montanapalooza 2002

“After walking for 5 days straight, surviving the storm from he!! (in a bivy), putting out a forest fire, my wife wants me to take her to the County Fair!
Can you imangine? Oh, woe is me!”

“Now that rocks!


8)”

“Very cool patch. Nice design! Generous GoJo!”

“GoJo king of patches!

8)”

“I miss Montana so bad I can taste it hey Aero can I say with you for a month?

Hahahahahah....8)

In Montana for a month that would rock!”

“CMB: I'm sure Geezr would enjoy having another nightmare or two, why don't you ask him?”

“Good point I think I will.

8)

Oh Geezer..........Its going to be ok....8)”

“Oh no . . . he's baaaaaaaack!”

“YES!

CMB's in the H O U S E!!!!!

By the way are you ok?

8)”

“Naviguesser, in seven days I'll be camped on the Continental Divide in Wyoming. I can't wait to use the "Planishere" you left me.

However, if it rains every night I'm going to burn it in a ceremonial ritual to the star gods. GRIN

Honestly, thanks Rick!”

“I saw that photo of Jerbear and all I could think of was, Jerbear the trail pirate.”

“Mulie, that is classic . . . I mean classic!!!!!!!!!!!”

“That is toooooo much! I love it!”

“LOL and spilling coffee..... That's great!”

“HPM, too funny!! Coffee all over my keyboard too!”

“Day 5- 7/17- After surviving the storm at Windy Lake, we head over the nearly 10,000' divide between the Clarks Fork and East Rosebud drainages of the Yellowstone. We pass Fossil Lake and view huge snowpacks which still remain along parts of the lake. We now move into a steep canyon with huge waterfalls. Crazy Mike is harassed by a marmot at one of the stops near a waterfall. He threatens revenge.

We reach Dewey Lake (9,340') fairly early in the day. A few of us dive into the icy water near camp. Our campsite is located on a granite bench overlooking the lake, making a beautiful setting. The rest of the day we take short hikes around the lake and view more waterfalls. Rain arrives, as usual, in the early evening. Many retreat to their tents. Hodgeman sets up the sil-tarp and buys us a few more hours outside. Near 8:30 the rain lets up and the sun begins to set, the combination of the two creating a perfect rainbow to the east.

Day 6- 7/18- We pack up our gear at Dewey Lake and head down the canyon to Rainbow Lake, 1,670 feet below and 5 miles away. This is where the waterfalls gain height and intensity. Impasse falls is spectacular; over 200 feet high it is probably one of the most spectacular falls in the state. We reach Rainbow Lake around noon and take over the meadow with our tents. It looks like a gear show! We spend the rest of the day relaxing and a few brave souls test the icy waters of the lake. Jerbear exits the lake and tries to convince the women of the group that it's the cold water that causes shrinkage.

After dinner, Crazy Mike spots a mule deer at the edge of camp. Mike, being "one with the animals" crawls towards the deer through the tall grass- which turn out to be nettles. Prowler and family show up. A few of us are amazed at the weight he dragged up from East Rosebud and the fact that he brought his two toddlers 8 miles into the wilderness.”

“Day 7- 7/19- We try to get an early start today with the intention of getting out by early afternoon for a celebration of burgers and beer at the Grizzly Bar in Roscoe. A few are ready to go before 7:00am and head off down the trail from Rainbow Lake. The others are close behind. Within a half hour, Geezr returns back up the trail and warns the rest of the group that there's a forest fire down the trail and we need to get moving. When we arrive at the site, a narrow part of the trail near the Rainbow Lake outlet, we find the first of the group battling a blaze. They had already knocked down a much larger fire on a large log and pieces of timber. The flames were on the verge of spreading into the surrounding trees and could have threatened the forest and the lives of the campers back up the trail in the narrow canyon. Jerbear is sent down the trail to locate the Wilderness Ranger to report the fire.

Briar Rabbit, who serves at times on a Hot Shot crew, has mobilized everyone and organized the mop-up effort. He directs us to the areas that need to be dug out and shows us how to check for hot spots. We start a bucket brigade of water bags and collapsable buckets. Trekking pole are used to grub through the duff and peel burning bark off the logs. Briar instructs us now to trench around the perimeter and look for hot spots in the thick duff. We soak the area down with water after a little over an hour the site looks under control. Briar Rabbit has really proven his skills as a firefighter and deserves a huge amount of credit for preventing what could have been a huge disaster.

