Destination: Seattle.
Forecast: Volcanic eruption, with a slight chance of LAVA.
WTF?!?!
Living on the edge, like always.
On an interesting side note, one of the prescribed burns we did in Colorado was big enough that NOAA picked it up on their satellites. How many of you out there can actually say you've directly done something that could be picked up from outer space? ;)
It took me only a couple hours to stuff everything into boxes and bags, and now I'm sitting here wondering: What did I do wrong? Why was this so easy?
It's just because I've done it so many bloody times, I've gotten really good at it. :)
Of course, I had to sit and watch part of that obnoxious presidential debate. I think that if they had just recorded the first 10 minutes and looped it over and over, we would have seen the exact same thing. But Kerry did win it hands-down, and that's what counts.
So tomorrow I leave for Brian's; will be home late next week!
Here's my playlist to clean the bunkhouse to, randomized by iTunes, for no particular reason except that I'm procrastinating mopping the floor:
I Do - Better Than Ezra
You - Radiohead
In Bloom - Nirvana
Lounge Act - Nirvana
Vibes and Stuff - A Tribe Called Quest
Closer - Better Than Ezra
Would? - Alice in Chains
U Got a Problem? - Ludacris
Right Of Way - The Von Bondies
Man of Constant Sorrow - Dan Tyminski / Soggy Bottom Boys
Show Me How to Live - Audioslave
If I Ever Leave This World Alive - Flogging Molly
Jimmy - Tool
Lukin - Pearl Jam
Mairead - The Von Bondies
Stop Whispering - Radiohead
All Those Yesterdays - Pearl Jam
Sorry About That - Alkaline Trio
Scenario - A Tribe Called Quest
Aluminum - The White Stripes
Car Song - Elastica
Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues - Ryan Adams
The Son Never Shines (On Closed Doors) - Flogging Molly
4° - Tool
Somehow, Someday - Ryan Adams
Undenied - Portishead
1st and 10 - Ludacris
Little Room - The White Stripes
Smile - Elastica
Redefine - Incubus
Rest of My Life - Unwritten Law
Mourning Air - Portishead
Just when I thought I could start packing my life back into the good ol’ hatchback…
Got dispatched this morning. Now I’m at the bunkhouse for Charles M. Russell NWR in Northeast Montana. Surprise!
Doing a p-burn tomorrow, and will be back at Red Rocks either Wednesday or Thursday. That leaves me not a whole lotta time to pack, tie up loose ends, clean the bunkhouse, and LEAVE for Brian’s. We all know I’ll probably just end up haphazardly tossing all my crap into the back of my car without actually “packing“ it up, and then tossing it on the floor of my parents house when I get home for a few days. Directly in the hallway in front of the front door. Just to make sure everybody knows I’m home. ;)
"Well, everybody wants to go forever; I just want to burn up hard and bright..."
The Saturday that I returned from Browns Park, I knew Matt was supposed to fly in that evening, but I was still happy and surprised to hear a familiar voice when he called. After driving all day, I was probably babbling even more incoherently than usual, but I didn’t have to be asked twice if I wanted to come out to Yellowstone that night - we live so far from each other, who knows when I’ll see him next?! Anyway, what’s another 2 hours driving on top of 10 anyway? So I merely transferred my stuff from my fire bag to my backpack - it seems I’m always ready for a spontaneous overnighter in this profession - and went to Yellowstone!
It was nearly midnight when I got there, but we caught up on life and had a few laughs before calling it a night. The plan: Hike on Sunday.
On our way to breakfast Sunday, we overheard a hotel manager talking to one of the maids: “Be sure to do a great job on room #xxxx, Ted Turner is staying there.”
What?! Dude, that’s Matt’s room! He knew he was being moved out to a different hotel, but Ted Turner was moving in?! HA! We can say we jumped on the bed in the room Ted Turner slept in. ;)
We later picked up a small guide book to day hikes in the park - and without much hesitation, Matt shows me the trail he wants to do. Avalanche Peak. Hmm, sounds pretty cool… 2 miles… no problem… 2,100 ft. elevation gain. Wait, let’s do the math… that’s one hell of a hike! So I look at the difficulty rating. And can you imagine that it says “Very Strenuous”? And can you imagine that it is the most difficult hike in the entire guide book?
