The weather has had a few switcheroos this week
We had a night of rain and the next morning the lake was foggy with low clouds
The fire in Glacier Nation Park has all but blocked out the sun for a few days now
Some mornings (if you don’t over-think-it) the breeze, mixed with the smokey grey sky, and the calls of the laughing gulls makes it seem as though we are at the ocean
Volunteering Week II
When I got here there were thunderstorms coming through the Park every night cooling things down and stirring things up. Wind gust-fronts coming from the northwest pick up black coal-dust from the mine and whip it into the air. It creates a black shadow along the horizon as the gust-front gets close. Very ominous looking.
The dark dust is coal dust swept out of the mine by the wind
Same view without the thunder-coal storm
I’ve settled into the park volunteer routine of trash pickup and bathroom cleaning assistant. I usually get all my work done in the morning so I can take the afternoon off and enjoy the 100*-plus heat wave we’re having these days.
I’m not having any luck hiding from the heat this summer
It’s 105* AND on fire. Sweet!
I’ve been letting the boiz out each morning for an hour or so in the cool, crisp air. They have adopted the area behind the RV as their own and patrol it looking for edibles. The park is very quiet on weekdays so they can prowl at their leisure.
The boiz play-space
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Back-tracking on I-90 eastbound across Montana toward Decker, MT. We stopped over-night in Billings to get groceries and run a few errands. The high temps are back up into the upper 90’s which makes paved big cities seem overly hot. We swung by the Walmart in Billing’s Heights and the living-in-your-car population seemed high. There were also a half dozen campers in the parking lot, one with it’s slide out, so I opted for a parking spot on a side-street near a vacant-lot-becoming-luxury-condos construction area.
When I lived in Denver I saw a lot of homeless RV and car dwellers living on the streets, but I though it was a local issue because of legal weed and a great economy with attendant sky-high rents. On this trip I’ve seen a lot of people living in RV’s in every town I pass through. Missoula had them, the forest east of Butte has tons of permanent residents, (and from the posted rules that say you have to move 5 miles every two weeks dated in 2012 they’ve had that issue for awhile now).
Billings has an RV and car dwelling homeless population and from stories I gathered from fellow travelers San Jose, CA has a huge issue with stupid-high rents putting employed people out on the street. What I hear from Montana locals is that work is hard to scrape together and pay is low. The State has budget constraints too. Frankly this situation is making me sad and more than a little worried (so I’m changing the subject).
I’ve come to the Tongue River State Park to try volunteering as a way of keeping busy and engaging with my fellow humans. This Park needs some help with the sorts of things I’m good at: mowing, painting, fixing. The park is near the WY border in eastern MT. Nearby are a few coal mines (so close in fact that the blasting can be felt in the park!), cattle ranches, and it’s only 30 miles to Sheridan WY. The low rolling hills are dotted with scrubby-looking trees which is a far cry from the steep heavily wooded mountains that blocked the solar panel near Lolo Pass. Here the panel gets direct sun all day. The only thing in the way is smoke from the fires burning in OR.
When I arrived Jim said to me, “Don’t leave the awning out, the wind will crush it.” Good advice anywhere in the west, but super accurate prediction of the wind which arrived that evening. It looked like we might get a thunderstorm, but when we saw the black dust-cloud at the base of the storm it was time to reel-in the awning and duck for cover. After the dust-bowl blew out we got enough rain to drop the temperature about 20*F. Love the 70’s man! (Found out later that black dust is the wind sweeping the open-pit coal mine and carrying it to the lake).
Next night the wind kicked it up a notch and I thought we were going to roll over the wheel-chocks and head off downwind. The wind knocked the power out in the area for 11-hours. Might be a MT address but we got WY wind!
Volunteering! YaY!
My first day of volunteering I went up to the Rosebud Battlefield section of the Park and helped clear some branches away and haul them to the burn-pile. My part consisted of dragging the downed branches to where a tractor could get to them. They call the job “Branch Manager”
Next big project was dragging some trees off the beach then cleaning up some big logs and hauling them away. We got to use the tractor for that and ya’ll know how I love tractors! On the weekend I spent a fair amount of time emptying trash cans and hauling it to the dumpster. In Colo Parks they just have big dumpsters in every loop so the campers haul it to the place where the big trash truck can get it. Not so at Tongue River SP. Reminds me of my old job at DIA.
