I am now traveling full swing.  I started hitchhiking three days ago, and have been very successful.  Jacquelyn Ellis arranged a ride to Montana from her brother and her father.  They dropped me off outside Missoula, Montana, 10:30 PM on July 3^rd.  My first camping spot was pretty nice.  I walked off the highway, onto a family ranch, and headed for a small clump of trees.  50 meters from the highway, the grass was three feet high.  I stumbled across an area of very soft, sandy soil, and decided that this would be a good spot.  With the tall grass, no one could see me, and the ground was nice.  In the morning, I discovered my first two mistakes.  The soft sand was in fact ash, which now coats everything I own in a fine white powder.  Secondly, I left my toothpaste in Bend, Oregon.

I quickly made my third mistake, but I don’t blame myself.  I blame you, my friends.  Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap is a magnificent biodegradable product that I use to do laundry, wash dishes, as soap, shampoo, and shaving cream.  Several of you, including Billielee, told me Dr. Bronners can also be used as toothpaste.

Fuck You!  Horse Shit can be used as toothpaste…and next time I would try that over Dr. Bronner’s.

Well, after a two-hour wait (drivers don’t pick up riders at 5 AM) my fresh soapy breath landed me a lift a little way toward Glacier National Park, my current destination.  The driver mentioned that there was a huge Pow-Wow on our route.  I had him drop me off on the reservation, and at 7:30 AM, I wandered in.  The Pow-Wow in Arlee, Montana had at least a thousand Native Americans.  It may be the oldest Pow-Wow in existance. 

There were NO white people.  With the exception of yours truly, everyone else was Native American.  I think the Rodeo (held at the same site) might have been a larger draw for the white crowd.

You can listen to some audio from the Pow-Wow...the sound quality isn't great. 

They had a big dance scheduled for 2 PM.  Around 12:30, other white people started arriving in droves.  It was packed by 1:30.  Some of the Native costumes where cheesy fluorescent, but some were gorgeous. 

The Native population didn’t seem to be bothered by celebrating the 4^th of July.  I was a little surprised.  They also honored all veterans in the audience, and said a prayer for the “warriors in Iraq defending our freedom.”  Yep, I’m not in Oregon anymore.

I hitched a few rides north, but the town I stayed in was still on the reservation.  I stayed at a MANSION!  Take a look at the photo!  What a huge house!  I had to get up at 5 AM to insure the owners didn’t catch me sleeping on their lawn.  July 5^th finds me in Kalispell, MT.

July 5^th, 5:00 PM

Portland, Oregon

Dan Brewer sits comfortably in his office, perhaps his thoughts lie on his evening plans.  His office line rings.  Adam Berg has a quick Internet question, and needs a quick answer.  “What is the weather forecast for Kalispell Montana?”

Long Island, NY

Meanwhile, in Long Island, New York, Jeff decides that he needs to get away for a bit and see Glacier National Park.  He is 49 years-old, and has not been there since he was 18 and on a road trip with his brother.  He gets a flight, and a car rental in Kalispell, and specifies “Convertible.”  In two days he will arrive.

Kalispell, MT

Darkness fell as I was standing on the outskirts of town with my thumb out to hitch a ride for the final 30 miles to Glacier National Park.  This was my third attempt in just as many years, and I did not want to fail to see Glacier yet again!  I noticed it was getting dark quickly.  It seemed early (sunset is at 9:45ish), and looking at the sky confirmed it was not the time, but thunderclouds that had darkened the sky.  Dan Brewer confirmed that the forecast called for two days of intermittent thunderstorms.  I ran to the nearest motel.  $70 a room, and another guest swore the town was full.  As the rain started falling, I ran to the 2^nd nearest motel, and was quite happy getting a room for $35.  Thunder, lightning and large hailstones fell.  No Glacier National Park anytime soon.

30 minutes later, Amanda Rondon called to tell me her mother (whom I had met once before) and her grandmother were in Kalispell.  I met up with them the next morning, and spend the 6^th and the morning of the 7^th at her Grandma’s house.  They treated me to a GREAT unhealthy fried chicken dinner at this fantastic restaurant 20 miles from Glacier, the “Night Owl (Back Room)” in Columbia Falls, MT.  Amanda’s Grandma is a great piano player, and a great bridge player.  I think she could have given my grandma a run for her money.

July 7^th, I finally entered Glacier National Park.  A fellow traveler who is temporarily in Columbia Falls (before he ships of to Thailand to teach English) picked me up, and even though he wasn’t going to Glacier, gave me a ride all the way there (15 miles).

My annual park pass got me in, and I started hitching along the famed “Going to the Sun Road” that traverses the park from East to West.  From the West entrance to Glacier (creatively called “West Glacier”, I had to wait an hour for a lift!  I thought National Parks would be an easy place to hitch, as big back packs are not uncommon.  An 18 year-old park worker picked me up and took me 10 miles into the park.  My next ride was fantastic!  Jeff from Long Island picked me up in his rented Mustang convertible.  Gold convertible with the cigar in my hand—that is seeing Glacier in Style! 