I knew Matt and I would be good hiking partners. We’re both masochistic.
The road was closed about a mile before the trailhead, but as soon as we got off pavement and onto the actual trail, it was up, up up! The weather called for snow, which we laughed about, but now that we were actually outside, it was cold, gray, and especially ominous looking in the Absaroka Range to the south. No worries, though, as we were having a great time; Matt called out “HEY BEARS!” to scare the grizzlies off and I huffed and puffed behind him, enjoying every grueling step.
Once above tree line, it was colder, windier - but with a great view of Yellowstone Lake and the snowy, triangular peaks of the Absaroka mountains… and the impending snow storm drifting in our direction. We paused just long enough to snap some photos, eat gummy bears, and get cold! Fortunately, the descent of Avalanche Peak was much quicker and easier than the way up, as the clouds rolled in quickly. Our timing was nearly impeccable, because we stayed dry for the entire length of the trail. But that all changed once we reached the road, our car waiting one mile away at the barricade.
It began sprinkling, which gave way to rain. Rain jackets on. Rain gave way to… hail, driven directly in our faces by the wind. Which, by the way, HURTS! We ran to the car and threw ourselves and our bags into his rented red Toyota in a soggy heap. I don’t know about Matt, but just seemed amusingly appropriate to get stuck in a hail storm after an exhausting hike in an awesome national park, with a friend you don’t get to see very often. Silly situations like that are what the best memories are made of. :) Oh, and we also saw a grizzly sow and her cub earlier that day, which was a neat first for both of us.
And when we drove back to Old Faithful, the harsh hail turned into soft, fluffy snowflakes that probably wouldn’t have hurt so much if they blew in your face. How considerate. (Matt insists that the park is controlled by animatronics - and I don’t doubt it anymore, now that the weather has been 70 degrees and sunny since he left!)
It snowed a little more and was blustery and cold the rest of the day, which was fine for recuperating indoors. He was moved to a cabin at the Old Faithful Lodge, where all the “Fishheads” were staying for the Wild Trout convention. But we chose to chill at the Old Faithful INN - the sweet old historic place that was built log-cabin style, with a tall cathedral ceiling and dim light bulbs that simulate candle light, and plenty of tables, chairs, benches, and a huge stone fireplace to encourage lounging in the lodge area. I absolutely fell in love with it! We spent a good while telling stories at the bar and then finally running up the log stairs and hiding in the shadows ofthe upper balconies. I really wanted to climb the stairs to the crow’s nest, which had been close due to some earthquake that had skewed the supports; we entertained the thought of being like ninjas and sneaking up their, but… well I actually don’t why we didn’t just do it, but next time there will be no excuses! We will do it! :)
We did that until the week hours of the evening and then had a sleepover, with the intent that his cell phone would be my alarm clock and wake me early enough to drive 2 hours back to work on Monday morning. I woke up feeling refreshed and alive… but certainly not like I woke up early enough for it to be 5 am. Ends up his cell phone lost service and never went off - it was now 6:30, and I had to be at work at 7:30! I rushed out of there but I knew there was no way I would make it - and I wrote an earlier journal about what happened that morning. Yellowstone looks gorgeous at sunrise, especially when it’s SNOWING! As I wrote before, it was a near blizzard the closer I got to RRL (red rock lakes).
Anyway, Matt was giving his presentation on Tuesday morning, which I wanted to attend. He did a fantastic job and lots of people told me to compliment his outstanding performance. :) Later that day, he wanted to go fishing and I wanted to go hiking… so we compromised and went on a 3 mile hike in to Grebe Lake, where he was bound and determined to catch a grayling. He had a successful flyfishing endeavor the previous day on the Firehole River, but alas his luck ran out. I read a book amongst the PRIMARY forest (yeah, I remember what that means now, Matt!) while he gracefully propelled that fly through the air, like some beautiful and serene “Fish Montana” commercial. It looked cool to me, but apparently the fish weren’t as impressed and he didn’t even see a single one rise.
After our wilderness expedition, we were starved… but the wait for the only decent restaurant that wasn’t closed for the season was nearly an hour long. Jokingly, I asked the hostesses if we could just eat our dinner in the hallway outside, which was furnished with plenty of nice tables and chairs. To our pleased amazement, she said “Well, you can order it to go and if you eat it out there, we won’t stop you!” SWEET!
