. I also needed to clear a spot in Conrad for both Matthias and his gear as I would be picking him up in Calgary the next day. I returned to town, purchased an ice cream sandwich and a 24-hr wifi pass at The Depot. Then I visited the Lake Louise Inn to do my laundry. There was a waiting line. Arghhh!!! And the dryer didn’t dry. Double Arghhh!!!

I left with damp clothes in my laundry bag, but all of my worries disappeared when I caught my first glimpse of Moraine Lake, about 7 miles beyond Lake Louise. I don’t know if it was because the sun was setting or nearly all of the tourists had gone, but Moraine Lake became my favorite spot in Banff NP. The setting was perfect and the air temperature just right for a two mile hike to the other side of the lake and back.

I returned to camp, hung out my wet clothes to dry, fixed supper, and then headed back into Lake Louise village to post this blog entry. I expect that I’ll return to camp for a shower, then sleep.