After four days in Glacier National Park we headed southwest to Missoula, MT to meet up with one of Connor’s old classmates from high school John Fathergill. I consider this point of the journey the end of the second leg and beginning of the final third leg of the trip. The main perk of the two nights in Missoula though would be the ability to sleep in doors with a pillow. I think out of everything I left behind in Kentucky a pillow is the number one most missed. Actually a pillow is number two. Courtney is the number one thing I miss from Kentucky, but of the things I can acquire on the the road a pillow is number one. I've spent countless sleepless nights trying to find the best position to lay my head, but I digress.
Missoula also offered sometime to socialize and get to know new people. I forget sometimes how nice it is to have a conversation with someone new. I spent the majority of the time talking to John, who works for the Bureau of Land Management. We talked at length about how the BLM manages its land and acts as stewards to repair damage caused either naturally or by humans in the past. The BLM has an very different mandate from the government than the US Parks or Forestry Service. One of their jobs is to find ways to make money off of government land. Whether this is from leasing overgrown forest for logging or managing active oil fields. John also offered some pretty intense conversations about ecology and biology. We talked about different plant species, how forest succession works and local invasive species. It’s been a long long time since I’ve talked about topics with someone with training in the area. Vocabulary that I haven’t used since college started to tease it’s way back into my mind. It was almost like riding a bike. I also walked away with some great lessons ideas. A list of those ideas follow.
The stop was a gold mine of ideas. John also introduced us to one of his favorite hobbies, birding. I've never really spent a lot of time observing and identifying birds. I've always been a plant guy. That that might start to change a little. We drove out about an hour out of Missoula to a wetlands area. Which I'm sorry to say I can't remember the name. While there John showed us a series of birds endemic to the area. It was a great opportunity to pick his mind about the reading materials and equipment needed to pick up the hobby. When I get back home I’m going look into acquiring both a set of binoculars and a copy of a bird field guide.
The only downside to our stay in Missoula would have to be that it really made me want to be home. After more than three weeks on the road I’m ready to be back at home. I miss my old routines and day to day life. It’s kind of strange, but all the amazing landscape I’ve seen has almost desensitized me, but I’m sure there will be new sights to see and experiences to have that will excite me in the coming week.
Before we left Missoula we asked John for some recommendations in the area to see while we head west. He recommended a number of locations in Lolo National Forest. Due to John’s recommendations, it’s significance during the Lewis and Clark expedition, and free camping we decided to spend two nights exploring the region between Montana and Idaho. Lolo is a place of note during the Lewis and Clark expedition because of how much time they spent in the region due to it’s neverending mountains. L and C thought that this area would break the expedition because of how difficult the pass was. Hopefully our travels through the area go with a little more ease. The plan is to do some dispersed camping up in the mountains off of US Forestry service roads and on the last day visit some hot springs for a quick bath. We spent our first night right off of the Howard’s Creek Trailhead so that when we woke up in the morning we could walk for an hour or so on the trail. It was a little unsettling at first getting so far out of human contact. This was amplified by the bony remains of an animal right next to our campsite, but after awhile we got use to it.
Missoula also offered sometime to socialize and get to know new people. I forget sometimes how nice it is to have a conversation with someone new. I spent the majority of the time talking to John, who works for the Bureau of Land Management. We talked at length about how the BLM manages its land and acts as stewards to repair damage caused either naturally or by humans in the past. The BLM has an very different mandate from the government than the US Parks or Forestry Service. One of their jobs is to find ways to make money off of government land. Whether this is from leasing overgrown forest for logging or managing active oil fields. John also offered some pretty intense conversations about ecology and biology. We talked about different plant species, how forest succession works and local invasive species. It’s been a long long time since I’ve talked about topics with someone with training in the area. Vocabulary that I haven’t used since college started to tease it’s way back into my mind. It was almost like riding a bike. I also walked away with some great lessons ideas. A list of those ideas follow.
- Using the white bark pine as an example of a mutualistic relationship with a specific bird that can only disperse its seeds.
- Blackfoot Challenge as an example of a community based land management group that’s main focus is to preserve the local ecosystem. It would go perfectly during the Endangered Species Project as a broad example of a solution to an environmental problem.
- Using the BLM as an example of a successful government organization that effectively manages the land and uses it to fund future restoration.
The only downside to our stay in Missoula would have to be that it really made me want to be home. After more than three weeks on the road I’m ready to be back at home. I miss my old routines and day to day life. It’s kind of strange, but all the amazing landscape I’ve seen has almost desensitized me, but I’m sure there will be new sights to see and experiences to have that will excite me in the coming week.
Before we left Missoula we asked John for some recommendations in the area to see while we head west. He recommended a number of locations in Lolo National Forest. Due to John’s recommendations, it’s significance during the Lewis and Clark expedition, and free camping we decided to spend two nights exploring the region between Montana and Idaho. Lolo is a place of note during the Lewis and Clark expedition because of how much time they spent in the region due to it’s neverending mountains. L and C thought that this area would break the expedition because of how difficult the pass was. Hopefully our travels through the area go with a little more ease. The plan is to do some dispersed camping up in the mountains off of US Forestry service roads and on the last day visit some hot springs for a quick bath. We spent our first night right off of the Howard’s Creek Trailhead so that when we woke up in the morning we could walk for an hour or so on the trail. It was a little unsettling at first getting so far out of human contact. This was amplified by the bony remains of an animal right next to our campsite, but after awhile we got use to it.