So all those other suckers waiting for a table in the restaurant had to watch and drool as our gourmet dinners were delivered to us ala white cardboard boxes before they even got seated. We brought it back to Matt’s cabin and ate like king while watching “The Boondock Saints” on his laptop PC. Another great day comes to a close!
The next morning, we said adieu and I figured I wouldn’t see him again until my southeast road trip, if at all. I wake up early and make it to work on time, and it’s another cold, biting day. Wait, where’s my jacket? UGH! In my hurry to leave, I left my jacket in his car, when I thought I actually had it with me. He was going to Bozeman to visit his girlfriend’s brother… so it looked like I was going to see him sooner than anticipated! I felt rotten to be crashing his plans for the evening, but he insists that it was no problem (and I’ll just hope he wasn’t just saying that!) I met up with him and Phil at a great pizza place on Main Street and had a few laughs with them, watched the boys play pool, and then walked around the vacant streets of Bozeman. Man, that town was sure dead for a Wednesday night! Phil was a lot of fun and if I end up around Bozeman, I’ll have to hit Matt up for his number so we can go biking together or something. But once again, we said goodbye, and I warned Matt that I may be in the neighborhood in the near future. Other than that, who knows when we’ll get to see each other again… But I do know that it’s a groovy coincidence that after having classes together but not really hanging out in college, we have gotten to hang out a couple times this year and we always have a blast! And I want that Von Bondies CD that I left in the car AGAIN! Cheers to a memorable vacation with a great friend, and fond memories of laughing over ridiculous things and singing and dancing in the car!
“It hasn't been that long
Since we drank to the sunset, until it was gone”
It’s that time of the year again. As the leaves glow golden and the wind blows a little cooler, I’ve felt more introspective, more alive… and more sappy. Yeah, I’m feeling obnoxiously emotional and sensitive - I’m not used to it! J Whether it is the beautiful fall weather, the high I still have from having the best time of the summer with Matt in Yellowstone, the ending of my first season as a wildland firefighter, or simply the result of too many hours behind the wheel and too few hours of sleep, I’m not sure. Whatever the combination, something infectiously magical is in the air and the past week or so has been happy, sad, fantastic, exited, nervous… surreal!
Yeah, I’m excited to go back to Detroit. The Lions are still 2-1 and nothing beats a good sports game and buffalo wings at the bar! Even better is trying to decide whether to blow my money on some U of M football tickets or hockey tickets, and getting back to the music scene and seeing some concerts and hopefully get to see Erich’s band “the book was better” for the first time since they played at our New Year’s Eve party in 2002! Heather, hope you are ready to see some blues again! Jeff and Amadeo, you’re going to show me a proper homecoming, right?? Can we wear costumes? ;)
What am I going to do for the fall and winter? We’ll just play it by ear. Hopefully I’ll get a job for the winter in the southeast, but I’ve even entertained the idea of finding some small cabin in northern MI, buying some x-country skis or snowshoes, and borrowing Steve’s dog for a few months to keep me company. It will be bizarre going from remote MT to uber-urban Detroit, but I’m open to ideas of where to go and what to do! (Though the southeast is on my list... see you boys soon!)
Adding to the fact that I’m torn about moving, hopeful yet nervous about the winter, and have a bright-eyed and ignorantly-optimistic outlook about the cool adventures and opportunities I might stumble upon, I just finished reading “Hawk’s Rest”, a book Gregg let me borrow. It’s about the battle between outfitters and rangers at Yellowstone over hunting, grizzlies, wolves, and ethics. Beyond that, though, it is the memoirs of a backcountry ranger, going through the same emotions about the end of his season as I am. Corny? I suppose, but he really hits it on the nail and gracefully puts to paper all the crap floating around in my head. ;)
It’s also strange that I’ve had so many people breeze in and out of my life; people I would consider friends, despite only a few weeks or even days spent together. Who knows when or if I will see them again? Ya’ll should check out Heather’s journal for her ideas on the subject. It’s amazing how much of an impact certain individuals can have, even when your time together is limited. But I have a feeling I’ll be seeing a few certain people in the future…
In six days, I’ll be in Seattle reunited with Brian, and that’s about as far ahead in advance as I’m going to plan!
