Wild Trails & Tall Tales

- Roland Cheek

 

A SLOW LEARNER

For the better part of my life I've roamed the most remote regions of Montana. During youth, anything within a day's walk from road's end was too civilized for my attention. And in middle age I guided others to the same places I'd visited earlier. It's only now, during my dotage, that I've discovered the advantages of day hiking.

There are still horses in the back pasture and equipment in the barn to put on 'em. There's a four-horse trailer squatting in the yard alongside a 3/4-ton pickup that can pull it. Moreover, it's certain I'll use those horses and their equipment several times before snow flies. But right now I'm discovering how much snazzy country I passed by on my way to the Bob Marshall.

So far, I've hiked to Scalplock, climbed to Tranquil Basin, and visited Marion Lake. I've seen the South Fork of the Two Medicine, Picnic Lakes and Mt. Aeneas. I've skied to Grinnell Lake and Elk Calf Mountain and hiked the Ole Creek Trail.

And each night, I slept in my own bed.

No fuss, no muss. No camp to pitch, no ponies to pack. No staggering up-trail under an overloaded backpack. No firewood to cut, no horses to hobble, no water to carry. In the mornings there've been no wet socks or stiff boots or cold stove.

And to tell the truth, the view from Mt. Aeneas is every bit as spectacular as any I've seen in the Bob.

Day hiking has opened up an entirely new world for me. It's easy. It's affordable. Compared to a week-long packtrip, it takes little prior planning. It's even something you can decide to do on a moment's notice.

There's very little equipment needed for day hiking. And only minimum preparation (lunch, water bottle, soda or a beer in your cooler for the return to road's end) is even advisable.

In addition to the above, I carry cameras, binoculars, extra film, matches, a raincoat and a down vest in my daypack. There's also a small first aid kit and a bottle of aspirin. Then I have a few rubber bands and a chunk of light rope, a couple of plastic bags and a small foam pad to cushion the cameras. The entire pack weighs no more than 15 pounds.

Even an overnighter into the backcountry by horseback requires hobbles and bells, nosebags, picket lines, oats or pellets -- all for the horses. For your own comfort, you'll need a camp kit to serve you when cooking and eating, a small tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad, and an axe, shovel and water bucket.

If the weather sours, chances are the tent will leak and your firewood will get soaked. The ground is a whole bunch harder and colder and lumpier than your waterbed back home. The campfire will either be too hot or too cold for quality cooking and it's hard to tell how much black pepper to sprinkle when your scrambled eggs are full of ashes.

Just about dark is always when your ponies decide to head for home and that's also when you'll discover a hole burned in the socks you were drying and your boot toes have wrinkled to look like dried prunes.

How in the world did I put up with it so long?

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