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Montana's Rockies - Part I

The rocks in the Bob Marshall are predominantly sedimentary limestone, including this canyon near the headwaters of the White River.

Fireweed takes over after major burns, this one from 2003 near the South Fork of the Flathead River. It takes a very long time for a forest to mature after a catastrophic burn: undergrowth needs to sprout up, the trees need to fall, the top soil needs to be built back up, saplings need to grow up, and then finally second-cycle trees will sprout up.

Due to a nearby fire a trail crew had been instructed to cover this patrol cabin with heat- and flame-resistant mylar, as well as to water the surrounding area with gravity-fed sprinklers. The fire was still many miles away, but since it was only early-August (the fire season usually goes through late-September) the action was appropriately precautionary.

Every ranger station or patrol cabin that I popped into while I was in the Bob (probably about 4 total) had bad news for me: new trail closures. After detouring several times from my originally planned detour, I finally managed to make it out, only to read at the trailhead that they had closed my exit route about 2 hours before I got out.

Two major fires as seen from near the small town of Ovando, on US-200, just south of the Bob. The fire on the right is the one that caused an evacuation of Seeley Lake, a popular boating and recreation area along US-83.

Sunset from US-200. I found out in Ovando that my grandmother was probably going to pass that night, and I can't help but think that this sunset was Grandma's way of saying goodbye to me.

A tough time on the trail.

Walking along the Divide in Helena National Forest. Note that the trees only grow on the leeward side of the ridge, where there is some protection from blustery winter winds.

Even though the Rockies receive abundant snowfall every winter, it is extremely dry throughout the summer, making water hard to come by -- and since many areas are actively grazed, finding good water is even more difficult. In case you're wondering, no, I did not purify this water.

Smoke-obscured views from atop the Divide near MacDonald pass, 20 miles west of Helena. The treeline here is artificially low: while the winter conditions are quite inhospitable up here, the lack of trees has as much to do with the lack of surface water and with heavy cattle grazing.

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