We climb back up the cliffs to the trail and are greeted with yet another crisis. Prowler is bent over a log and appears to be ill. TX, a newly minted EMT, is caring for him. We have to split the group up and I'm off to alert the ranger of the latest emergency. I meet the ranger about half-way down the trail. She's heard from Jerbear and has called for a fire crew to stand by until she checks the site. I update her on the fire, telling her it looks good, but she may need to keep checking. I report the medical emergency to her and she heads on up the trail. I reach the trailhead and spot the fire crew standing by. They are on the sattelite phone with the ranger. She reports that the fire is out and the site is under control. i relate the story of the fire-fighting effort to the crew chirf and he is mightily impressed with Briar's skills and knowledge and said he deserves a lot of credit.

The first of the group is finally back down to the trailhead around noon, about what we had hoped for, but several, the Snow family and TX, are still up the trail dealing with Prowler. I take a group of drivers over to Cooke City to pick up vehicles while the rest head to the Grizzly Bar for some well-deserved burgers and beer. The rest of the day goes fairly well, except for a short traffic delay from a mudslide near Cooke City. We're disappointed not to be able to have a final group dinner, but most of us hook up at the Red Lodge KOA for some final goodbyes.

Great trip everyone! The scenery was fantastic, the mosquitoes brutal and the group that made the entire trip were really well-prepared and adaptable to all the conditions we faced.”

“Jerbear exits the lake and tries to convince the women of the group that it's the cold water that causes shrinkage.

aero
09:40:01 AM
07/22/02

Aero & HPM, STOP, how can I drink coffee if you won't stop?”

“My work here is done.”

“Geezr, LOL!!
Send that "planet-sphere" where it belongs!

Great trip!”

“Look out Jerbear!!
The've sent the Lone Ranger after you!!”

“I have to thank all of you for trusting me with your valuable vacation time and the efforts you made to get out here. I know many of you had to ask for vacation time off as early as last winter. I can't say how impressed i was with everyon'e preparedness and abilities. We weathered some pretty tough storms up there and everyone survived in fine fashion. I picked up a lot of new knowledge from just about everyone from gear to wild plants to fire-fighting!! I'd be proud to hike with any of you and I'm hopeful I will in the future!!

New items for my gear list:
Collapsable water bucket (pepperdog)
sil tarp (Hodgeman)
head net (Snow family)
A few sips of rye (Hodgeman)
relaxed attitude (OM)
new maps (Navi)”

“Cool pics Geezr!

Man that trip rocked!

8)”

“Aero the THANKS should all go in your direction!!!

Great trip! Great people!!”

“Ya the trip rocked!

8)”

“I'm guessing, the trip rocked...”

“Ya think?”

“Any idea of how the fire started?”

“It looked like a campfire in an illeagle campsite.”

“I was wondering the same thing. Lightning, maybe?”

“It was an illegal campsite as Navi said. The fire was built on top of the duff layer. It may have been smouldering below the surface for days until it found an opening near the large log. The fire crew chief on stand-by at the trailhead told me those can smoulder underground for months until it gets the opportunity to open up somewhere. Again, he said Briar deserves a lot of credit for his efforts in putting it out and mopping up the area. I think we would have floundered around without his guidance. He was a cool customer up there that morning!”

“Here's my first installment- more to come!

Pre-hike Follies”

“Briar Rabbit=Hotshot=Cool Customer=My Hero!

Briar, you were instrumental in saving my stomping grounds, thanks!”

“there's been so much about fires going around lately, you'd think people would try to be more careful, at lest legal about things. you average jo schmo doesnt' go that far into the mountains, do you think some people just don't care?

that amazes me about smoldering for months before going ablaze. briar rabbit you sound like a national hero.
i know i wasn't there but you all need to be thanked for your efforts.”

“I think Snow Nymph got a few pics off of the fire. it was pretty obvious where it started from the ring of rocks and then a blackened area moving towards the log. The other thing that was important was that it would have blocked the exit from the lower end out of the narrow canyon. There would have been nothing to prevent it from moving up the canyon towards the campground. A potential disaster was averted.”

“Keep 'em comin' Aero, GREAT FUN!”

“I'm hugely impressed about your efforts with the fire under BR's leadership. I'm guessing that I would have run out to get help and not tried to put out the fire (possibly the right decision given my lower level of fire skills and knowledge).

Hats off to all of you!”

“Although the expression seems trite...Awesome!

