Accident on the way, hit a deer

Clark Fork Ill-fated journey June 29, 2017

Yeti and I set out for Clark Fork, Idaho with the plan to scout a new route for the IBT from Clark Fork to Darling Lake. Supposedly, there was a new trail that would avoid using Lightning Creek Road. When we were about 100 miles short of our destination, we were traveling NW on MT Route 200 and a deer that was mostly hidden in high grass at the side of the road jumped out in front of the car. Keep in mind that many straight back roads of Montana have high speed limits so we were going pretty fast. I was driving and jammed on the brakes once I saw it and realized the deer was coming my way. At first, it feinted right as if it was going to run into the field. Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid hitting the deer: it would have caused a catastrophic accident had I swerved into oncoming traffic or into the ditch on the right. Needless to say, the deer came onto the hood cracking the windshield and damaging the front bumper and hood. The poor animal ended up in the ditch on the opposite, left side of the road. Poor thing. The worst in terms of damage to people and car was that the stupid air bags deployed. We didn’t even need them; we came to a controlled stop and had our seat belts on, so our bodies were not flung forward. The air bags are a mixed bag – no pun intended. They are made with lethal chemicals (look it up!) and while these chemicals “degrade” as the bag is deployed, we were sprayed with noxious, toxic dust. Yeti, whose heart and lungs are already compromised, was having terrible trouble breathing. The bags blind you too, so for a while I couldn’t see anything out of the windshield! A scary feeling. I just kept the steering wheel straight! The bags on the side of the car obscured the door handle and both of us had trouble getting out at first. Apparently, Yeti climbed into the back seat and got out the back door and immediately collapsed just gasping for breath. It was a traumatic event for people and animal both. Of course, the deer was killed. I hate to think of it. Too bad, they have not learned to avoid these weird metal objects careening down roads. Several cars and a DOT truck stopped and wanted to call an ambulance, but we didn’t need one. They called highway patrol, but in the end we left after waiting for about 45 minutes with no patrol car in sight. The engine seemed fine and after first heading towards Missoula we decided to stick to our trip plans and went on to Clark Fork. What a drama! We got to the motel (we had called to tell them about the accident) and settled into our room. Yeti called State Farm to get our insurance claim going…they felt because the air bags went off the car was probably a total wreck. Of course, we were driving the new car. Those airbags did us no good! Kind of ironic – as they are meant to save you. Yeti and I went to the Squeeze Inn for dinner, which we’d been looking forward to. The owner came and talked to us; she is quite a character—kind of a latter day hippie, new age, foodie, artistic type. Very social and friendly, too. We had a nice time sitting on the outdoor deck for our meal. On the way back, we stopped at the Clark Fork Pantry to get sandwiches for tomorrow’s lunch. Better than hiker food! Up early in the morning to begin the hike.

The Trailhead out of Clark Fork

Scouting New Route, June 30, 2017

We started very early before 6am and walked through town to the Spring Creek Road, a gravel road parallel to Lightening Creek. We’d driven up to find the trail head yesterday, which is about 2 miles in just off the main road. The trail is covered in brush, so we almost missed seeing it. I noticed what looked like a path by looking between the bushes…and that was it! Hardly a significant trail head beginning. The bits of trail in the woods were clear, but in open spaces it was pretty overgrown. We were able to follow it until it led right up to private property. So, Yeti and I headed down a main road and then bushwhacked around the private property to find the trail again beyond the house. We did see forest boundary signs, but it was not entirely clear if we managed to stay on public land the whole way. Luckily it was a short and not too dense bushwhack. For a short while, the trail was basically an old jeep track, but soon we had to branch off right and ended up in a horrendous bushwhack with dense brush and trees. Man, were we glad when we hit a woods road. This lead to a stream crossing (after passing by an intimidating sign saying Private – VIDEO cameras in action!) and finally a real trail…No. 120. Trail 120 had good tread and immediately started climbing. This is when Yeti started to have significant breathing issues and we were stopping every 10-20 feet to let him catch his breath. The trail continued up with great views as we got higher. The full climb was over 3,500 feet of elevation gain! We stopped for lunch in a shady tree-lined spot and I was wondering if we’d make the miles. After lunch as the trail climbed, I suggested at one point that we do a sit down break and Yeti readily agreed. I asked him if he really wanted to keep going, he was so clearly struggling and had taken several Nitro already. He replied to my query that he was not having fun. But, he still said, “I hate to give up, let’s go a bit more….” After about ten minutes, however, he said, “I can’t make it, do you mind if we turn back.” I was actually relieved. Watching your partner struggle so much was not fun either. We’d made it a bit over 8 miles up the mountain. So, we decided to go back to our lunch spot which was flattish and camp there; we’d hike out in the morning and go home. It was a nice afternoon and evening…a bit longer to be in camp than what we are used to and my silly E-book didn’t work. I did not realize that you had to “activate” the E-books before they’d work! So, I had nothing to read on my phone except stuff I’d read already. The night passed by quietly….

Crossing Creek on New Route

Heading Home July 1, 2017

It was a very nice hike out: cool morning. I made some coffee before we left camp…another thing we don’t usually do. Our general style is pack up and get going! Yeti had studied the map on our phones (Backcountry Navigator) and we’d used paper maps also to find woods roads that would go around the terrible bushwhack. We did not want to do that again. The early morning quiet made for a pleasant walk out. Got feet wet at the stream crossing….that’s where we picked up the road route. We got back to town really early, about 9:30am. To top things off, our car’s battery had died (during the accident some interior lights had popped on and we’d both forgotten them) so we got a jump from Miki at the motel. Got some comfort food (a huckleberry milkshake) at the Pantry and off we went home. The hood was tied down with bungees and part of my bear rope! It was kind of a tense ride back. We’d just stopped at a gas station not too far from Missoula, when the engine overheating light came on. We drove back and got some coolant- even though it did not seem very low. That worked for a while, but the light came on again as we approached Interstate 90. Luckily, we made it to the highway, limped into the truck stop, and called AAA to haul us home. We’d had enough … and blowing the engine would have been the limit. Lucky for us, the wait was not too bad and the wrecker came within the hour. We traveled in the cabin with the driver and he had us home by about 4pm. Glad to be home. The car is in the garage. We’ll call our insurance company to haul it to the collision place in the morning. I’m bushed and I think still a bit in shock from the whole episode. I’d never been in a car accident before.