Sunday, June 13, 2004
6/13/04 - East Glacier, Montana
So far it's a great day. Walter drove me from his house in Ben Lomand, near Santa Cruz, to the San Jose Airport where I flew first to Seattle, then to Kalispell, Montana.
The next task was getting to E. Glacier Park, a town on the east side of Glacier National Park. Kalispell is on the west side of the park and was about 100 miles away from my destination. A private car with a driver cost as much as my one-way airfare from San Jose to Kalispell, as did a one-way car rental. A guy offering rides at the airport was about half that.
If I'd found a deal, I would have taken it, but secretly, I wanted to meet the challenge of hitching that distance. The size of the challenge increased because it was raining. But I'm set up to be in the cold and rain for days at a time, so I was reasonably comfortable. I walked out from the airport to Hwy 2, confirming with the ladies at the airport parking payment booth that left was east on my way out.
Chris, who had a flatbed trailer behind his blue pickup, stopped before too long. He lives in the area during the summer, and in southern Texas for the rest of the year. He delivers specialty parts to oil rigs around Texas and Louisiana, which he says is quite lucrative.
He dropped me in a town called Hungry Bear, where I grabbed a burrito, endured more rain before moving up the road and under some trees.
Before too long, Lee came along. Today was moving day for Lee, but his "girl's" mom was over, and he wanted to avoid the mother-in-living-in-sin. He wasn't going to East Glacier, still 80 miles distant, but decided he would drive me for a half an hour. He didn't even know where East Glacier was. Lee was drinking a beer and smoking.
Truth is that he was drunk and it was a rainy day. And he was not driving by staying in between the lines. He claimed that his sloppy driving was on purpose. I believe it was when he cut across the center line on a curve with good visibility. I don't believe it when he was going 80 and INCHES away from the guard rail on the right.
Me, I was serene. Plus something Lee said put me a little at ease. He said, "I didn't live this long to kill myself driving now."
Along the way he told me stories almost too improbable to be true, but I know they were.
So, a half hour was coming up, there was a straight section of highway, and there was a business coming up so Lee decided that it was time to stop. Then he saw that the business was a restaurant and TAVERN. We asked where the next gas station was. When Lee heard that it was only 39 miles to East Glacier, he ordered a Bailey's and coffee and announced that he'd drive me the rest of the way.
On the way, we passed Marias Pass, one of the early passes on the CDT. That was exciting. Then, for a while, the pavement on the road was red. They used red material to make the asphalt. It was a little magic.
Since I'm writing this, you know that I made it. I filled up his tank for $30, he bought more liquor, and I sent him on his way, wishing him safe travels.
Lee is turning 40 soon, works five 10-hour days a week in the timber industry here in Northern Montana, and has two daughters in Seattle.
At the Whistling Swan, I found a note that Gottago left for me, and true to her note, she returned before too long. Plus she had Spur (PCT 2002, who I saw only once, on day 3 at Mt. Laguna) and Apple Pie (PCT 2003) with her.
They'd been busy finding out lots of stuff, the best of which is that we can drive food to Many Glacier, decreasing the amount we have to carry on the first leg from 8 days to 4 days. Yippee!
Yogi, Dewey, and Goof are due in sometime tonight. It's approaching 11:30 PM now, so it's going to be real late.