I am impressed with the planning efforts, execution of the trip, and improv of handling a stricken friend, and the wild fire fighting!

Now I am left with envy ;)”

“...oh yea, great pictures too!

(I'm looking forward to seeing more!)”

“Great Pics! Geezr and Aero, thanks again for the kind words,,,, Bob! ;-) any time!!! I'm just glad I was there to share that exciting moment with you all. Kewl I was hoping someone was down there with a camera!!

Funny,,, but I bet everyone has the same grand view taken of Rainbow lake!!! All taken from that rock at the bend before heading down the xbacks to the valley floor. Could any of you imagine what that would look like blackend!

Speaking of pic's I had mine developed the other day and placed on some Kodak 3.5 floppies. The quality really sucks when compared to the 4x6 pics. Does going the CD route make any more of a difference in quality? I'm gonna try to enhance them alittle more in a photo editor type of program, if possible. Every shot on the disk is grainy and wash out when compared to a developed picture.

Also I need to invest in a better camera, something with a auto focus cause either I can't see to well or others are as blind as me. I think the only photo I have of myself in focus was a self protrait I took while waiting for Navi the first day out. LOL.

Rumor had it that the cute little ranger with the fuzzy legs and pearly smile was at Rainbow lake a few evenings prior to the flare up. She recalled to someone in our group that she might have known who was down there or remembers seeing someone down there.

Totally a duff fire!!! Upon stirring thru the ashes in the vicinity of the busted fire ring. I notice there was not much of a pit and no exposed mineral soil at all!! It look as if this fire was place right on the surface. Hardly enough rocks too!!! for the fire ring.
I saw plastic residue and a toasted egg shell while stirring for hotspots in that area.

The duff can be so tightly packed and thick in areas that water will hardly penetrated it. Its akin to that dried hardwood mulch in your garden bed. If you haven't turn it or watered in awhile it sets up this crusted outer layer that water will roll off of.

Before we mopped up one could see the path of travel. They way the smoldering fire creeped from the fire ring area thru the duff over to the fallen tree and other debris. Roots can cause problems as well. Firelines have been broken because of roots. We had no fire line, we lacked the tools needed to properly draw a line around the blacken area. But what we did have was human power(digging fingers) and plenty of water near by.

I only hope that the fire those younger guys started across the ways, that night prior to us leaving has not caused any problems. I told the prudy little ranger with the fuzzy legs and pearly smile the wereabouts of the illegal fire, also. I hope she followed up on the tip and took action like she should have done if she really did see someone down in that fire area.”

“I just got my pics back, includig a couple of the fire scene and the 'purdy ranger'. I'll get them scanned, so you can have a look”

“Hodgeman - you never told me you have a wife!!! (see "Special Thanks" thread).”

“Are you people certain that you did not extinguish a 'Controlled Burn?'”

“I talked to the FS Fire Crew Chief at the trailhead, and believe me, he was glad! He was not thrilled with the prospect of hiking with full gear 8 miles up the trail. I was there when the ranger phoned in and she told him it was under control.”

“Hodge, not only did I not know you were hitched, I didn't know your significant other hates kids.

Shame on you both. ;-)”

“Briar -
The shop that put your photos on floppies probably used a low resolution to reduce the file size. If you get them on CD, they can copy larger files and give you better resolution. Make sure you specify a high-res copy.

Good work on the fire, by the way.”

“Did any of you do any fly fishing?
If so, what were they hitting (and where)?

I know you guys were a little busy on the last day (to say the least), but did you notice if the berries were coming in below Rainbow?

Were the skeeters an all-day problem, or just in the evenings around camp?

Was there a fire ban in place for the entire route?”

“Hodgeman,,,,,You got pics of the purdy ranger??? U da man!

Man,,,,,, I was so smittin by the way she looked in that uniform and was swingin' her finely curved shovel from side to side as she marched up the canyon.

Aero, I'm half tempted to write right the Carbon Co. press about our little incident on the mountain. Bringing to light that 'backpacker's' do more than 'start fires' as some may think but that they also save the forest and others on occassions. Maybe they could also run their standard articles on fire prevention and behavior and BC awareness.

Violin, thanks for the tip!”

“Another thought on the photo to disc issue.

Lots of places auto adjust your images when they put them on disc. Don't let them do this, the result is usually very poor and tends to be too dark. If you have photo editing software learn to use it (if you haven't already) and insist on RAW images from your developer.”