North Cascades: Adapt and Overcome

Montana truly is BIG SKY COUNTRY! Simply put...it dwarfs everything on the horizon. Even gargantuan mountains seem to bend to the might of the sky. Not to mention the sky's toughest soldier...the wind! Good Lord! My hands were glued to the wheel to prevent me from flying off the road...and thats only when I got to the mountainous west half of Montana. The eastern half was flat farm land as far as the eyes would stretch. On that side of the state I'm surprised I didn't require mid-stop refueling while battling the east moving wind from hell!

14.9 Yup. Currently my least favorite number. Fine I'll tell you. Thats how low my fuel economy dipped while driving across eastern Montana. The countering winds were THAT overpowering. Oddly enough...I didn't care. I had never seen a sky like this before. On top of that, there is something about tall grass that I have always found soothing...that includes hay and any kind of vegetation in general that makes waves in the wind. Eastern Montana is more or less a Golden Ocean (Copyright!...does that count, legally? Pat? Shannon? Some legal advice, please...)

Mountain! I finally get to see Mountains! And God bless those beautiful green pines! Forest green has always been my favorite color but this may be the first time I've actually seen the color that inspired the crayon.

Yada yada yada

Keep in mind this post is covering a span of two days. My path could be laid out like such:

Theodore Roosevelt --> Medora, ND --> Butte, MT --> Missoula, MT (Sleep!) --> Coeur d'alene, ID (laundry!) --> Winthrop, MT

By the end of these two days I fully expected to be within the boundaries of the North Cascades National Park. NOPE! Route 20, the road that cuts through the park and is essentially its only access point on the eastern side was shut down due to a 10+ mile land slide! Let me say that again...a TEN PLUS MILE landslide! So yeah...no go. I ended up spending a little time in the town of Winthrop and miraculously made it out without procuring a new cowboy hat or participating in a duel at high noon. Feel like I missed out.

Making it into the park that night was not an option. So I settled for sleeping in the National Forest, but only after getting as far down Route 20 as I could just to see the Cascade Mountains up a little closer. Amazing! Catching them at twilight may have made the spectacle even greater! The night's views would only be a tease for the awe and peaked glory that lay ahead of me.

The Forest turned out to be a great time anyway! Two folks, Will and Marie, were taking a vacation from there pilot jobs! So Cool! Well anyway, they noticed that I was alone and setting up camp in the dark. All I said was, "Hi" to Marie and next thing you know, I'm being invited over to their site for dinner. She makes a mean burrito! Totally beat the backpacking food I'd been devouring for the last couple weeks. The cold beer they offered me didn't go unnoticed either. Ahhh.

Well this hiccup in my plans, while proving to be fruitful in new friendships, set me back a bit. Thats ok...adapt and overcome. The next day the plan would be to loop around the southern border of the park and approach it from the west.

Folks, I'm really only scratching the surface with these write-ups. And the pictures just don't do any justice to anything. Consider this blog a teaser trailer for more detailed compendiums in the not TOO distant future.

I've had the last two days out of the wilderness visiting friends in both Seattle and Portland (where the dream of the 90's IS alive). Tomorrow I get back into what has become my new comfort zone...the wilderness! Consider this the last post for at least a week.

On a final note...talking to myself for almost two months now is hilarious when I sit down and think back about it. This has been my longest stretch in a civilization since starting this quest and I gotta say, having the chance to sit and reflect on what the hell just happened...well in truth, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Although the comedic value of looking back and picturing myself essentially turning into Robinson Crusoe or Tom Hanks from Castaway and having week long conversations with ONLY myself has given me plenty to laugh about the last two days.

Is everyone else doing ok?

KNEEL BEFORE SKY!

Not positive but I think Maximus from Gladiator just passed through here...wait...am I dead?

My noble steed! - Top half way down, baby!

Not shown here, but we drag raced later...

 

If you can see passed the legions of dead bug remains, you'll see the first mountain in The Walkabout

Passed the dead bugs, and the enormous storm...the mountain gets closer!

 

Same here...but here you have Winthrop, Washington

No I didn't order a sarsaparilla here neither! At this point I don't deserve it!

It was dark and my shutter speed was slow...sorry folks...actually looking at these...I think that's the case for quite a few of them. Oh well...I'm not getting graded on these.

Theodore Roosevelt: South Unit: Riders on the Storm

As promised, good people, the final post on Theodore Roosevelt National Park! 

I never originally planned to stay here for the duration that I did. At first, three days tops sounded like more than enough time I'd need at this park I'd never even heard of before. Looking back, my additional time was time well spent. 

So without further adieu...I give to you the Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit. Now not a great deal of time was spent soaking up the sights. The wildlife, however, was abundant...and not very shy, save a handful of prairie dogs. In fact the most rewarding aspect of this portion of the park was to view the wildlife - ranging from prairie dogs to beasts as large as a horse and buffalo - travel in their "towns," teams, or herds.

The prairie dogs had an alarm system that they would initiate every time I got too close. One doggie would start yelping in a very staccato cadence - almost like a fidgeting conductor - every time I got within a certain distance of the "town." While entertaining, I didn't want to mess with them and intrude on their animal kingdom...come on, folks, haven't you seen the Lion King or Pocahontas?! How about Ferngully? Man, Disney used to be so good! Anywhoo....

While I was in the South Unit, time favored me enough to allow adequate moments to set up camp before the most heinously enormous (Does that even make sense? I don't care...I live in the woods now, rememeber?...Cut me some slack...I've been talking to myself for 2 months now, isn't that right, Mike?) storm arrived. You'll see below what I'm talking about. If I didn't know better I'd say that Saurman was preparing to unleash his world-ending army out to destroy me and everyone else in its horizon-engulfing path (Well at least we know I'm still a nerd). 

Well before I come to my senses and realize that other people might read this, I'm going to wrap up this rambling. 

Also, who doesn't like a good horse picture. "Look at that horse!" Some of you will get that one. Finally, the next morning, some almost heavenly haloed-Buffalo wished me farewell as I left the park to head west across the great, enormous state of Montana. 

A prize to the first person to guess where I'm headed next...

Chillin'

Remind anyone of a certain viral Youtube video of yore?

Prairie Dog Town!

I mean, if I were to draw a picture of "Impending Doom," it might look like this.

After the storm, I drove 11 miles around the park and found this place...good place to think and sit. Not necessarily in that order.

Old gray mare ain't what she used to be?

Whats the National Geographic? You should totally hire me? Fiiiiiiine!

No! Let ME get out of the way...

Cowboys of Moo Mesa?

My friend Shanan owns this shop in Medora, ND. Not sure if she has a website but, Shanan, if you check out the blog still feel free to leave a comment for followers to check out.

Jameson, of course. Looking back however I wish I order a sarsaparilla.

Not sure about the antelope but check on the Buffalo!