Saturday, September 17
We're back from a week almost entirely off the grid. Probably nobody cares much about our grid status, but it's on my mind.
After our KOA respite we returned to West Glacier and hiked another "easy" hike -- along Avalanche Creek to Avalanche Lake. The "easy" designation is a little demoralizing to such as me, but once again after we (I) huffed and puffed to the top of the 2.5 mile trail, rewards were had.
Avalanche Creek is another surreal sight -- pure turquoise.
Avalanche Lake inhabits another glacier-created cirque, and has an almost prehistoric aspect.
Fresh from our hike, we set out for one of the more remote spots at Glacier, Bowman Lake campsite. The road to Bowman Lake is much like the original Oregon Trail.
Wide enough for one and a half vehicles, the road was rutted and featured potholes every inch of the way, some seemingly a foot deep. It took two hours to negotiate the 20 miles of road. There was a lot of silence during this trip. Kate was thinking "I wonder what he's thinking?" I was thinking "What could she have been thinking?"
Part way to Bowman Lake we came to the town of Polebridge.
We asked someone what was the population there, and after a pause he said "Let's see, with the new family that moved in this year it must be 8."
Polebridge Mercantile and Bakery is pretty much all there is in Polebridge, but it's enough. The bakery is incredible, famous for its huckleberry bear claws. People come from far, far away, braving the rough road. During the hour or so we spent there, probably 20 or thirty people stood in line to buy pastries and bread.
Finally arriving at Bowman Lake, we secured our own tidy little campsite.
It being very late in the season, only 12 of the 46 sites were occupied. It was very quiet, and beautiful.
We've encountered much scenic beauty on our travels so far, but I think we both agree that the highlight has been the people. There's something about camping (I grudgingly admit) that inclines people to come together as a kind of instant community.
The moment we arrived, while the engine was still running Curt from the adjoining campsite came to greet us. Curt and his wife Denise hailed from Wisconsin, were consummate campers, and were eager to help us get settled. Immediately we noticed that everyone seemed to have raging campfires going, and we had forgotten to bring any fire wood. No problem. Curt introduced us to Dave, the camper across the road. Dave in turn offered to walk with me to the distant part of the woods where the ranger said it was OK to harvest fallen trees for fire wood. He said, "Just bring your camp saw." After overcoming his incredulity that someone existed in the world who would come to a primitive campsite with no wood and who didn't own a camp saw, he offered to loan me his.
So I proceeded to saw off some logs,
and to carry them, two at a time, the hundred yards or so back to our fire ring.
After I had sawed several smaller logs from the large ones, Dave taught me how to split the wood properly -- making sure not to commit common errors that can cause one to lose fingers, a hand, or a leg. After more or less successfully splitting one piece, I retired from the log splitting game. Dave did the rest of the splitting for me. I just felt I was too good a candidate to lose at least a digit while I learned the trade.
My logs.
My labors were rewarded. Kate built a terrific blaze using her "sqaw fire" technique,
she wrapped some chicken, brussels sprouts, and yams in foil, threw them in the fire, and made the best dinner ever.
Bowman Lake, of course is beautiful. What else is new?
During our time there, the weather finally transformed to the previously advertised warm, sunny, September we had been hoping for. That provided a chance for me to take my birthday present, a very classy inflated raft, for its maiden voyage. After pumping it up (almost as exhausting as hiking), I took it to the shore and launched it. As I boarded the craft in full view of some canoers, I somehow vaulted backward into the water while the raft shot six feet in the air and landed upside down on top of me. After finding my way out from under with some difficulty, I re-boarded with complete nonchalance. Luckily no video or still evidence of the event survives.
To say it again, the people were the highlight.
Curt and Denise (with Dave, right) are Wisconsin through and through -- wearing Wisconsin hats andWisconsin shirts, and sitting in Green Bay Packers camp chairs. They were friendly and helpful and fun to talk with -- although a little smug about the Aaron Rodgers/Alex Smith thing (for those who care).
Dave is an engineer from Rochester, NY who was definitely the mayor of our little community. Dave allowed that he used to be a guy who did everything by the numbers and planned to the enth degree. But now he listens to his inner mind, which tells him what his heart wants to do. Still, he spent a lot of time designing the perfect way to build a blazing campfire without having to saw much wood, and finally came up with his "oven." When I asked to take his photo, he insisted on posing with his invention.
Dave and his invention.
The latest arrivals in our group were Sebastian and Jessica, a German couple from Hamburg.
They're school teachers who are taking their year sabbatical to travel in the U.S. and Central America. In Germany teachers can take every fifth year off with full pay -- how do those Europeans do it? Anyway, these two bought an old Land Rover a few years ago and spent a long time repairing and customizing it -- and they brought it with them.
They plan to travel to California (northern and southern), Arizona, and possibly Colorado in October and November and would love to meet any of you who might like to meet them. If you're interested let us know and we'll put you in touch.
Our camp hosts, Bill and Sally, were terrific. They have visited 43 national parks. They spent hours with us giving us tips on the best places to go, the best things to see, and also lots of practical advice.
We loved our time at Bowman Lake and we may go back again sometime. Now we're off to Missoula.
We're back from a week almost entirely off the grid. Probably nobody cares much about our grid status, but it's on my mind.
