Day 4, August 16

Day 4, August 16 — A smoky and nervous day

Locations: Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway, Missoula to Glacier NP

Miles driven: ~458

Click map to enlarge

I woke up at 5:45 at my camp spot near the Grand Vista parking lot and headed down the road about 10 minutes to Mono Park. I decided as I drove through here last night that I would shoot from here, specifically at the Lupine Picnic Ground driveway entrance looking back to the Pioneer Mountains to the east whose high point is Tweedy Mountain at 11,154’ (not pictured).

After the color of sunrise was gone, I backtracked a bit to the north wanting to take a side road I had seen earlier which goes to the ghost town of Coolidge, but it was blocked a few miles in due to road construction. That road takes off to the southeast and ends closer to the peaks I shot sunrise of. I figured if there was a chance it could offer better views of some of those mountains, I was game. I turned around and finished up the southern end of the byway. When coming out in the valley near Polaris, smoke filled the area and got progressively worse in short order.

I turned northeast on Highway 278 and the smoke was as thick as it could get. I could only see faint outlines of the nearby Beaverhead Mountains to the west. I had been looking forward to my drive through Montana for quite awhile, and I was very discouraged and disappointed that I couldn't see what all the landscape had to offer. I wondered where the fire was. I only hoped that I would be able to get north of the smoke and into the clear. I passed through the town, or more appropriately, village, of Jackson. The few structures that are there are run-down and the only person I saw was a white guy with dreads. I had enough evidence right there that this was not a cool place! At the town of Wisdom, I turned west onto Highway 43 and would head over the 7,264-foot Chief Joseph Pass on the Idaho border. From there, I turned north on Highway 93 and drove in the Bitterroot Valley below the eastern flank of the wonderful Bitterroot Mountains, a 60-mile long range that straddles the Idaho-Montana border, of which I could not see very well at all directly above me. I was wanting to take the Lolo Trail, which goes over the pass of the same name on the northern end of the range, and was the toughest route Lewis and Clark had to endure in their crossing. And though the pass has that historical significance, I was wanting to drive it for its scenic value. However, with all the smoke in the air today, it would hardly be an option. I will have to get back here to drive this and get a better look at these mountains another time.

I headed on into Missoula and mailed off a birthday card for my niece who was going to turn two in a few days. I also stopped at a gas station, and as I was about to leave, a lady knocked on my window and asked me if I was in the 10th Mountain Division as she had seen my license plate. The 10th Mountain Division is a division of the US Army which was originally formed to specialize in mountain and winter warfare. They had spent time training near Leadville, Colorado, and had fought a key battle in Italy in World War II. After the war, they were largely responsible for starting the ski industry in Colorado, including the resorts of Aspen and Vail. The division ceased operation in 1945, and was re-formed in 1985 making their home in New York, but are no longer for mountain only combat. At any rate, it turns out that the lady’s husband had served for them. I told her I was not apart of it, but that the Colorado public has this plate available to them without having served. I told her, as I have told many others previously, as these plates have proved to be a conversation starter time after time, that I purchased it to show my support of 10th Mountain Division and for displaying a wonderful part of Colorado's history.

After exiting Missoula, I headed northwest up I-90. I was ultimately heading toward Glacier, and the shorter drive would've been directly north, but I wanted to get another scenic byway under my belt, though scenic wasn't really in the vocabulary on this day with all the smoke that continued to saturate the sky. I got off the interstate at St. Regis, where the St. Regis-Paradise Scenic Byway begins.

I went 10 miles up the byway and pulled off onto a forest road. The smoke was really starting to make me nervous, as far as not knowing how long it would be around the region and not knowing how far north it covered. It was extremely depressing to think that this could ruin my whole trip. I had really wanted to see all the sights on this travel day, but I was shut out. I began looking at maps trying to decide what I wanted to do and where I could go while smelling the strong smoky air. The last thing I wanted to see was the smoke in the Canadian Rockies and to be shut out for a number of days there. After a lengthy internal debate and another change of plans, I decided I would move into Idaho and spend the next week over there instead of doing that on the last week of the trip like I had originally planned, which would hopefully allow the smoke more time to clear out. So, I backtracked out to St. Regis. I noticed that the smoke had thinned noticeably and I was encouraged that there could be a pronounced change in just this short amount of time. It was a more fragile system than originally thought. I stopped in at the forest service office to find more information about the source of the smoke. It turns out the fire was burning in Washington somewhere which had been burning for two weeks and was only 15% contained. Not the news I wanted to hear as it sounded like it would be going on for quite some time yet, but I changed my mind once again to continue with my original plans. I thought if the smoke conditions could change in this short amount of time, that I'd just go for it. I headed back up the byway.

When I reached Highway 382 around Parma, the smoke was again as thick as it had been all day and my worries resumed. I continued northeast and the normally beautiful setting of Flathead Lake was dominated by the smoke, a scene I was really looking forward to. Oh well. Another time. Around Kalispell, I was listening to the weather report on my CB radio and it said there was a cold front that was to move in tomorrow that would also likely bring record lows to the mountains in Glacier along with some snow. That was some news that was very welcome to hear. AWESOME! Could this be the end of the smoke? Only time would tell, but if anything could move it out, it would be a weather front of some sort.

I arrived in Columbia Falls at 4:20 on this warm afternoon where I called my sister and then the folks to let them know the trip was going rather well, except for today which has been rather forgettable. After filling up my water supply, I headed on over to Glacier and arrived at the entrance at 5:20. I drove directly up Forest Road 486 and headed directly to Bowman Lake where things were still smoky. I hadn’t been to this lake on our family’s previous trip here, but after looking at pictures online, it was settled that this would be a must-see location. Indeed, I was very impressed in person as the scene lay before my eyes, for it is a quintessential mountain lake. There was no color at sunset as the sun wasn’t able to penetrate the thick smoke layer. After I knew there would be no color, I headed back out to 486 and headed north looking for a camp spot. I traveled up the Red Meadow Road/FR 115 and photographed the moon above the trees before finding a spot a couple of miles in that was pretty tightly surrounded by trees and brush. Still waiting for the sound of footsteps, you can bet I wasn't outside of the truck for very long!

6:31 AM — Sunrise, Mono Park

6:34 AM — Sunrise, Mono Park

6:49 AM — Sunrise, Mono Park

11:52 AM — Smoky air westbound on Highway 43 between Wisdom and
Chief Joseph Pass

11:57 AM — Thick smoke westbound on I-90 between Missoula and St. Regis

12:06 PM — More bad smoke westbound on I-90 between Missoula and St. Regis

3:23 PM — More smoke at Flathead Lake near Kalispell (uh, behind the boring
houses, that is!)

7:06 PM — Smoky air at Bowman Lake, Glacier National Park

8:14 PM — Not set up to shoot the grand scene, so it's a good time to see
what's at my feet . . .

8:14 PM — . . . A crop from the resulting image. Nothing special, but there's
a lot of detail in there.

9:14 PM — The moon and a quiet, eerie forest near camp along the Red Meadow Road

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