The View From Above

Laura and I have spent the past few days in the mountains. We didn't camp out or anything, we simply spent a lot of time hiking and taking in some views. Probably, one of our most favorite hikes around Missoula came on Thursday evening when we went for a geocache on the Montana and Idaho boarder. We didn't know what to expect, but had heard the area was very interesting and worth going to, so we left around 7:30 on Thursday evening. We hiked in a little over a mile and climbed to the top of a butte to find the cache, it was rather simple, but what really impressed us was what we found on top. There, sitting literally on top of the butte and on the edge of a cliff, was an old forest service cabin. The cabin obviously had not been used is many years, but it wasn't in bad shape. The glass windows were nearly all still in place, the roof didn't have any holes, and the floorboards were still secured and stable. I walked around inside for a few moments and imagined what it would have been like to live on top of the butte for the summer and be a fire spotter.

We picked a really good evening to go because we could see all the way back to Missoula - nearly 25 miles - and we had an excellent view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. If you take a good look at the next picture you can get a really good idea of how the cabin was situated on top of the butte. Basically, the left and right sides of the cabin are on the edge of the cliff, along with the backside (previous picture). I stood on the edge of the cliff to take the picture of Laura in front of the cabin, and that didn't allow for much room to get a better angle.

We spent about half an hour on top, checking out the view and enjoying the sunset before heading back to the car. The trail wasn't real good so we wanted to be able to see our way back. Plus, on the way in I spotted some black bear tracks in the mud, and I wasn't very interested in meeting up with any bears in the dark, and especially without the bear spray in hand.Friday we dealt with the 100 degree temperatures in the evening by going running and playing ultimate frisbee. The past few days have been rather warm - to put things into perspective, there have never been this many consecutive days where the temperature has reached above 100 here in Missoula, and today we are going to tickle the 100 mark. It has been above 90 for the past two weeks and doesn't look to be cooling much in the near future either. Look out for the fire season! Friday night we noticed the haze beginning to thicken in the valley - we had been making plans to summit another mountain we have on our list and we decided that we would do it regardless of the smoke or not.

Late Saturday morning we headed for Squaw Peak. The peak is right at 8000 feet and one of our favorite ones to see from Missoula. It's the pointy one to the northwest. I took the picture back in January - I would take a more recent one, but the haze is so thick right now that we can't see Squaw Peak from Missoula! YUCK!

To add on top of the filthy air, we had a warm day of hiking as well. Even though we were gaining elevation the temperature wasn't dropping much, however we occasionally caught a cool breeze and that helped out. However, it was still hot and we were noticing it. I snapped a picture of Laura when she stopped to get a drink of water and it's apparent we were sweating and in need of some refreshing H2O.

Once we escaped the trees we had a good view of the peak, but we didn't have any shade for the remainder of the climb. Additionally, once reaching the boulder field the trail virtually disappears and it's a free for all to the top. However, we both agree that boulder hoping beats hiking on a trail any day! Not only do you get to make your own path to the top of the mountain, but you also get the do some exploring and searching of your own - and I like thinking I am the first person to take a certain route to get somewhere.

Even thought it wasn't a very good day to experience the view from the top, we still enjoyed out hike up. Had we been able to see the full panorama, we would have been able to see Missoula and north into the Flathead valley as well. The unobstructed view is definitely what I have been looking for since we started hiking, and I finally found one! Perhaps we will make another trip back once the smoke has cleared so we can take in the full view that the mountain has to offer, I can only imagine what it looks like on a clear day!I have spent most of my morning preparing my blog and I should be getting the house cleaned up for the arrival of my family tomorrow. They'll be spending the rest of the week with us and we are just finishing up our unpacking from the trip we took to Nebraska. I guess I should get off my comfy chair and get to work before another minute passes. Until again

-=Nolan=-