Hitch 4
Writers’ block, readers’ block, workers’ block have set in my mind. It’s been a month and a half since I’ve updated this blog, and it’s not for lack of excitement. It’s probably the park taking hold of my soul, telling me “Oh, you know you don’t want to go back to Missoula. Stay here…with me.” It’s like a siren, whispering a silent song through the subalpine furs and glacial falls.
I just went back to Missoula for the first time in a month. Every time I drive into the valley a pit forms in my stomach. I don’t know what it is. It’s my home. I love Missoula more than anyone who has ever set eyes on it, but every year, every trip away, she feels a little bit more distant. But this return felt better, or at least better than expected.
We had our first editor meeting for the Kaimin, and my god do I feel unprepared. I’ve been hiking and collecting data for a project that pretty much has nothing to do with my career path this summer. But it feels right like I made the right decision to skip out on journalism for the summer, and I hope it turns out to be that right decision, because I sure needed the break. I just hope myself and my reporters can come through, because I don’t want to be the one who flops the first week of the paper. I may be psyching myself out. At least my job is to talk wilderness, outdoors, music and culture…I think I can do that. Well now I’m done with my sappy diary entry.
Here’s what I did last hitch.
Day 1: Autumn Creek
Today, I got to lead my first trip on the trail. Granted, it was only a 12-mile flat trail, but it was in the park, so that made it semi-legit. Of course, the interns are splitting the leads for this hitch, because the bio-techs are off for four days, so I guess I’m not as cool as I thought.
Ben Tracy, the intern in the Great Bear, and I walked in the southern most area in the park on a trail called Autumn Creek. It was nothing spectacular. We only saw an ungraceful grouse and a deer, but the trail proved that it doesn’t matter where you hike in Glacier—it still proves its beauty. The vegetation has almost a primitive feel. A lot of big leaves and tall stems that lean into the trail, blocking the view of your feet. I like to joke that it seems like we’re in Jurassic Park, and dinosaurs should be roaming the lands. Too bad that the rocks that make up the mountains were most likely under the sea when dinosaurs lived in Montana. I even asked Evan, the geologist, sitting in front of my in the bar, if I was correct. Apparently, Glacier’s mountains were uplifted 100 million years ago in a geologic event known as the Lewis Over thrust. Who knows maybe the plans are from that era…
This just in, geology lesson: mountains rely more on erosion (glaciers, water and wind) more than thrusting of geologic plates. There’s also an algae in the rocks here that is responsible for giving us our present oxygen level. Evan’s blowing my mind. Who knew rocks were so damn cool.
Day 2: Moose Creek
Whoa here I am, keeping everything up to date for two days in a row. Thursday brought Cayley and I back to the lovely Whitefish Range: Glacier Crew’s favorite mountain range (not). Well, I’d have to say my favorite is the Livingston Range, but that’s just me.
The beginning of the 4th hitch is being used to pick up all of the training trails we did during the training week, and the interns are the leaders, as the techs take an extra four days of rest. As most Whitefish Range trails are, Moose Creek was fairly bland. But Cayley and I made it as fun as we could. We had mountain bikes, which came in handy, because the supposed four-mile trail was turned into 12, when we came across the Forest Service doing road construction. We rode around in the summer sun, picking wild strawberries and hucks…man life is tough right now.
Day 3: Stillwater
There’s this thing about the office that sucks everyone in, as it continues to evolve its plans, confusing us all. I was supposed to have a nice easy hike through the power pines, the electricity, growth-less trees that provide our race with energy, with Cayley and a volunteer. But plans changed this morning, and I found out Evan and I will be shuttling Amy and the volunteer to the Whitefish Divide Trail, as we survey the entire Stillwater State Forest. We had 7 regions to cover and only reached 6, but we did manage to have a two person decathlon (with only 4 events or so). We ran a three mile trail for three trees, bushwhacked to a trail to bushwhack through Alders and Spruce (bushwhacking to the trail was easier than taking the whole trail, and we only found two hairs), raced around the loop to get road rub trees and signs and swam to get a tree under a thunderstorm. And through it all we finished at the same time as Amy and missed the hail thunderstorm.
The Nyack Loop
Before I begin: a disclaimer.
The Nyack is the only designated primitive area in Glacier Park. The only reason it isn’t considered “wilderness” is due to the fact that trail crew uses gas powered saws and weed-whackers to clear the trail.
The last few weeks I’ve been doubting my decision to work in the park. Am I falling behind my peers? Should I be interning and thinking about my career? Or should I be working in the park, using this summer to recharge myself to remember the reasons why I like journalism?
I chose to go into the Nyack, despite the techs saying its too wild, difficult and plain mean to let an intern hike the loop. I wanted the wildness remind me why I’m here. I wanted to be away from people, away from the office and clear my mind. And on top of it all backpack with my friend and sixth grade hockey coach, Eric Penn, who personally got me on bear crew ten years after I played for him.
Day 4: Nyack Loop: Coal Creek Patrol Cabin
One day in the Nyack has been what I was hoping for, basically a chance to backpack for four days without having to be in the hectic office and be away from my phone and computer. For the first time in awhile I’ll be waking up early, getting a head start on a shlog of a day to the Upper Nyack Cabin.
Today began as usual, spending too much time in the office, waiting for maps, log sheets and logistics, and as the time drug on, Eric and I decided to go map-less, log sheet-less and logistic-less to just wing it. We went to Montana Raft to pick up an inflatable kayak to get across the Middle Fork of the Flathead and onto Nyack Flats. The trail started out dense. The brush was chest high full of nettles, thistles and other evil booby trapping plants, which was made enjoyable by some of the biggest huckleberries I’ve ever encountered.
