The one thing on the top of my to-do list this summer was to make it over to backpack around Glacier National Park. Tyler, Josh and I made a plan to take four days after the fourth of July and make our way to North-West Montana to see what the Blackfeet Native Americans call the "Backbone of the World." That saying is truly deserving. The landscape made me feel like a snowflake on Mt. Everest. There were endless 360 degree views of towering peaks, placid lakes, frozen glaciers and the occasional Grizzly...
Our journey into the backcountry toward our site at Poia Lake started innocently enough. That was until we went left instead of right and hiked for several hours until we reached an enormous bowl of cliffs. After some discussion we backtracked and surmised that the trail went off at such an angle that we could cut over to it if we did a little bushwhacking. Don't ever make your own trail unless you are a masochist. We spent a few hours in the deep woods with oversized packs stirring up uneartly aggresive swarms of mosquitos and disappointing ourselves with false sightings of the mysterious lake.
When we thought we were at our wits end we broke through some branches and arrived on the beautiful, well maintained Yellow Brick Road that was going to effortlessly take us to salvation (pictured above amid Bear Grass, the large white flowers). Effortless turned out to be a small understatement. Keep in mind that this is hour ten with no stops over twenty minutes and a healthy midget on each of our backs. We hiked with determination in our hearts to find this chimera named Poia for another three hours of merciless incline until we happened across a couple hiking back from our port of call. The woman seemed a little ashen faced as they described the Grizzly who had been hanging around the lake's edge for most of the day refusing to cede any ground to the hairless apes. We had come so far and were so exhausted that we decided we would take our chances with Smoky. Our bear calls became more pronounced as we hiked the remaining three miles with a sharpened sense of our hunter-gatherer instincts. The campsite was heavily wooded and the lake was a further 100 meters downhill. We gave the area a good looking over and besides some fresh bear digs we could not spot the fabled bear. At this point we went back to the campsite and gorged ourselves trying to gain back some of our spent energy. I had my back to the trail with a fist full of trail mix when Tyler gave out a uncharacteristic "Oh my God." As if in a surreal dream, I glanced back and stared at a large dark-brown boulder thirty feet away in the middle of trail that had not been there before. The world turned slower as my intuition told me that this was in fact not a benign rock but a fully grown, flesh ripping carnivorous barbarian. This period of realization was plenty of time for him to have stormed our gates and done as much raping and pillaging as he desired. But to our luck he seemed only curious of the smell of our leaking pasta and man musk. We all stood up bear spray in hand ready to unload but he was as placid as morning pond, just a few sniffs of the passing air and he lumbered his way back down the trail. And so we arrived at a crossroads, spend the night with Smoky the Curious or hump all the way back down the trail we had nearly killed ourselves coming up? We surmised that we would not get a wink of sleep anyway so we should finish our meal and pound it out in the fading light. Thank God for endorphines and adrenaline because I'm sure the body is not able to take that kind of abuse normally. More fresh bear digs on the trail that had not been there before kept our bear calls true and the velcro on our spray cans undone. Never has the sight of my Pathfinder been so sweet as that day.
When we finally made it back to the main tourist campsites they were full and we had to head outside the park to stay in a seedy little motel that turned out to be blessing because the alternative was cramming into a ultra-lite three man tent that we had needlessly hauled over hell's half acre without showers. The smell would have been terrific.
If the trip had gone to plan and was free of a few bumps and turns I would have been disappointed. It is an amazing place and an adventure I will never forget.
I have been fortunate to come back to Denmark to intern with my old school, the Danish Institute for Study Abroad as the International Business and Economics Program Assistant. Quite a mouth full, I will definitely have to get some business cards made. The contract is for thirteen months and I am really happy to get the opportunity to go abroad again and to see all my old friends and family. In fact, the second day my old host-brother Anders and his girlfriend Tanja (it is less common for Danes to get formally married) had a baby girl, Josephine. It was a little strange for me to think of Anders as a father but both he and Tanja are ecstatic and so is Ander's mom Lisbeth. She is a beautiful bundle of blue eyed joy and I held her like a delicate carton of eggs, always support the head!
For the first month I have been staying with Lisbeth, who hosted me while I was a student. It has been good to reconnect with a family that I grew very close to in past. This week I will start renting an apartment in the city and riding a bicycle to work. I have enjoyed living with her because she has taught me about the real Denmark and is just a cool lady. Thanks again Lisbeth!
