Epilogue

Our travels at an end, I drove Dom to the airport. Then Chantal and I camped for a few days in Tofino. For almost 2 years since we split I scarcely passed a day without thinking of her. But sometime during our trip, I finally realized...whatever. The shackles of regret removed, I made a pact with Dom to never let a woman get us down again.

As it happens we are still good friends.

Chapter 9: The Magic of the Cascades

On to washington where a severe addiction to McDonald's hot apple pies had rendred the front seat full of miniature cardboard boxes. 

And up Rainy Pass where we camped our tired asses for the night. We got up around 5:30 and were not quite prepared for the amazing beauty of the north cascades. 

We spend the rest of the morning tooting for pygmy owls. After a brief and unsatisfying look at one that flew just as I was getting the scope, we tried for more and eventually had another one. I played the tape just to get it a little bit more disturbed, when another one flew in and they did battle with their beaks!

Then up Cascade Canyon to attempt to reach the Sahale Glacier. HAH! As stunningly beautiful as it was, this 20-ish mile hike in 2 days was a little much for us at this point since the snow was pouring down. I had the really genius idea of constructing a snow hut for us to sleep in which took 3 hours. We ended up freezing our asses and getting quite wet.

And thus it was that our deep snow ptarmigan search above the treeline was short-lived, so we turned back (I know - not very epic - sorry). On the way, we encountered this quite confused grouse which I took advantage of as it foraged on leaves at point blank range. I was set on eating it but Dom talked me out of it.

Chapter 8: Great Gray Hunt

 Chantal emailed to say she wouldn't be able to meet up until the 24th, buying us one more day. We decided to do some driving in the morning, then spend the evening on a new mission. Someone on Ebird had reported Great Grays from a place called Georgetown Lake, only a short detour for us, off I-90. But first, we stopped at the Town Cafe for a much needed feast: 2/3 pounder Buffalo burger with fried onions, mushrooms, cheese, bacon and onion rings.

Nothing like a bunch of dead animals to get your appetite going!

In the afternoon we arrived with no particular battle plan. Just drive around some forest roads essentially  Amazingly though, we spotted one, sitting atop a spruce, searching for voles as they are always doing. Before the trip I had emailed the dude from Ebird (found his email by googling his name), and asked him for a tip on a Great Gray. He replied saying he was a pro guide and would take us for a fee of some couple hundred bucks. Well Gary Swant, if you are reading this, HAH!

Then we camped in the forest and made a roaring fire which litteraly burned right through my trousers. In the morning a bit of birding and then off toward Washington. Before leaving Montana though, our appetites still not satisfied, we had much more greasy burgers at the "50,000" silver dollar, a humungous travel center complete with a casino, bar (lined with silver dollars), diner, souvenir shop,  and knife shop (that also carried katanas and medieval-style swords and kung fu shit like nun-chucks). As we picked out which bear and wolf shirts we wanted and I fitted a red onesie on for size, I heard TWO DIFFERENT parents ask their children if they would like to buy a knife!

Chapter 7: Specimen Ridge

Next was off to Yellowstone, for the 19 mile Specimen Ridge Trail. Since this trail is not a loop, we figured we'd park at the trailhead, then hitch a ride to the other trailhead, camp for the night about 3 miles down Lamar Valley, and tackle it in the morning. So it would be about 22 miles of hiking but 19 of that was in one day.

We borrowed some bear spray which was good to have since we elected to camp in a "high Grizzly activity" zone. Confidence in a can!

A friendly family gave us a lift in their pickup and we stopped along the way to view the magnificent North American Bison. 

 Then we hiked the 3 miles to camp not a moment too soon before it got dark. Then just four good measure we got a roaring fire going to bolster our sense of safety from the wild beasts.

As we began our trek from the camp, we found the area rank with predator signs: bear scat, wolf tracks and scat everywhere, and even this chunk of an elk's head that still had a bit of meat on it. The Lamar Valley is the heart of predator action!

We forded the river Isen toward the plains of ROHAN!

Then from afar we spotted Beorn walking straight our way.

This briefly summarizes our encounter.

According to a ranger we talked to, he was a 550 pounder named "Scarface", 21 years old. I would have totally peppersprayed his face.

