Latest Update: July 10, 2001 by Ben Marcus

00:18 TUESDAY JULY 10, 2001 ILLEGALLY CAMPED ALONG THE FLATHEAD

ODOMETER: 57375
TRIP METER: 3298

MONEY See above.

Another big night in Hungry Horse. Just got back from the Conoco where I made a bunch more phone calls and got a jump start from a bunch of local hoodlums. Ike is standing in the window, listening to the wind and the sounds of firecrackers off in the distance. Fourth of July lingers long in Hungry Horse. I wish IÍd bought more fireworks in Idaho.

I made a bunch of calls at the Conoco and also made another pot of spaghetti, this time with a can of tiny shrimp and Ragu, but it was still good. I was waiting for a call from a friend who is starting up a magazine, and IÍve offered to help in any way I can.

While Ike was running around I ate spaghetti and wrote a mean e-mail. Then I made that long phone call, got the scoop on everything in the world. The battery ran down again some how, so I waited as a bunch of the local rogues used wire to get some keys locked in a car, then one of them gave me a jump with his AMC Eagle.

But the highlight of the past few hours was the fishing, which was better and worse than I expected/ From up above the riffle it didnÍt look like there was much happening, and when I got down there and started fishing, there wasnÍt. There were two guys fly-fishing in waders downstream from me, but I had the riffle to myself. It looked like it was going to be a dead evening, but then the sky started to get sprinkled with bugs, and the water began to boil.

The hatch and the activity in the water went on and off for a few hours, but when it was on, it was amazing. The water was literally boiling with trout. There were decent-sized fish rising and flopping and jumping and rolling everywhere. It looked like a Special Effect. They were probably going after these brown-winged moths that kept landing on my arm as I was fishing. I havenÍt seen trout go that bananas in a long time. The last time was in Australia, way back in 1980. ItÍs a weird flip flop when trout go from finicky and fickle to feeding frenzy. ThatÍs what they did tonight.

I donÍt know how to do the math on the fish I caught tonight. I landed one and took the hook out. I landed another but it shook the hook so I didnÍt have to handle it, which is the ideal situation. I took MPEGS and photos of those fish swirling and fighting, and IÍm going to see the results as soon as I finish this.

I hooked one more fish and got it halfway in before it shook the hook, and I hooked a couple more that were on for a few seconds. So I caught a couple of fish, but I should have caught dozens. They were everywhere, but mostly on the other bank. One fish that I did catch came completely out of the water like a white shark when it took the fly. That is so rewarding, and it was a nice, healthy fish. Probably 12 inches but thick and strong and full of piss and vinegar. IÍm learning to like this Flathead River. I wonder what itÍs like in fall.

I fished for a while and caught all my fish early and spent the rest of the evening until sundown throwing a half a dozen flies, but getting only a few nibbles, as dozens of trout went berserk all around me. I guess I needed that brown moth pattern, whatever it was. I also got bit by horseflies and mosquitos again and my arm is swelling up.

So, I caught a few fish and got to watch a natural spectacle, so it wasn't that bad of an evening. IÍm going to get back into Undaunted Courage now. I skipped ahead to the Montana parts and they have just become the first white men to see the Great Falls of the Missouri. I may go through there on my way up to Canada.

11:06 TUESDAY JULY 10, 2001 OUTSIDE THE CONOCO, HUNGRY HORSE, MT

MONEY Prosperity is just around the corner.

ThereÍs stuck, and then thereÍs stuck. IÍm such here in Hungry Horse, Montana, I admit. My checking account is up to Ü442, which is a pisser because most of that is overdraft charges. I canÍt use either of my gas cards and IÍm almost out, and that, too is a drag. The supplies are dwindling. No more spaghetti left, and only oatmeal and walnuts and pineapple, which isnÍt too bad, although I want some of those cherries, and oatmeal without milk is like a day without sunshine.

I may have to start keeping those trout and eating them. Or squirrel. IÍve still got the shotgun and I saw a deer on the road within 50 yards. If worse comes to worse, thereÍs always Ike. I wonder what shrimp-fed cat tastes like.