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The sky is not cloudy – that’s smoke blotting out the sun
The heat (90* days) finally reached up to the heavens of the Bitterroot Mtns today. After enjoying a week of cool nights and pleasant days near Lolo Pass we are off on another adventure! I got a camp-host position at a Montana State Park so we’re heading east and south to Tongue River State Park. We stopped for the night at the top of Homestake Pass, near Homestake Lake, and enjoyed a cool summer’s eve.
The trip over was under a hazy, smoke-filled sky. The fires in Oregon must be very bad for this much smoke to be blotting out the sun in MT.
We got an early start out of Missoula and headed up into the mountains for some cooler air. Trying to find a place where the air is naturally cool so I don’t have to run the A/C all the time. Basically that’s not happening. Global Climate change has been setting high-temperature records in Oregon again this week (someone hit 107*F) and it’s cooler in New Mexico than it is on the plains of Oregon and Washington.
I’ve found myself once again on the trail of Lewis and Clark. I followed the Corps of Discovery (discovered a corpse?) on a trip from west to east way back in the early 1990’s (when you could still see their footprints in the mud). Now I’m on the route they took over the mountains in the fall of 1805 and back again in the summer of 1806. I was reading about how they nearly lost some toes to frostbite in September and I’m wishing it still got that cold. If they did that trip now it would be heat-stroke they had to worry about!
Lolo Pass visitor enter – Wifi here. Free plus a donation 🙂
I took the tour at the Smokejumpers Visitor Center in Missoula. Very interesting. When I was in Alaska I spent some time picking smokejumpers up and taking them back to a firebase. Not much has changed in their profession since then except there are more Ram-Air parachutes now than there were then. Still get to jump out of a perfectly good airplane into a burning forest (or tundra if they are in way-north Alaska). The day after my Smokejumper tour a fire broke out on a ridge not far from camp. A couple helicopters drained a nearby pond and dumped it on the fire.
Packer Meadows
Above the camp site
There are some hiking trails and logging roads near our campsite so we hiked the hikes and biked the roads to see the sights
Near by creek
Google says 3.5 hours between Sandpoint and Missoula on I-90. Mother Earth says 6 hours. There is a lot of work being done on I-90 so slowing down and dealing with two-way traffic is a regular thing. Also I have a new entry in my worst roads list. I-90 east-bound from the state-line to Superior, MT is a rough-ass ribbon of concrete slabs stitched together by pot-holes. It’s good that they are fixing it, but they are fixing it by pouring new concrete slabs which will be rough just like the old stuff in a few weeks. Stupid concrete! Asphalt is the smooth ride!
If I had that trip to do over I’d take MT 200 up the Clark Fork River to where it meets I-90
We left Nelson about mid-day and headed south on hwy 6 toward the USA border crossing at Nelway. It was a lovely drive through the mountains to the border and the check-in to the US was quick. From the border south on Washington 31 was winding and hilly until we hooked up with the Pend Oreille river. From then on it was a slight grade with rolling hills through hay fields and past high-end waterfront properties. Quite a few small towns dot the landscape and we slowed to 45 then 25 for each one. After two weeks of thinking about speeds and distances in Km it’s strange to now see signs in Mph. Diesel fuel is $3.40-ish in Idaho which is about $2 cheaper than BC so we got that going for us again.
On the down-side we got trains. Lots of trains – 4 per hour, night and day, whistling the nearby crossing. I hate trains. I had planned to check out the local riding scene but trains drove me away.
I rode the Morning Mountain area again and managed to pedal the entire climbing route up Bottoms Up and Upper Bottom to the Giveout Creek FSR. I came down via the top part of Placenta Descenta then switched over to Turnstiles because it was so much fun to ride down it last time. Apparently there was a Stage race the day before and the ever-so-polite Canadians had posted this sign:
If you want to be Canadian you must say please, thanks, and sorry.
One of the features I like about Turnstiles is the high-bank turns. I don’t ride them, but they are fun to see –
That’s not a fence, it’s a wooden burm and it just ends there on the right. After that riders just fly it out and enter the next drop.
