My delay at leaving Butte almost caused me to be stuck behind an overturned semi tractor trailer on I-15, between Butte and Helena. The driver was OK and helped the cars squeeze past his overturned rig. All big trucks had to pull over. There was some cargo strewn on the road. Emergency vehicles were still en route when I drove past the scene. I'm glad I made it through!
The highway here snakes through a narrow canyon studded with pines, large swaths of which are dead from the ash bohrer beetle. I noticed the dead trees back in 2009 when I last drove through town. They glisten a rusty brown in the sun. I'm glad a wildfire hasn't taken out the rest of this forest, although starting over may be the best thing for this sickly forest. I did notice many young trees, though, that seemed to be healthy.
I wanted to stop in the state capital for my morning walk with the dogs as I'd been to the Mount Helena City Park last time, a large park on the SW of town with many trails. This time I followed green directional signs from the city center to Reeder's Village, the far eastern parking lot for trails. This is the closest way to bag Mount Helena. I just wanted to exercise the dogs.
It was just my luck, though, that I was sharing the same Prospect Shaft trail to the 5476' peak with an entire school of 7th graders. This is the most direct trail to the summit. Tomorrow is their last day of school and the kids got to enjoy it with being out in nature. I was impressed how many kids were hiking up the peak with ease. This wouldn't happen in Arizona, with so many kids glued to their cellphones. They were polite and nice to the dogs. For once I could be around middle schoolers and not be recognized. No one outed me with a loud "Miss Gee!" At the summit the teacher-escorts gathered all the kids for a group photograph. I hope my dogs didn't photobomb the pictures.
Sadie and Zeke enjoyed the attention. Both were so well behaved among the chatty kids. They were petted by many loquacious preteens. The city allows dogs off leash as long as they mind their manners. There were quite a few other dog walkers going in all directions. If I saw a dog coming toward us, I just took my pack off the trail until the other person had passed. There were no barking incidents and here is where I was glad Minnie wasn't with me: she would have been aggressive toward the kids and other dogs. I had no complaints with Zeke and Sadie. The only complaint was the warmth. Despite the 60F at the start, the dogs were warm from the sunshine, and I felt drained. The 2.5-mile hike had drained me.
I stopped in town to rest. It was late in the morning but the beer pub didn't open until 2pm. I didn't want to stick around, nor did I want to walk around in the town's pretty pedestrian walk way, so I opted to continue my drive to Great Falls. This drive showed the hills opening up and the great Missouri river snaking through. Great Falls is perhaps the most northwestern part of the Great Plains. It's unlike the other western Montana towns in that its primary purpose is agricultural shipping and the rail road. It lies in the valley along the river, with the hot sun blazing down. It hadn't changed much since my last stop through in 2009: it's still a gritty farming town.
Temperatures were in the mid 80s all day and somehow it felt hotter than that. I had no desire to go for another walk while it was this hot. I showered and changed my clothes at the Malmstrom AFB gym and sat in the van with the windows open under a shade tree. Even the dogs looked exhausted. There was no way I was going to torture them any more with another walk. There wasn't even much to see on base anyway. I was careful with my fatigue, too. Twice I drove the wrong way today because I didn't see the sign. I must have driven 40 miles out of my way today.
The heat and fatigue forced me to continue north on I-15. I might as well get some distance in for tomorrow. I made it to the railroad town of Shelby, MT, 40 miles from the Canadian border. A huge US garrison flag flies on a hillside here off the highway exit. A local veterans' park is here, so we walked to the huge flag, admired the sunset, and called it a night. My campsite was the Comfort Inn just off the interstate exit. Next to me was a Z71 Off Roader with a kenneled dog in the back crying for its owner.
I plan on getting up in the morning to continue my drive east on US2 to US89 and skirt the eastern half of Glacier National Park going north to the Carway, AB border entry. I'm ready for Canada. All the news outlets keep talking about the former FBI Director James Comey testifying in front of Congress talking about trump wanting him to disregard the former National Securty Adviser Mike Flynn's relations with Russian contacts before the election. This is going to drag on for days and weeks and trump will come out of it smelling like roses. So why all the hype? I hope the Canadian press will have other things to report on besides their evil neighbors to the south.
Miles driven today: 338/1695.3
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