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Published: August 22nd 2007
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070817 Missoula MT to Wenatachee National Forest Washington
Here's a picture of what I looked like when I got off trail....nice and dirty.
Missoula was fun, but I felt like I was imposing on Chad and Corey had things to do before he went back on trail next week. I heard that Kat wasn’t living in Missoula anymore and Anne was nowhere to be found.
Friday Chad and I went to a place called Sandy Beaches…it’s a bunch of small sandy beaches along the Alberton Gorge. On the way Chad and I saw something that made both of us spontaneously explode with laughter for a good five minutes. Missoula was covered with a thick layer of smoke from many forest fires in the surrounding area. Chad’s roommate Sam had even asked us if we wanted a dust mask for the smoke, but neither of us took one. As we were driving to Sandy Beaches we saw an overweight man stopped on the side of the road. He was straddling his bike, leaning heavily on the handle bars, dust mask around his neck, and the kicker was, he had a cigarette in his mouth. It was hilarious…unfortunately I was
driving so I wasn’t able to get a picture.
The gorge was beautiful and the beaches were nice and soft. For a short period of time the wind blew hard, pushing the smoke out of the way, allowing the sun the warm us. We ended up taking a nap on the beach for a couple of hours. Then we drove back to town and got some steaks to grill. Went back to Chad’s, Corey stopped by with some vegetables from his garden and some dough and cheese to make grilled pizza. The pizza made a great appetizer and the steaks were delicious.
By the time we finished eating people had begun arriving for the party. Chad’s roommate Sam and her friend Sarah were throwing a going away party for Sarah who was moving to Olympia WA for school. The party lasted in the wee hours of the morning, ultimately ending when both Chad and Sam almost got arrested when someone called the cops because of the noise. Luckily Chad only ended up with a disturbing the peace ticket.
The next day we didn’t get up until around noon, then we ended up watching a bunch of movies
all day. No one was in the mood to do anything. First of 28 Weeks Later…a nice intense horror film. I liked it. Then we watch Alone in the Wilderness, which is more of a documentary this guy made about the year he spent alone in Alaska in the late 60’s. By this time we were getting hungry so we went to Biga Pizza, a pretty nice little pizza joint. Chad and I stopped and bought a six pack of some local beer and took it to the pizza place since there was no alcohol there. Corey met us for dinner, he and Chad split a pizza while I got an amazing calzone. Unfortunately when I left the next day I forgot to take my leftovers with me!
After dinner we still didn’t feel like doing anything so we went back to Chads to watch another movie. Before the movie we smoked Sam’s hookah. She had some really tasty Jasmine flavored shisha (I don’t know how to spell it). After the smoke it was time for another movie. This time we watched Zodiac…it’s a long freakin’ movie. Almost 3 hours, but it was pretty good.
The next morning, okay maybe it was more like noon, I left Missoula. I was going to be heading toward Seattle where I’m supposed to meet Bryan on Tuesday or Wednesday. It was Sunday, but as I said earlier I felt like I was imposing on Chad. I figured I’d just take my time getting there and maybe spend some time in Seattle before I met Bryan.
It started to rain before I got to Spokane and that bummed me out because I need to waterproof my tent. As I learned the hard way in Yellowstone my tent is showing its age. I decided to try to Couchsurf in Spokane. I sent a few e-mails out from a coffee shop in Spokane and awaited replies. After a couple of hours I grew antsy and decided to leave. I figured I’d just sleep in the truck.
Leaving Spokane was a great decision. Even thought it was raining the cloud cover was beautiful. I’ve never seen clouds so low. There were clouds that were not more than 50’ up. The layering of the clouds was a sight to behold and unfortunately the effect didn’t transfer well to pictures.
As I drove farther West I came out of the mountains, the clouds stayed with them. I got some amazing views of the thunderheads and it looked as if the setting sun was holding back the storm. I found some forest roads in the Wanatachee National Forest on my computer and figured I’d bet there just after dark.
It was definitely dark by the time I got to my exit, I was only about 80 miles east of Seattle by this time. Driving on the forest road was fun and scary. It was completely black except for my headlights. I could vaguely make out trees, shrubs, and ferns along the edges of the road. I drove around for a while, trying to find a pullout to park without blocking the road just in case someone else came around. Finding a suitable spot I crashed out, eager to see what my surroundings looked like in the morning.
I awoke to birds chirping, the dark cloud cover had allowed me to sleep in until just after nine am. I looked around to see huge green trees covered in moss. Dark soil covered by bushed and ferns everywhere. It was beautiful. I got out of the truck and could smell moist damp wood and soil. After a breakfast of cereal I headed to Seattle.
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