Naw, itÍs not that dire, really, just a minor case of ñWater and gas everywhere, nor any drop to drink.î ThereÍs stuck and thereÍs stuck. IÍve been in Hungry Horse for four days and it will probably be five by the time I get out of here. Lewis and Clark got stuck in Saint Louis for five months. They were forced to winter there when the drunk guy building the custom-made boat in Pittsburgh didnÍt finish it in time. By the time they got to Saint Louis, they had to make winter camp. I read that part and then jumped ahead to the Montana parts, reading about all the perils they went through. While exploring a branch of the Missouri not even the Indians knew about (the Marias River) Lewis and one of the men nearly slid into huge crevasses, in a kind of mud that must be similar to the Skeena Slime I got stuck in in British Columbia. Several of the men were nearly attacked by bears, and itÍs amazing to hear how much damage a bear can take before they go down: several lead balls through the lungs, a couple more in the heart and a bear will keep coming. There were several instances where guys nearly got their heads taken off by charging bear. The things will even come into the water after a guy.

And as for minor perils, having slipped and slid and nearly broken my ankle in the Flathead and Big Hole and other rivers, I can only read and commiserate with these men pulling hundreds of pounds of canoe and supplies upriver, other those same shitty rocks. In the Journals of Lewis and Clark they are constantly complaining about bad ankles. No mystery why.

So, IÍm stuck but things are improving. IN two days IÍve worn that 480 minute phone card down to 120 minutes, but today I got some joy. I called the SurferÍs Journal to tell them about the package arriving tomorrow and oh, incidentally, ask whether there was any more dough coming from the 16,000-word tow in article that is about to hit the shelves and cause some howls. There is some money coming, even though I already got $2500 in advances from them since I finished it in February. So, they are very nicely going to cut a check for me this afternoon and Evan is going to pick it up and deposit it, and hopefully the money will show up ASAP and I can get going again. IÍll probably spend one more night in Hungry Horse and hopefully no more, and then IÍm going to head east, through Glacier National Park, over toward Great Falls, which L and C have just discovered in the book. I think that is the flatter, dryer part of Montana, but I want to get a look at it before I head up into Canada. IÍll see if there is a vet in Shelby that can give dingaling a rabies shot, or maybe IÍll just charge the border and see if IkeÍs world-famous charm will get him past the guards. HeÍs a mixer, he is.

But for now IÍm still stuck at the Conoco in Hungry Horse. Ike is off wandering down by the river. I called Joanne and asked her to check my e-mail but there was nothing major. No word from Patagonia or anything, and one quick note from SurferÍs Path.

IÍm going to spend the rest of the day writing that Montana Fishing Story, maybe there will be another hatch tonight and then I am heading east.

Battery is dead again, and thatÍs a worry. I wonder if itÍs the alternator? ThatÍs a brand new battery.

Sorry to dump all of this on the world. ItÍs my own dang fault, but IÍll be moving again soon enough.

Right now IÍm going to call the local vet and see how much a rabies shot costs. If itÍs more than $10, IÍll maybe just leave Ike by the side of the road, or with those nice ladies at the National Car Rental.

Not. IkeÍs going to Alaska with me. I wonder how heÍll like the boat?

11:49 TUESDAY JULY 10, 2001 STILL OUTSIDE THE DAMNED CONOCO

MONEY Good news, bad news.

Okay, things are rolling. IÍve had good news and bad news and now that the immediate stress is off, IÍve had time to look around and consider where I am. Montana is kind of sketchy. Outside the Conoco I saw a guy with a red bandana and a guy with a blue bandana and a pockmarked, sawed-off guy wearing an Airborne Rangers cap and muscle-shirt, and another guys with a vest covered with Vietnam Vet ribbons and all that. When I add up all that and then those Puerto Rican guys in the pawn shop yesterday, and the sound of that automatic weapon rattling off in the hills, I have to remember: ñIÍm in Montana. This is one of the outposts for all the survivalist, ñBlack Helicopter,î Freemen nincompoops. While I was furiously dialing another guy was furiously dialing and I wondered if he needed a ride somewhere. HeÍd just gotten out of jail and didnÍt have any money, so I let him go.