If not, Dom would have sliced him with his Elvish knife. The lands ahead had been withered by the evil of Mordor so we ventured on with caution.

Spies of Saruman! Black Rosy finches hiding amongst a flock of Gray-crowned. Can you find the Blacks?

In the plains of Rohan we unleashed our full glory. Had we met a company of passing Rohirrim and borrowed a couple of steeds, we would have covered many leagues indeed!

But still the beacons of Gondor had not been lit.

There is always hope. 

Chapter 6: The Wrath of Saruman

Our next excursion was the 19.5 mile Paintbrush Divide loop. Expecting a piece of cake, we had no idea what we were in for. Setting into the hike in the afternoon, the rain was light and steady. But looking up unto the pass, a fury was brewing.

It seemed that the higher we hiked, the colder and heavier the rain became.

Given that our tent was still a bit wet from the previous night on Shadow Mountain, thoughts of turning back were near in our minds. However, we thought "what would John Muir do?". Keep going, we estimated! In fact, he was probably a lot more foolhardy than us, commonly venturing up mountains alone with only a blanket, a hunk of bread, and maybe an axe and the boots on his feet.

As the rain became a steady, miserable essence, our wits had dulled. Dom nearly walked right into a huge moose. The soaking wet cow was none too pleased at our intrusion. As we circumnavigated this hooved menace, I reached for my camera from my pack. This caused the soaked beast greater irritation, so I retreated without a picture.

As we continued up the mountain and the weather gradually worsened, we resolved to march on despite all common sense. Thoughts of the glory of the pass drove us ever onward. Then it got really wet, and most of the clothes we wore were wet, with little dry stuff except for our sleeping bags. If we turned back and hurried, we would only have to hike part of the way back in the dark, or make camp - but it would be a long, miserable night of cold wetness. 

As luck would have it, we happened upon a secluded cabin, which conveniently was unlocked. In no time we went from possible freezing to warming by a wood stove and sipping hot beverages from our camp stove. 

Meanwhile the weather outside took a turn for the worst...

***Now, if you are reading this and are a proprietor of the cascade cabin, please accept our sincere apologies for trespassing in your cabin. We pray for your understanding of our circumstances. We took great care in leaving no trace of our illicit stay on the fateful night (minus a few pieces of firewood, but we chopped some more), and we thank you for leaving the cabin unlocked, which we assumed would be for such an emergency. We have learned our lesson about hiking into such conditions with wet gear. Please accept our humble thanks. ***

  The next day was our greatest challenge. With a new found boost of morale from finding the cabin and dry gear, we set into the alpine, past lake solitude (9,000 ft.) toward Paintbrush Divide (10,000 ft). The next 1,000 ft was a gruelling set of switchbacks.

We trudged on, propelled by the beauty of the mountains.

 Until we reached the bleak divide where winds were howling. Locating the trail became difficult.

Can you find the trail down the mountain in the photo below?

We could turn back...nah lets do it!

 Then as we traversed the pass, a violent wind assaulted us. Saruman was trying to bring down the mountain! Too poor to afford crampons and axes but wealthy enough to afford 2 weeks of travel medical insurance, we traversed the divide...very carefully. 

After a painstakingly slow and careful crossing of a smooth slope, we butt-slid the remainder. 

We survived the perils of the canyon, and learned a valuable lesson. Oh, I almost forgot the wildlife!

Read on for more perils to come!

Chapter 5: Death Canyon

Since I had given Chantal my word that we would be there to meet on the 23rd, it didn't give us too much time. So to make time, we had driven over night from central Iowa to western South Dakota. Now we decided to do it again, to the Tetons. Man, those 5 hour energy drinks should be called 24 hour energy drinks. I drove all night and never got tired the next day! But the Tetons is where we really needed our energy. After a morning of scoping for wolves on Uhl Hill, we headed for the backcountry permit office (we did briefly see 5 wolves at about 2 km distance). Our first destination was to be a 3 day quest to Death Canyon. This 25 mile quest was relatively uneventful other than some spectacular scenery, Dom's first Pika, and large numbers of Dippers. But it was a much needed warm up for a much more perilous venture to come.

BACK ROAD RAGE!!!!

We went for a dip at 9,000 ft. It was a little nippy (see video).

It was frosty up there, but my -30 bag Thor kept me warm as a bun.