Journey Day 365 | CDT Day 28

Storm clouds in Montana.

7/9/87

It's storming with unparalelled vigor, but after a day of cold sprinklings hounding us enroute, I'm sheltered in my tent, ready for the real thing. Even ate in vestibule while warming in my sleeping bag.

Carl and I are pitched along a sand road near its origin at the control station for Whitetail Reservoir. It took some doing getting here.

Carl Ownbey in front of our tent on Whitetail Reservoir.

We started late, after listening and talking with Mr. Demers, who owned the property we hiked through the night before and claims the meadows we camped in. He tells us he was county sheriff for 27 years, and grew up on Berry's Meadows. Talk trails, mining (is he related to the Demers gold syndicate?) and a little bit more. We're getting cold, so we hike away.

Through soggy meadow, up ravine, past Eureka Mine. Rain threatens all day, some sprinklings, especially when we're taking breaks. End up following roads until ravine trail hike takes us near Little Boulder Park, where we head to the reservoir on good trail. We never come to a meadow after the pass as expected. I want to bushwhack from the extreme of our blunder, but practical heads prevail and we go back to the junction before bushwhacking - edging meadows until we see the lake! Cows and their flop are every in all the meadows, and hiking is tough on uneven tufts of grass interspersed with murky channels. Slowly, soggily, we push toward the lake through a flat park - vegetation minimal, lake flat and fake.

Pack with new pockets filled seems heavy on my back. It's slow going. Bushwhacking rugged and stressful. Short break along the lake, then more trudging to road spot, Laurie hunts on for better spot, but Carl and I pitch in strong winds, cook and eat as a storm gathers, then hits. As I finish, it’s light outside and thunder is already in the distance.