Hmmm. Montana. Home of liberal gun laws, some sketchy-looking characters and, the more I look around, more and more hillbillies.

No wonder IÍve been sleeping with Bessie by my side.

I just called a veterinarian and found out that rabies shots only cost $20, so Ike stays with the voyage, lucky him.

I also called Alaska Marine Highways to see if I can swing taking the ferry from Juneau to Yakutat, and then Yakutat to Seward. I can, sort of, but it ainÍt going to be cheap.

The once-a-month ferry from Juneau to Yakutat leaves August 15, and itÍs going to cost $61 for me and $132 for the van. I think Peter is taking that same ferry.

The ferry from Yakutat to Seward leaves September 19 and arrives in Seward a day later, I think. ThatÍs going to cost $123 for me and $248 for the van. Adding it all up, if Peter wants me to be in Yakutat and I want to spend a month there, and I take the van, itÍs going to cost me: $193 plus $371 or $564. Might not me worth it, and I might not even be welcome. Peter and Margie have two lovely kids with another on the way. I donÍt want to be a nuisance, although IÍm pretty good at it.

So, decisions, decisions.

And here was something kind of cool. There are a lot of people going hither and thither and I was making a call an RV towing a snow cone stand rolled up and I realized this poor guy had done exactly what I had done: turned an early-60s Chevy Van into a concession stand. I got the shudders thinking of Surfer Dog and all that I went through (and put mom through) to do that business. This guys had cut up almost the exact same van that I had, and it looked about the same. Weird. I took some photos and commiserated with the guy, who was heading to a fair in Browning, Montana.

So, need to get a jump from some of these fine Montanans, get back down to the river, find Ike and kill some time until the dough comes through.

15:14 TUESDAY JULY 10, 2001 BY THE FLATHEAD RIVER

MONEY

Cherries: $ .40
Gas $10.00

Ah yes, the kindness of strangers. Well, the kindness of editors and strangers. I fished the Flathead for a while and got bites but no fish. Took a bath and a shampoo, shaved and then went into town. I was desperate, I admit it. My gas gauge was on E and I thought IÍd be walking back and forth to town soon enough.

So I plucked up my courage and asked the ladies at the Conoco if they would take a California check. I smiled ,a most beguiling smile and they went for it like a trout going after a #12 Stimulator with orange body and green head.

I exaggerate. They could tell that even though I looked like a bum I was charming and erudite, and they let me buy $10 worth of gas, which was very nice of them. The ladyÍs name was Mary. IÍm going to send her a present from the road. Maybe some smoked salmon or something.

So, the needle was back to a quarter tank and that felt good. Feeling cocky, I went down to the road to that cherry stand that was taunting me. They had cherries in a bag for $2.00 but all I had was 40 cents. They also had fresh beef jerky (oxymoron?), huckleberry jam, huckleberry taffy, huckleberry hand cream, huckleberry ice cream and all kinds of gnarly kine stuff, including choke cherry jam, which was something Lewis used to cure SacajewaÍs pelvic inflammation.

I tried to charm the Christian musician dude behind the counter, but he wouldnÍt go for it. I said, ñI have $20,000 worth of computer and camera and fishing and surfing equipment in the van, but no cash. IÍll have dough tomorrow. I just want some cherries!î

So he made me a 40 cent bag of cherries. They were sweet and yummy.

So, I have the rest of today and tonight to kill and then IÍm on the road first thing tomorrow. Right now I just talked to a German guy who went down to fish the riffles and I might join him. Got nothing better to do than wait for the hatch tonight. I should go to a fishing store to see what the locals flies are, but I spent my last 40 cents on cherries, and I donÍt want to ask anyone to take a check.