We drove the length of the park, and stopped and did some short hikes.  Jeff spotted a large dog, which I photographed…it is a Coyote.  There was a ram in the Logan Pass parking lot.  It was VERY docile, but I was still surprised to see people chasing it “like paparazzi”.  One woman was luring it closer with Cheese Puffs.  When I told her she “probably shouldn’t feed it” she looked embarrassed—clearly she knew she shouldn’t feed a wild animal.  After a few hours of great conversation and great views, Jeff dropped me off at a campground at the other side (East) of the park. 

There was a man walking into the campground as I exited Jeff’s convertible.  He asked me if I was hitchhiking through the park.  I told him I had hitched the length of the park, and that I was going to hitch to Many Glacier (another part of the park) the next day.  Since he was heading that way, he offered to give me a lift the next day.  Tal the Israeli-American and I hung out for 2 days, and did a GREAT 15 mile hike with severe elevation change.  The photos of Iceberg lake and of the Moose are from that hike.  I hope he isn’t too angry at me for waking him up before 6 AM to head out early for that hike.  Also, notice the bear spray on my hip.  There were numerous bear sightings on the trail--There was Mother Grizzly with two cubs.  I would have been torn between reaching for my bear-spray and my camera.  We did not encounter any bears.  If we had, I think my  Gangsta appearance would have intimidaded their sorry grizzly asses!

Tal dropped me off at the East entrance to Glacier at 5:30 PM.  I needed to get to the West end, where I would camp, and then return to Kalispell where I had stored a bunch of my stuff.  It took an hour to get a lift, despite the fact that I was offering free admission ($25 value) to the park for any car taking me in.

Tuesday and Wednesday

July 11-12

Missoula, MT

A Day In The Life

I ran into Kirk, a 35 year-old that I hitchhiked with on the 4^th.  I like and trust him—he is a genuinely good person.  I cook us an unexciting dinner of pasta, vegetable protein, and cream of mushroom soup.  At 9:30 PM, it was too late to buy fresh produce at a grocery.  We set up my stove in a park on the river.  I bunch of other vagrants are there.  They are very friendly, and offer lots of advice, however they are also scoping out my backpack, sleeping bag, and other equipment.  Kirk and I part ways.  I head for a hill on the outskirts of town, and spread my tarp down on the wheat grass to sleep for the night.  I wake up at 5 AM, and head down to the river to “shower” and wash some clothes.  My only company is a crawdad who is missing most of his tail.  I am not arrested for public indecency

I buy a garlic bagel and produce some instant hummus from a mix I carry—breakfast.

Ode to Ranger Savior

Sunday July 9^th, 5:30 PM

Oh sweet ranger lady at the East entrance.  Thank you for saving me late Sunday night!  I enjoyed our brief conversation that I initiated about hitchhiking, and the morality of offering to use my pass for free admission to the car that gave me a ride into the park.  You went above and beyond when the Irish couple drove up to your booth, and you sent them to me!

 Oh such dejection on their faces when you told them they would have to pay the $25 fee even if they were just driving through the park.  Oh what elation when you informed them that the hitchhiker over yonder had an annual pass that would get them in for free.  They took me all the way to Kalispell, and they agreed to stop at the Night Owl in Columbia Falls for GREAT fried chicken!

My time in Glacier was the luckiest series of rides I have EVER had, in all my travels over the world.   What a great experience in only 4 days.

Monday July 10^th

Kalispell Montana (again!)

I retrieved my stuff that I had stashed before Glacier.  I was caught in a few thunderstorms while I tried to get a ride to Missoula (2 hours South).  It took several hours, but at 3:30, a truck pulled over, and I hopped in.

Duncan [name changed] is the same age as me.  He grew up in a pretty rough family in NE Montana, but lives in Butte (South Montana).  Duncan was in Kalispell visiting his 5 year-old son who lives there.

Duncan spend ten years as a raging alcoholic meth-head with a gambling problem.  He checked himself into a 60 day treatment program (and was billed the $30,000).  When he returned to his house, all his possessions that he had stolen from family members and friends where gone, and his place was ransacked.  It was not his relatives taking their things back…it was other meth heads who knew he was indisposed.  Many of the family heirlooms are gone for good.  Duncan gets really angry for exactly one day, until he realizes that this is his doing, and he has done this to his family and friends.  He uses the word Karma.  Duncan is clean.

He works on an oil rig in Wyoming and earns $50K-60K.  He puts a lot of it in his IRA, and he spends a lot of it on guy toys like a corvette.  Other than music, we may not have much in common, but we have a good two hour ride.  He is very generous.  I am the first hitchhiker he has ever picked up.

Duncan does not say so, but Duncan’s son idolizes him.