The Mountain King

The last day my group spent in Fleecer Montana we decided to go on a hike up Fleecer mountain.  The mountain peak is just over 9000 feet and towers above the countryside below.  Fifteen of us decided to trek our way to the top in cold rainy conditions even though we knew the the view at the top we be less than desirable   Despite the situation, there were many breathtaking vistas and the foggy background made for an eerie setting.

The hike to the summit took about 2 hours from the are where we parked our trucks about half way up the mountain.  Much of the hike was through beautiful fields of tall blowing grass.  It reminded me of the the scene in Gladiator of the wheat fields outside Maximus's home.

The temperature from the bottom of the mountain at the ranger station was drastically from that at the peak of the mountain.  At around nine o'clock in the morning when we left it was around 50 degrees.  By the time we reached the summit around noon, the temperature was below twenty.  After we got out of the fields the trail became more narrow as we entered a rocky wooded area.  We began to see snow at this point which made getting up the slopes somewhat harder.

 The top of the mountain reminded me of something from an alien world. The entire terrain was rocks, devoid of any grass or other vegetation.  Though there was no view to speak of because of the clouds, the conditions made for an awesome experience.  We did however find one lone tree that managed to survive in the cold rocky waste.  The little guy was fighting for dear life to survive the blowing wind and snow all around.  At the peak was an old dug out which housed a box filled with memorabilia from past hikers along with a signature book.  We all signed then headed back down the mountain. 

   

Saving the world....one cow at a time...

While in Montana our group of thirty was split into several smaller groups of five or six and sent to various locals to work on different wilderness projects.  We call these trips spikes.  Each spike spends a few days on their own either camping or living in cabins while working on their projects.  I was in a group with Claire, Amelia, Saul  Travis and Luc.  

We were on a fencing project near the hot springs at Elkhorn Cabins.  Each day we hiked in all our our equipment and tools almost a mile to our work site.  Our job which took us almost five days was to construct a divide in order keep cows from crossing into a different pasture on another half of a valley.  To do this we had to construct a natural barrier of felled trees down the steeper side of the valley.  The natural barrier needed to be built on a more than 70 degree incline for almost 150 yards downhill.  To do this Luc felled about ten huge trees  down the hill and the rest of us maneuvered them into a line to create an obstacle for the cows. 

I still have no idea how a cow manages to get down that valley.  It was treacherous for us workers and I had the use of both my arms and legs to maneuver and I don't weigh 500 lbs.  Regardless, I saw the cow pies all over the place, so somehow they manage to do it.  After the natural barrier was complete Luc and Travis taught the rest of us how to build a jack leg fence.  We had to cut trees in the valley to use as posts and rails for the fence.  Posts had to be debarked and the rails cut to the right measurements before putting them together.  The jack legs basically look like giant X's and the long rails are then hammered into them, three on one side and one on the other to hold the jacks in place creating a fence.

The fence ran from the bottom of the natural barrier the along the valley floor.  It had to cross a stream as well which created some interesting problems that had to be dealt with.  We then build a swinging fence out of barb wire at the end of the jack leg.  The other side of the valley was not as steep but almost twice as long as the first.  We spent the rest of our time at Elkhorn constructing a barbed wire fence more than 200 yards up the other side of the valley.  This proved to be the most difficult part because the soil was very rocky.  We had to build two sets of H frame posts on which the the barbed wire was to be strung.  These posts had to be extremely sturdy which meant having to dig deep enough without the use of any power equipment and then tamping in the soil and rocks with a rock bar around the posts for hours.  It was definitely a workout.  My group did have a nice cabin to stay in after the work was done each day.  We also had access to the hot springs which were right down the road from the cabin.  

The Big Sky

For the last three weeks I have been in Montana with my fellow ERT members.  This time is always set aside at the beginning of each Americorps year to allow the thirty new members a chance to bond as well as gain some valuable conservation experience.  Americorps St. Louis has ties with the Montana forest service and we are given a government grant each year to help maintain some of their wilderness projects.  This includes fence maintenance, bridge building, trail clearing, and any other odd jobs the forest service needs man power for.  We really did get a chance to know one another on this trip pretty well.  The forest service lets our group camp out at a ranger station in Fleecer Montana.  The building is basically a two bedroom cabin with a small kitchen and living room, not nearly enough room to house all thirty of us.  Therefore we have been sleeping in tents outside in the cold for the last couple of weeks.  I wouldn't have had it any other way.  I elected to set up camp in a large twenty man tent called a yurt.  I only took four showers this past month and I think I had more than most.  Lets just say we coined the term AMERISTANK  appropriately.

Not only  did this time provide the thirty of us a chance to get to know one another but also created an opportunity to get in good physical shape.  Because of the altitude at over 6000 feet we had to adjust to working long physically demanding days with less oxygen.  My first week or so in Montana was a real struggle but we all eventually adapted.  This work itself was also intense which helped me get into pretty good physical shape. 

The weather in Montana is pretty erratic.  We would wake up at 8 am for work to frost on the ground and below freezing temperatures.  By noon it would be mild and by late afternoon I was sweating.  Here is a picture of us at one of our early morning meetings shivering waiting for Quinn to show up.

I understand now why mountain men and lumberjacks wear flannel all the time.  You can easily take on and off clothes depending on the weather.  Needless to say I invested in a few while up in Montana.  Here a couple more pics of some of the scenery we would see all around everyday.