The next morning I said adios to Ralph and started the short drive across the border to Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. I took the Chief Mountain Highway which passes by fabulous *Chief Mountain* which lies on the boundary between Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
Once in Waterton Lakes, I explored the Red Rock Canyon area and took a short stroll to ?? Falls. I camped in the "townsite" campsite which is very large and filled with far too many RV's. This happened to be the night of the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Because of the large mountains near the site, some of the horizon was blocked and I knew it would be fairly late before the radiant was above the horizon. I saw a few meteors early but then decided to go to sleep. As it turned out, that was essentially impossible. That evening there was an extremely strong warm wind (most likely a chinook) that made sleep just about impossible.
I got up early and caught a shuttle which took me to the trailhead for the Carthew-Alderson Trail. This trail is 12 miles long and arrives back at the townsite. Early in the trail we (several people who had also been on the shuttle) ran into an elk on the trail. I ended up waiting quite a while for him to move into the forest. He would have been easy to scare off but you can never be sure which direction he would run and I certainly wouldn't want him running straight at me.
The trail passes numerous pretty lakes and rises above timberline. There was also a great deal of beargrass in the forest zone on the first half of the trail. Near the top there is a wonderful view of a *glacial cirque and an aquamarine lake.*. As the trail winds around one of the *Carthew Lakes,* there was a fairly slippery and steep snowfield to cross. People that I watched cross it all seemed to go high up on the snowfield (20-25 feet from the lake) and several slipped and rolled down towards the water. Once I got closer I saw that there was a very thin area in the snow due to some large boulders along the hillside. Since I wasn't worried too much about getting wet, I decided to jump over the thin area and hope I didn't break through. Luckily, I didn't have a problem.
The trail ends at *Cameron Falls* in the townsite. I again camped in the townsite.
I decided that I had had enough hiking since my left ankle wasn't feeling all that great. I jumped onto R3 and headed west towards and eventually across British Columbia. The area is quite pretty particularly the mountains near *Crowsnest Mountain* (which is in the province of Alberta) and where the road crosses the *Kootenay River* in British Columbia. I also happened upon the world's largest *dumptruck* in Sparwood, British Columbia. Late in the day, I crossed into Washington and camped along the banks of the Columbia River under a lovely *sunset*..
At this point I wasn't entirely certain what I wanted to do. I knew I was still in the running for a temporary teaching position at Oregon State University, so I decided to head towards the coast and in particular Seattle.
I took the scenic route towards Seattle and in general avoided I90. R2 through Wenatchee National Forest was a relatively nice route except for the traffic jam in the german tourist town of Leavenworth.
I managed to contact Stefan Schaefer (a student at the University of Washington who was essentially a friend of a friend) and made plans to meet him later in the day. I passed some time roaming downtown Seattle and met him some time after dinner. He lived on the northside of town and I must say that I didn't realize Seattle had such steep hills - driving in first gear was a necessity on many of them. Anyways, we went out and had a couple beers and chatted for a while. His parents permitted me to stay at their house that evening.
I had planned on going out to the Olympic Peninsula and on the advice of the Schaefer's I decided to take the Kingston Ferry. The road (R101) around the peninsula is fairly scenic but the combination of a windy road and many RVs makes progress pretty slow.
I drove up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. From this area there is a nice view of the Olympic Mountains and several glaciers which spring from them. There were also some beautiful wildflower displays and some nice examples of krummholz.
I also drove into the temperate rain forest in Olympic National Park. As expected, it is fantastic. Unfortunately, it was very sunny that day which is exactly what you don't want for taking photos there.
I camped that night at a Pacific Ocean beach.
I drove towards Mount Rainier National Park. Along the way I found a viewpoint from which I could see some of the destroyed forest from the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
I went into the Sunrise Visitor Center at Mount Rainier. From that location the mountain takes up about one-third of the horizon. I was only there a few hours and clouds prevented me from ever actually seeing the peak. Some enormous glaciers are visible as well as cracks and fissures in them that I am sure are too big to cross.
I found out at this time that I did not get the teaching position, so I started heading east. I camped that night in Coeur d'Alene National Forest in Idaho.
I drove to Bozeman, Montana and visited the Museum of the Rockies which has some nice dinosaur and early western history exhibits.
I camped near Custer National Forest in south central Montana. I say near because the road to get to the forest was much longer than the map implied and I didn't feel like ruining my car's suspension just to get inside the forest boundary. Most likely I was camped on BLM land but I really couldn't say for sure.
I drove pretty much all day and early in the morning had to deal with following a cop through a 1-lane construction zone at 40 mph for at least 10 miles. Considering it was about 6am and there were no workers there, it was pretty damn annoying. I camped at an RV Park (YYeeeccchhh) near Sioux Falls, SD. In addition to $16 a site for a tent (I might as well have gone to a Motel 6), you had to put quarters in for the showers...
I drove to Chicago. It isn't hard to tell when you are getting close. I was driving down 94 from Milwaukee when suddenly I had to slam on the brakes. I soon noticed the sign a hundred or so yards ahead of me "Pay Toll One Mile". It seems pretty damn stupid to drive at 75 mph for 9 miles and then to have to slow to like 15 mph for the last mile before the toll booth. By far the most idiotic toll system in the country!
I drove back to my parents farm in Pennsylvania. Trip complete.
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December 18, 1997 - ( milsom@physics.arizona.edu.edu)
