Aug 19, Whitehall, MT

Me, pointing to where I was at the time. The red blob is a big fire that went from 19,000 acres to 32,000 acres the day the photo was taken.

Yep, that's all smoke in the air as I passed the Fool's Creek fire.

Crap, did I take this? Sure looks pretty. Wish I had some idea where it was. I want to say it was on the border of the Lewis and Clark NF and the Blackfoot reservation near the Swift Dam, but I could be wrong. Yep, I'm wrong, it's in Glacier. It's St. Mary's Falls, or Virginia Falls, one of the two.

The Ahern Drift on the Highline Trail in Glacier. Usually this is a totally treacherous spot because the trail is crazy narrow and the cliff is steep and covered in snow, but there was nothing to worry about when I got there.

Me at the border on August 6 at around 10 AM.

From a postcard: "Please blog this. Aaron Rutman, it has been an honor to call you "one of my four friends" for the last 3 years. It's a shame I've only lived in Berkeley for 2 of the last 15 months. Anyway, as far as the music on the mp3 player you just got back to me: you nailed it, you absolutely NAILED it. Europe's The Final Countdown plus cheesy sing-along songs like Stand By Me, Lean On Me, and Tiny Dancer. I love you, man. Anyway, the hitch out of Butte was a little frustrating but I did like seeing a real shoe store and a K-Mart. Saw my 5th bear yesterday and have been on pleasant farm roads so far today. I can't really tell how long this alternate will take me, despite my dad's excellent mapping job, but should be in Ennis in a day or two. Peace, Garret" (He phoned from Ennis around noon on the 21st.)