After our KOA respite we returned to West Glacier and hiked another "easy" hike -- along Avalanche Creek to Avalanche Lake. The "easy" designation is a little demoralizing to such as me, but once again after we (I) huffed and puffed to the top of the 2.5 mile trail, rewards were had.
Avalanche Lake inhabits another glacier-created cirque, and has an almost prehistoric aspect.
Fresh from our hike, we set out for one of the more remote spots at Glacier, Bowman Lake campsite. The road to Bowman Lake is much like the original Oregon Trail.
Wide enough for one and a half vehicles, the road was rutted and featured potholes every inch of the way, some seemingly a foot deep. It took two hours to negotiate the 20 miles of road. There was a lot of silence during this trip. Kate was thinking "I wonder what he's thinking?" I was thinking "What could she have been thinking?"
Part way to Bowman Lake we came to the town of Polebridge.
We asked someone what was the population there, and after a pause he said "Let's see, with the new family that moved in this year it must be 8."
Polebridge Mercantile and Bakery is pretty much all there is in Polebridge, but it's enough. The bakery is incredible, famous for its huckleberry bear claws. People come from far, far away, braving the rough road. During the hour or so we spent there, probably 20 or thirty people stood in line to buy pastries and bread.
Finally arriving at Bowman Lake, we secured our own tidy little campsite.
It being very late in the season, only 12 of the 46 sites were occupied. It was very quiet, and beautiful.
We've encountered much scenic beauty on our travels so far, but I think we both agree that the highlight has been the people. There's something about camping (I grudgingly admit) that inclines people to come together as a kind of instant community.
The moment we arrived, while the engine was still running Curt from the adjoining campsite came to greet us. Curt and his wife Denise hailed from Wisconsin, were consummate campers, and were eager to help us get settled. Immediately we noticed that everyone seemed to have raging campfires going, and we had forgotten to bring any fire wood. No problem. Curt introduced us to Dave, the camper across the road. Dave in turn offered to walk with me to the distant part of the woods where the ranger said it was OK to harvest fallen trees for fire wood. He said, "Just bring your camp saw." After overcoming his incredulity that someone existed in the world who would come to a primitive campsite with no wood and who didn't own a camp saw, he offered to loan me his.
So I proceeded to saw off some logs,
and to carry them, two at a time, the hundred yards or so back to our fire ring.
After I had sawed several smaller logs from the large ones, Dave taught me how to split the wood properly -- making sure not to commit common errors that can cause one to lose fingers, a hand, or a leg. After more or less successfully splitting one piece, I retired from the log splitting game. Dave did the rest of the splitting for me. I just felt I was too good a candidate to lose at least a digit while I learned the trade.
My logs.
My labors were rewarded. Kate built a terrific blaze using her "sqaw fire" technique,
she wrapped some chicken, brussels sprouts, and yams in foil, threw them in the fire, and made the best dinner ever.
Bowman Lake, of course is beautiful. What else is new?
During our time there, the weather finally transformed to the previously advertised warm, sunny, September we had been hoping for. That provided a chance for me to take my birthday present, a very classy inflated raft, for its maiden voyage. After pumping it up (almost as exhausting as hiking), I took it to the shore and launched it. As I boarded the craft in full view of some canoers, I somehow vaulted backward into the water while the raft shot six feet in the air and landed upside down on top of me. After finding my way out from under with some difficulty, I re-boarded with complete nonchalance. Luckily no video or still evidence of the event survives.
To say it again, the people were the highlight.
Curt and Denise (with Dave, right) are Wisconsin through and through -- wearing Wisconsin hats andWisconsin shirts, and sitting in Green Bay Packers camp chairs. They were friendly and helpful and fun to talk with -- although a little smug about the Aaron Rodgers/Alex Smith thing (for those who care).
Dave is an engineer from Rochester, NY who was definitely the mayor of our little community. Dave allowed that he used to be a guy who did everything by the numbers and planned to the enth degree. But now he listens to his inner mind, which tells him what his heart wants to do. Still, he spent a lot of time designing the perfect way to build a blazing campfire without having to saw much wood, and finally came up with his "oven." When I asked to take his photo, he insisted on posing with his invention.
Dave and his invention.
The latest arrivals in our group were Sebastian and Jessica, a German couple from Hamburg.
They're school teachers who are taking their year sabbatical to travel in the U.S. and Central America. In Germany teachers can take every fifth year off with full pay -- how do those Europeans do it? Anyway, these two bought an old Land Rover a few years ago and spent a long time repairing and customizing it -- and they brought it with them.
They plan to travel to California (northern and southern), Arizona, and possibly Colorado in October and November and would love to meet any of you who might like to meet them. If you're interested let us know and we'll put you in touch.
Our camp hosts, Bill and Sally, were terrific. They have visited 43 national parks. They spent hours with us giving us tips on the best places to go, the best things to see, and also lots of practical advice.
We loved our time at Bowman Lake and we may go back again sometime. Now we're off to Missoula.
Fascinating as always. Hey what is the Trump scoop out where you are? Do people avoid talking politics entirely? Does leaving urban climes automatically take one into Red State country? I seriously curious about the level of discourse out there. None at all going on? Plenty? Ciao and thanks for your updates from the mystical outback.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI just look at your comments and pictures and felt I had to share that with Doug. You are truly inspiring. Great pictures!
Love,
Pilar