We eventually popped out into the Anaconda Burn of 2005, following the Middle Fork until veering off across Coal Creek, where the first creek crossing of nearly 30 took me out. I was still able to keep my camera dry.
The burn in the region gave us some great views that in the past were blocked. The ten thousand foot goliath, Stimpson peaked out, as well as the spire St. Nick, the hardest climb in the park, so I’m told, and the Great Bear Wilderness’s Great Northern all were present. The Nyack may truly be the heart of the park, even the loop on a map is in the shape of one. There’s only a few ways into the area either by fording the Middle Fork or climbing steep mountain passes can one enter it, and you’re lucky to get passes, because only a small group may be allowed in at a time. It has burn areas, thick forests, dozens of river and creek crossings and passes. It’s a pretty magical spot, and I’ve only experienced 12 of the 52 miles thus far.
Tomorrow will be a shlog: 20 miles, 12 creek crossings, 42 trees to survey and Surprise Pass to climb. It’s hump day (day 5 of 9), so let’s see what the rest has to offer.
Day 5: Nyack Loop: Upper Nyack
20 miles, 15 creek crossings, over 200 down trees and a bushwhack on top of a bushwhack of a trail. That’s what a 13 hour day sounds like, but it doesn’t come close to explaining how my body feels. My feet were soaked all day. I re-sprained my ankle…I can’t even write anymore…too exhausted. But goddamn I still love the Nyack, so beautiful and wild.
Day 6: Nyack Loop: Lower Nyack
Day three of the Nyack loop left us with only eight miles, but along those eight miles were at least a dozen creek crossings down timber and 35 trees to survey. Oh yeah, add on the two of so miles up to the Cutbank Pass junction that we missed yesterday due to night catching up to us. Let’s just say it was another long day.
I think we’re estimating 170 samples from yesterday alone. Holy Fuck the last two days have just drug on, and I’m sure tomorrow’s six miles will be the longest six miles of hiking in my life. I asked Eric, as I sat amid brush taller than me if tomorrow will be thick. He just laughed. Good answer.
This place is Glacier to the extreme. Everything in this loop is on another level. The brush is twice as tall and thick, creek crossings are double in width and deep, and even the burn areas feel hotter and more open.
Yesterday’s trail took us through the 2005 Anaconda Fire, and the sun beat us down, as we crossed Coal Creek (could be river) six times. The whole time we walked between St. Nicolas and Doody peaks. Then we came across “Penner’s Corner,” what I coined the start of the climb to Surprise Pass after Eric, who has done the loop 18 times.
When we got to the junction to Beaver Woman Lake it was after 3 o’clock, and we were barely over halfway to Upper Nyack Cabin. Those last eight miles were a blur. I busted my ankle again, as we bushwhacked our way through the beginning of the Nyack. It was nearly dark by the time we crossed Pacific Creek and entered the Upper Nyack Cabin, and I somehow managed to make burritos by candlelight for us and crashed in my cot. Waking up wasn’t too enjoyable.
7:30 rolled around, which meant we had to backtrack what we missed the night before, before starting down Nyack Creek. I’ve watched that creek grow from a trickle to the size of the Clark Fork on an average August, and the majority of its path is a gorgeous mix of rocks and canyons at the base of the monster Stimpson Peak.
I have nothing more to say than, please Glacier gods get me back to West Glacier in one piece.
Day 7: Nyack Loop: Lower Nyack out
The slow shlog through the Nyack didn’t end the final day. One would think that six miles would be manageable after 40 miles the prior three days, but when you add 19 trees to survey and constant head high veg and mosquito onslaughts, the day will continue to drag on. The fourth day of the loop was also the least scenic, which could also be due to my throbbing ankle and body in general. I could barely pick my eyes up off the trail, as my hand whacked away the nettle, mosquitoes and biting flies.
Still, throughout the epic loop I grew to admire its intensity, both its beauty and wrath from the Glacier gods. The gods feel a special connection to the Nyack, I’m sure, and they keep an extra eye on those who pass through. Our trek went through places that even trail crew’s saws haven’t seen this summer, and it showed. When you are swimming through brush and feeling the trail with only your feet (Eric called it trail brail), you know you passed a daunting task.
We even ran out of envelopes half way through day three, so we improvised by using sheets from my notebook to wrap the hair in, using tree sap as glue. Eric and I sat in Fritas for three hours transferring samples from the notebook paper to envelopes, while drinking heavy ipas and eating burgers. It was the only way to complete the Nyack. Like the Guns n’ Roses song goes, that we HAD to listen to after, the Nyack was crazy and one in a million, and I knew my summer would not have been complete without doing that loop with Eric Penn, my hockey coach 10 years ago, when I was a peewee in sixth grade.
Day 8: Baptista Lookout
I thought I was going to get an office day, but turns out I had to set out on another hike after the Nyack.
The day began as a shit show, as usual. We didn’t get out of the office until 9, waiting for two volunteers to join us, but neither came through, so Cayley, Brad and I set off to complete the day ourselves.
After an hour and a half drive down the dirt road alongside the Great Bear Wilderness, we finally came across our trail heads. The maps were a mess, mostly because the Great Bear is a mess. We decide that Cayley and I would do the lookout trail, 8 miles up hill, while Brad bikes a few others. Turns out that we ended up on Brad’s trail, as Brad gets lost, and tries a second trail.
So throughout the miscommunications and mishaps (more Bear Crew Blunders) we’re most likely going back tomorrow to pick up what we fucked up. Goodie.
Day 9: Office work, data entry, ping-pong, yoga and getting very drunk at Fritas; enough said.
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