View from Pulpit Rock
Next day I went for a hike up to Pulpit Rock then on to the Flagpole. I figured I’d get an early start and beat the heat and the crowds. Since it was a Monday I thought I’d have the place to myself but apparently not. Pulpit Rock is a popular climb with the Get-In-A-Hike-Before-Work-Crowd and the main lot was full when I arrived. I parked in the overflow lot and began the 40-minute climb up what is essentially a staircase that ascends through a dense forest. The view from Pulpit Rock is worth the climb. Hikers are rewarded with an Above-The-Airplanes perspective of Nelson. Really, we watched planes fly past and they were lower than us.
View from the Flag Pole above Pulpit Rock
At Pulpit Rock I met up with a fellow-camper Charlie and his dog Ziggy from the campground we’re staying in and we opted for the climb to Flagpole Lookout. It took us another 40 minutes to climb that section. The view from even higher is even better. The trip down is when I wished I had hiking poles. The steep descent was a challenge to my calves. On the way down we met the late crew coming up the trail with their kids in tow.
Looking down Hall Street in Nelson, BC
Day after that was a bike day and a get some work done on the truck day. I dropped truck 2.0 at the shop near the Kootenay River and hopped on the bike for a climb through town. As I mentioned before Nelson is steep. Like Moab the traction is great (Nelson has paved streets) and like Moab, Nelson has a lot of steep climbs. Cedar Street is pitched up at 13* and I was down in granny-gear spinning away to climb it. In the end I climbed 206 meters in 1.65 Km (675 feet in a mile). A twenty-something passed me near the top on her road bike and a local guy powered by on a downhill bike just as I reached the summit. It helps to be a mountain goat if you live in Nelson.
Slope-check on Cedar Street in Nelson, BC
Cottonwood Lake
Easy-hike day
After a serious hike the other day and a hill-climb yesterday I thought an easy hike was in order so I strolled around Cottonwood Lake and Cottonwood Falls. The lake and the falls are about 8 km apart and both are worth a look-see. The lake is south of Nelson on hwy 6 and is a watery oasis in the trees. There is a fishing dock and a few picnic tables around the edge of the lake. The railroad turned foot path runs down beside the lake and extends from Nelson to about Spokane, WA (if you are dedicated and stead-fast).
The falls are in Nelson not far from the visitor center (about a block from the weekend farmers market). The falls were inviting with their cool water-spritzed air on a day that reached into the high 80’s F. Cottonwood Falls Park is a flowery sister-park to another park in Japan and gifts from the oriental park adorn the Nelson one.
Cottonwood Falls
Cabin at the top of Red Mountain
Riding Rossland (pronounced Roslyn if you are Canadian or British)
Took a scenic drive over to Rossland, BC and parked at the Centennial Trail paring lot on top of the town. From the easy Centennial Trail I turned off on Moe’s and began the climb to the top of Red Mountain via Larry’s, Miner’s, and Redtop (upper). After a scenic bonanza at the summit I made the second-best choice of descending via Dreadhead. Dreadhead is an old downhill course and has many vertical drops, rocks, and roots without any ride-a-rounds. A much better route would have been to go back the way I’d climbed or perhaps to descend via Redhead. At any rate it made for a grand day out and I got in my 1.5 hour climb for the day.
Summit-ed!
Rossland, BC from Red Mountain
Repairs and Mods:
If you are following the saga of the EGT probe you may recall that I procured all the parts I needed yet was unable to remove one of the nuts from the turbo. I found a shop, Hywood Equipment Repair, in Nelson willing to take on the 1/2 hour task. They expertly removed the recalcitrant nut/stud and had the truck back to me before the manifold was cold. It took me about 3 hours to remove the turbo, drill the manifold, and put it all back together again. About $150 in parts, $65 cdn to remove the stubborn nut, and 3.5 hours of my time to complete the install. I wish the shop that replaced the turbo had told me I needed this before it was too late for them to do the work, but now it’s done and I can see if I’m cooking the engine. Hope NOT!!
Turbo off and probe in
EGT Probe depth
All back together again
Tech report: There was WiFi at the campground which was a little slow but worked for most things. The cell service switched from Verizon to Rogers and Rogers’ data service is too slow to be of any use as a hot spot. It works for calls, texts, and getting maps, but if you want to update your blog – forget it!
