Red Eagle Trail

I used to hike the Red Eagle trail in Glacier NP a lot before a huge fire transformed the landscape it walks through. And I've continued to hike it since the burn. It doesn't even feel like the same place (wish I had before and after photos). I can't really say I have a preference for either one. Before it was one of those inviting idealic forests you could get lost in and yet somehow feel reassured and nurtured by the trees themselves. Now the forest edge is like a curt and opaque statement from the inhuman world. One that says you may live here, but it hasn't been for that long, it may not be for that much longer, and it was never your place alone to begin with. 

Been reading a lot of Cormac Mccarthy lately. Can you tell? LOL. 

The Big Bigness

The Less Wild West

Roadside Refuse

Bearcentric

I love how bearcentric Montana is. Every time a bear related event happens anywhere, the montana papers pick up the story from the wires. However, the small town papers generally have enough bear related news that they don't have to pick up anything from the wire. The picture below, from the barber shop in Choteau, shows a bear who by accidently jumped into a basement as he tried to run away from the owner of the house. Poor guy. 

Diner/Dino '09

We finished up our Dino/Diner roadtrip. We had wraps stuffed with veggies and smoothies with real fruit for our first non-diner meal in almost 10 days. Detox time. That was a great trip. Now for some serious editing to make a little sense of it all. 

A Dino in Progress

Some thoughts part way into the Dino/Diner roadtrip: 

--its hard to show the inherent interrelatedness of dino's and diner's (even if it is indubitable:)

--I repeatedly have to remind myself that these surreal giant lizard things actually roamed our same planet earth 

--thinking about Dino's give's me the strange and humbling feeling that human beings are just a blip in time

--having this broad historical timeline in mind gives me a sort of absurdist appreciation for human culture, quirks, drama, triumph, struggle, joy etc. 

--looking for ways to cast characters we meet along the way as absurdist heros living on the same unfathomable timeline as Dino's

--This October in Montana feels like February in most other states

--Eating from 'greasy spoons' every meal is sort of intoxicating and invites lunacy

--even the cheapest hotels are luxurious after sleeping in the car for a week and a half of below freezing nights

--rural Montana inspires much curiosity (What do people do out here? What do people do anywhere?)

--the sky really is inexplicably big out here. yes, even bigger than it is in your state. 

--cold weather road trips are a completely different activity from warm weather road trips

--both are good activities

--I've managed to get myself into a rather difficult project that I have no idea if anyone would be interested in

--a good absurdist venture, no? 

We are all Dinos

Some of you might remember this post about the eternal relevance and coolness of dinos, and the necessity for taking a road trip to document dino things and eat diner things. Well, my friend Brendan and I have begun our pilgrimage in ernest. So far we've driven along the east side of the rockies from St. Mary to Bozeman, and we've yet to visit our first open dino museum. The first three sites were closed for the season, so we were left outside in the cold wind to admire the newly frosted dino statues in near site-seeing solitude. I've begun to wonder whether Americana--with its BBQ's, County Fair's, roadside tourist traps, and tractor parades--isn't somewhat seasonal itself. Don't most American's choose the warmer months to  bask in their own shamelessly cheesy national icons and traditions? 

Luckily, for us, the answer is no. Americana is not seasonal. Diner's are open year round. They serve chicken fried steak in August as well as October. Those overly well rounded egg based breakfast dishes surrounded by meat and potatoes, are available on warm july sundays after church, and as respite from shoveling snow in February. Most of the time you can even order them in the evenings. 

And from what we can tell, the rest of the dino sites on our itinerary are open for the public edification all year. Thank goodness. The dino/diner roadtrip will continue, and provided I find an internet connection, I'll be posting about it here. Great to be back in these united states.