18:49 TUESDAY JULY 10, 2001 BY THE FLATHEAD, WAITING FOR BUGS

MONEY ItÍs deposited. ItÍs posting soon.

IÍve fished, gone into town, made some calls, come back and now IÍm relaxing in the van up on the road, waiting for the evening hatch, if it happens.

I joined the German Guy down at the riffles, and took lessons. This guy was originally from Germany but lived in Missoula and obviously had done a lot of fishing in his time. He was an elegant caster and he steadily caught fish all day long. I saw him get two as I was setting up and then he moved up river and around me and fished upstream.

He caught a bunch of fish and I asked him what he was using, ñStimulator. Orange body,î he said, so I tied on one of those, a big one and started flogging. Nothing. At one point, he brought in two fish at once, and apparently he was fishing a stimulator with a little caddis behind it. I took a photo, but apparently it had happened to him before.

We were joined by a guy from Longview, Washington who was fishing worms. He could get his bait out to this brown rock where the trout were fishing, and that was a little too far to cast.

9:51 MT WEDNESDAY JULY 10, 2001 BUSINESS CENTER AT GLACIER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

MONEY

Huckleberry gifts and CHERRIES!!!!: $27.22
Muffins and coffee: $ 4.00

Good news, bad news. The money came through and I bought some cherries, but I lost my cherished boots, the same ones I backtracked a whole day in Alaska to find. Shit. What a knothead. I think I have a decent excuse though. Since I lost both IÍm pretty sure I left them by the river when I was running back and forth yesterday. Either someone picked them up between last night and this morning, which is unlikely, or the river washed away. The South Fork of the Flathead is controlled by Hungry Horse damn and there ware warning signs all along saying that the flow and level can raise and lower dramatically without warning. Shit, I still lost my boots, which means IÍm down to this: My left wading sandal, Jeff GalbraithÍs Reef sandals, my Topsiders which are so ruined, if I wear them in public I might get arrested for vagrancy and my rubber knee boots, which are hazardous for walking on slimy rocks.

Crap. I have to stop losing things, which happens every time I get distracted or stressed: Ike is missing, or no money. I liked those boots. I left Reward signs at three places on the river and up MikeÍs Conoco, so you never know. Most likely some hillbilly just scored a $200 pair of boots and theyÍll become family heirlooms.

Woke up this morning in a parking lot next to a saloon in Columbia Falls,. I fell asleep there last night while watching Shrek at a Drive Inn screen across the highway. I didnÍt have the $10 so I just parked and watched, although I couldnÍt hear it and had seen it before anyway. I slept there to be close to the airport and banks this morning. I went to the airport first thing, bought a muffin and criminally bad coffee and tried to use that Internet machine. It didnÍt work. When I realized my boots were missing, I left Ike at the National Car Rental and drove back to the river. Looked all over, fell down the trail twice in JeffÍs Reef sandals and swore and berated myself, then gave up. I left some Reward signs on a rock and a tree and under the bridge, and went up to MikeÍs Conoco to thank the nice lady, and leave another reward sign.

On the way out I stopped at the huckleberry place and bought some cherries and gifts for all the nice people whoÍve been sending me money.

Now IÍm at the airport Business Center. I lied to the lady and said my Manic Depressive brother is coming in on Horizon Air at 12:30. She didnÍt believe me, I donÍt think.

Anyway, time to finish this, grab Ike and, finally, be on the road again. IÍm going to check at the Lost and Found at the Park Service, and stop at the consignment sporting good store in Columbia Falls to see if I can buy some boots.

Shit, what a knucklehead. Oh well.

Last night I fished the evening boil with the worm guy. He saw all the fish going nuts and was as amazed as me, but we just couldnÍt catch them. I had the right flies and got bites, but no fish. He caught one nice trout on a worm and his sister (girlfriend?) caught two. Lots of fish jumping, none to catch. I wonder if that was when I lost my boots. Shit.

Maybe Patagonia will use my ad campaign and send me some swag, including boots.

Hope all is well.