From:  Chris Hoke <mineralrock@yahoo.com> 
Subject:  day 13, montana.
Date:  Sat, 21 Oct 2000


"i'm a tumbler, born under punches" -talking heads

remain in light will stand the test of time as one of
the top five albums of the 80's. in fact, if you
consider the music that is still listenable today, the
talking heads are arguably the #1 band of the 80's. i
recomend remain in light, talking heads:'77, fear of
music, more songs about buildings and food. it's all
awesome.

day 13, montana.
when you wake up you feel like a newborn, still
smacking of birth fluid and unable to comprehend your
situation. it's still dark out, and your first
thoughts aren't yet of any coherency. your second
thoughts are the type that tighten your innards and
face muscles into a scowl. wake? now? it's not even
light out!

luckily the sun does decide to come back into view.
if the sunset can be like a big dollup of butter being
flung onto a pan made of glass, the sunrise is more
like watching a souflet rise. a golden dollar, brand
new and not a scratch on it, rises through the ancient
cedars that look like pines. it's so bright it
reflects light away from it on all sides, you are
compelled to stare.

i've never seen the sunlight of the sunrise on
someone's face. i've seen the sunlight on mount
rushmore, on the trees, on the ground. i've never
seen it shining in someones eyes, but i should.

we saw the sunrise over a cup of coffee, strong and
black and steam rising off it. like a folgers
commercial. then we were off, back to east glacier
for a huge breakfast, at least on my part. i am
eternally hungry on this trip. i eat and eat and eat,
but i don't gain weight. i exercise less than dad, but
it's more than i ever do.

i got the standard (at least for me) denny's grand
slam: 2 hotcakes, 2 sausage, 2 eggs. the hotcakes,
they were huge, and thick, 2 was enough for paul
bunyun. last night i had a dream about nick, it had
to do with a pink sweater. i don't remember what it
was about, except that nick took this pink sweater out
of my cabinet and started laughing at me...
weird.

it was a great breakfast.
when you're in east glacier, be sure to eat at the two
medicine grill, even if you are a vegan. i'm sure
they'll cook up a veggie stir fry or a salad for you.

then we had a long, long drive up this mountain pass,
it was tricky driving, and dad manuevered bounder
well, quite well. we drove and drove, and stopped at
a grocery store for eggs, bacon, milk, a magnet,
cigarettes, and other such stuff. then we kept
driving, driving along a mountain pass that winded
and winded around. finally we got to many glacier,
which is the place we decided to start hiking. we
would hike first to iceberg lake, and then to
ptarmagin lake. so we started hiking, the first part
of the trail was steep, very steep and we were
wondering if the whole trail would be this steep. it
was a cold day, there was snow on the tops of the
mountains, we needed winter coats, gloves, layers, a
scarf, binoculars, camera.

listening to joy division now, it's good stuff.
"someone take these dreams away, then point me to
another day" =joy division

we hiked up a while and when i looked back at the
trail, all i could see was forests and mountains, as
far as you can tell. your sense of scale is totally
screwed up because you're not used to being out in
the middle of nowhere. you can see for miles and
miles and miles, all huge trees, green and tall,
punctuated by mountains that rise up sharply and are
white capped. we were hiking for half an hour, the
whole time we were on "bear patrol" i didn't really
care if i saw a bear, they're impressive, but i'm
more about the landscape. but we did see a bear, after
hiking for half an hour. it was a good 300 yards off,
we had to use binoculures to really see it.
it was huge.
majestic, slow, carefull, deliberate.
it was huge.
a grizzly.
so we kept hiking, and a while later we got to
ptarmagin falls, a pretty impressive falls that had
cut through rocks like a pottery artist cuts through
clay. the water flowed fast and clear, perfectly clear
and cold as ice. there were some people who were
hiking behind us and had caught up b/c we took a
breather at the falls. the one guy had those (i think)
silly hiking poles, ski poles you use when you're
hiking. what's up with that?  i can understand if
you're a swiss guide and you have a pick axe that you
carry, but this wasn't hard stuff....
oh well.

so they went to iceberg lake, where we were going.
well, we altered our hike b/c we wanted to be alone.
so we went to ptarmagin lake first, it was a long
hike, and went up a steep trail. it was worth it, b/c
the lake was at the bottom of a semicircle of
mountain, and it was clear and blue, clear near the
edges and blue as you looked farther to the center.

good joy division songs: "isolation" "procession"
"love will tear us apart" "she's lost control"

Then we saw a trail that cut back up and up one of the
mountains, and we thought if we went up we would be be
able to see over the edge. it was HARD.  the elevation
was high, and our legs were already shaky from the
constant up up up. but we went up up up. when we got
to 50 yards to the top, there was nowhere else to go.
so we just stopped, took some pictures, and were
thankfull that the rest of the hike was down down
down. we had hiked up 2/3 of a vertical mile and we
were tired. we went down the trail, to where the
trails for ptarmagin lake and iceberg lake intersect,
and even though i was acheing, we pushed on to iceberg
lake. it was an easier hike, up but not as extreme a
grade as the other trail, and iceberg lake was half
frozen over, a huge iceberg staring you in the face on
the other side.

getting across a river on the trail was no easy feat,
as they had taken out the bridge that crossed the
river. so we had to improvise, and luckily we got
across without getting wet. not that it was easy, it
wasn't.  the trees i climbed across were slick with
ice and the bark had been all stripped back.

NP: christie front drive: stereo sound

we were very tired when we got back to bounder, very
tired and very much in need of a beer, a hot shower,
and a whole lotta food. so dad cooked up a big slab
of steak with sauteed onions on top.  it was heaven.

yeah, like we're gonna go anywhere after hiking
fifteen miles, half of it uphill?
no.

we popped some movies in and fell asleep, hard asleep.

observations: all these parks are perfect for mountain
bikes, and biking in general.
whenever we eat in the bounder, dad sits with his back
to the mirror, and i sit oppisite him. always.
the guy waiting on us in glacier looked like he had
taken too much acid years ago, his eyes were just so
clear and piercing, but not in a natural way. he was a
little off.
bounder was not made for mountain passes. he could
have easily slid off the road if it wasn't for dad's
driving prowess.
the cabin begins to smell really really nasty if you
don't use the special blue stuff when you do your
buisness. it's smelling that way now, and i wish it
wouldn't.
music makes a perfect companion for beautifull
scenery, whether it be classical, rock, whatever.
except country.  dad insists on playing country every
now and then, and i want to puke. i don't know why i
hate country, but i do.  it's so cheesy and stupid,
all the songs are the same, yuck.

***/***/**** <---nick, you should call.
mineralrock@yahoo.com

chris