Nelson, BC
Heading north the hills got steeper and the trees got taller the closer we got to Nelson. The Mountain passes north of the border get very steep! We saw some 8% grades and there are a few stories about overheated vehicles catching fire on the side of the road. The day we got to Nelson it was about 97*F – HOT and sunny! The following day it was about 65*F and raining. Quite a switcheroo. I met up with a friend from the states and we went for a hike; got pretty soaked but the dog had fun so it was worth it.
First day riding in Nelson we went to the Morning Mountain area and rode Bottoms Up to Upper Bottom then descended on Turnstile. The two Bottoms trails are very nice climbing routes in an area dominated by downhill trails. Turnstile is a machine-made downhill course with high-bank turns and jumps. All of the jumps had ride-a-rounds so I took those. It took and hour and a half to ride up and about 15 minutes to get back down.
Upper Bottom Trail
Second day riding was at the Smallwood Creek area. We rode up the Bigwood trail and when I say rode I mean hike-a-bike. The trail is a fabulous descent and a brutal climb. It’s suppose to be ridden as a downhill portion of a bigger loop. We climbed up to the scenic overlook in about an hour and the view is so worth it. The downhill portion was a hoot and took about 15 minutes to get back to the car.
Looking West toward Castlegar
Nelson is a downhill riding area. The climbs are on roads or climbing trails that get you access to an assortment of downhill options. Also Canadian blue square = American black diamond trails. Canadians are tough!
Off the bike today I took the ferry ride (free) from Balfour to Kootenay Bay and back. About an hour on the water taking in the sights. We got a good view of the Kootenay Glacier area and we got to peek in the yards of some mighty expensive water-front property. My neighbors took an afternoon sailing and had lunch near Kootenay Bay. I took a morning trip before the eateries were open so I skipped the tour of town.
MV Osprey
On the way back to Nelson I swung by the Kootenay Creek Provincial Park and took a hike around the visitor center. I also started up the road to the Kootenay Glacier and Old Growth trails but the road got steep and rough and I gave up, turned around, and got down. Maybe in a rental car with the damage wavier or a logging truck, eh.
Suspension Bridge to Zukerburg Island
Took a side trip over to Castlegar to see what happens down river on a Saturday. Seems they generate a bit of hydro-electric power and do some fishing on the river down there. There is a park in town, Zuckerburg Island Park, that can be accessed via a suspended foot bridge. Very wobbly. Big fun! The island was home for the Zuckerburg family in the early 1900’s and now it’s a public park. Worth a stop if you are already in town.
The old Zuckerburg Homestead
I’ll be in Nelson for another week so stay tuned!
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Tech report: There was WiFi at the campground which was a little slow but worked for most things. The cell service switched from Verizon to Rogers (and Telus, and Bell) and Rogers’ data service is too slow to be of any use as a hot spot. It works for calls, texts, and getting maps, but if you want to update your blog – forget it!
North up the length of Flathead Lake to Kalispell then northwest through Libby and into the tall trees forest. Passing north of the lake there were several fields of bright yellow flowers – WOW! I like yellow so these fields are my favorite!
We stopped for lunch in Libby and ate at the Rosauers Market. The staff in the deli was every so happy to see me! I don’t think it was just me, I think they are happy to see everyone!
There is a huge metal hawk (or eagle maybe?) in the city center (Libby) and quite a few smaller bird-of-prey statues around town.
The forest in this part of the world is much healthier than the forest in Colorado. I estimate about 1/2 the trees standing in Colorado have been killed by the pine beetle while there are very few standing dead trees in NW Montanna. There is a lot more logging going on in MT too. About one train per hour rolling down the tracks loaded with timber products. MT’s trees are also bigger than CO’s trees and the forest under-story has many small plants growing in the shade of their bigger cousins. I haven’t been here in the wet season but I suspect it’s a lot wetter than CO is.
The Yaak River splits the campground in two so we camped on the north side of the river. Tall trees blocked the sun from reaching down to the solar panel and exciting the electrons therein so we had to go easy on the electricity that night. Even though the campground is between the highway and the RR tracks it’s mostly quiet. Highway traffic is minimal at night and there are no whistles from the trains.
Tech report: No cell service between Troy MT and Bonners Ferry ID.
Ask Mike Moore 