Day 65, Part 2: Suddenly Everything Has Changed

The Mexican food was good. Very good in fact… or maybe it’s just been too long since I’ve had Mexican food. After dinner I decided to grab my headphones and go for a walk. Wow, what a great decision.

I headed up Hwy 49 and cut through some woods onto a dirt path that ran along a creek. The trees have started to turn yellow and the sun was setting behind the mountains. I really could not believe how beautiful this place is, and this is only a tiny corner that is barely inside the park. I took pictures but am confident that none of them can do it justice. Every person I passed was smiling and a little bit too friendly, like Christmas morning when everyone is drunk with kindness, having received many gifts and then swelling with warmth when others receive ours. I think everyone here can’t help but realize what a treat it is to be surrounded by such “unnatural” beauty, and are thankful, and happy, and want to share it with everyone they see. So they want to say “hello” to everyone they meet. It’s a magical place. Richard Hawley on the Ipod. Moon rising over the giant trees that I couldn’t name for $100. When night fell, the wind got colder and I headed back to town.

I’ve been on the prairie for so long, it’s great to be in a forest again. We only rode 12 miles today, and suddenly everything has changed. I’m really happy here. I spent so much time in my youth despising the outdoors; too egocentric to appreciate the world outside of myself. So many camping trips with the scouts, or with dad; probably not wasted, probably more like a seed that would take way too long time to germinate. Maybe that’s a lot of what parenting is: 20 years of seemingly wasted life lessons that pay off way down the line. Still, it seems like I should be able to identify those trees. I like that they are yellow.

Tomorrow I will wake up early and ride my bike up to the top of Two Medicine and then slowly work my way downhill. Thursday I will ride my bike over the continental divide at Marias Pass over to West Glacier and find a place to spend Friday during the cold and the rain. Saturday I will ride my bike up Going to the Sun Rd, as far as I can, and then head back down to West Glacier. Sunday, if I’ve had my fill, I will head over to Whitefish and continue on with the cross country ride. This is going to be an exciting week, and the scenery is going to get a LOT cooler.

Oh yeah. From here on out, Steven is riding solo, and he will probably be very cold.

As I was uploading these photos, a new guy showed up to stay in the hostel. He's hiking the Continental Divide. He started in Mexico is just a few days from reaching Canada. Nice guy. I envy his abilities to survive in complete wilderness, but have absolutely no interest in facing that large of a challenge. I'm glad to have met him.