Cross-Country Road Trip: Forest Fire in Lame Deer, Montana

Wildfire in Lame Deer, Montana
Photo by Brad Sylvester. Copyright 2011.

One of the notable events of our cross country road trip in 2011, was our passage through the small town of Lame Deer, Montana. Lame Deer is a Cheyenne Tribe community and the tribal headquarters of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. it is located in what I would call the high country of Montana.

The approach from the east is uphill for a long way. It is around this area where the climb into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains begins. We took Route 212 which passes through cattle land, scrub and forests that are much more predominantly pine and other evergreen than anything I'm used to in New England. The landscape was interesting all by itself.

The sky grew overcast and grey as we drove. We hadn't seen a weather report, so we didn't think anything of it.

Flames crest the ridge.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2011.

As we continued to drive up the long incline, I began to smell something odd, as if, perhaps the car were overheating. I pulled over to the side of the road to check it out and give the engine a rest. As I opened the car door and stepped out, however, I noticed that the air was noticeably hazy, as if we were passing through a light fog. The familiar smell of woodsmoke, however, revealed the source of the "fog."

It was clear that somewhere in the area was a very large forest fire. We had seen no other evidence of it on our way thus far, so it must be ahead of us. The question was, was it off to the side or would it be close to the road and present a danger to us.

The area where we had stopped was well-forested on either side. If flames were to sweep through the pine here, it would be quite unpleasant and potentially quite dangerous for us. The car seemed fine so we decided to push ahead and try to put the fire behind us if we could.

Flames racing downhill at Lame Deer, Montana

The sky was completely grey with smoke, but we couldn't see any evidence of the smoke's origin until, after some miles, we finally crested the ridge. It seemed to come from ahead and off to our right. Ahead to the left, we could see a bit of blue sky.

As we approached Lame Deer, we could see thick dark smoke rising from over a hill to our right. It was still ahead of us so we kept driving, until it was directly beside us. The hill from which it came was about a half mile to our right and we pulled off the side of the road to snap a few pictures.

Within a minute, we saw not only smoke pouring over the hill, but flames as well. The flames climbed each pine tree and lept from tree to tree. It seemed almost to flow down the hill toward us with a light north wind at its back. Between us and the hill was flat farmland, dry grass and scrub that would burn quickly.

As the flames drew closer, we drove away to safety.

There were scattered houses and horse corrals along the edges of the field as well. I wondered if the fire would wipe out this little community. I didn't see any noticeable exodus of residents fleeing the fire, so they either felt safe or figured they still had plenty of time if they needed to leave the area.

As the flames ran closer to the flat of the valley, we drove out to be out of harm's way. We watched the smoke roll across Route 212 behind us, although I don't know how much of the flame, if any, made it across the open scrub land.

The volume of smoke we had seen earlier might very well have come from another larger fire elsewhere in the mountains of Montana. There were several fires reported across the area that day. We did see the smoke from another of those wildfires in the distance not long after we passed through Lame Deer.

Smoke from a distant fire

While the countryside of Montana has much to recommend it, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable living in a place where there are regular wildfires that might threaten my home or catch me unawares while hiking or camping. We saw the evidence of wildfires from prior years in many places along this stretch of our cross country road trip (as shown in the photo below).

Pines trees killed by a wildfire in Montana

When you fly across the country, you'll never encounter events like this on the way. I really think driving across the country helps add a greater depth to one's understanding of the different regions of the country. On the outskirts of Lame Deer, for instance, many of the homes were very modest and seemed as if the owners lacked the funds to undertake basic maintenance and repairs. Almost every home, though, had one or more horses in the yard. I think, perhaps, this hints at how the Cheyenne community here values its cultural heritage.

One day, I'd like to spend more time exploring this region of Montana, getting to know the land, the history and the people who live here. So much to see, so little time...

Road Trip-1st Day

We planned to be on the road by 7:00 am, but, of course, it was 7:20 when we pulled out of the drive-way. Still, that's pretty close, so we were off to a good start. We headed down Route 7 in Vermont which runs past the Bennington Monument. The Bennington Monument is a Revolutionary War monument that looks just like the Washington Monument, a hollow obelisk with open window holes at the top level so those inside can look out. I haven't visited the historic place despite being so close. As of today, it is on my list of places to visit.

Then we drove on through New York uneventfully. Interstate 90 runs nearly in a straight line the entire distance that we need to travel and we'll drive just about 2000 miles each way on this road alone. In New York, this important commercial route parallels an earlier commercial route, the Erie Canal. There are markers alongside the highway announcing that you are entering the Erie Canal Heritage Corridor.

For many miles in New York, I-90 runs alongside rivers and canals that made up part of the Erie canal and even today there are working locks visible from the highway. The water is held level above and below the lock and boats are routed through narrow waterways where the water level is raised and lowered to lift or lower the boat. This keeps the canal flowing smoothly and makes it passable for barges that would otherwise be unable to travel here.

In western New York, the area along both sides of I-90 is vineyards. There are miles and miles of grapes in well-manicured rows. Given the relatively short harvesting period for grapes, it is hard to imagine that these vineyards could be harvested without migrant workers. It seems as though it will take hundreds of people to pick all these grapes when they ripen,but that those jobs would last only a week or two.

We arrived in Niagara Falls at about 2:30 in the afternoon, parked our car for $5 and walked across the bridge to Goat Island. As we looked down at the river below us, it is broad and relatively shallow, which means it runs very fast. A person in that torrent would have no chance to swim to safety before being carried over the falls.

We walked along the paths of Niagara Falls State Park which has no admission fee. There is a trolley that will take you around the park to view the sights for $2 for adults and $1 for children. We preferred to walk after spending all morning in the car. We took pictures from the pathways that run alongside the river and the falls.

Niagara Falls from the American side
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2011. Do not copy

We also went out on the observation tower which provides a view of the face of the falls. The base is completely obscured by mist at all times and walking anywhere near the bottom of the falls (on the roped walkways, of course) will get you thoroughly soaked unless you are wearing a poncho or other rain gear. The same is true for those who ride the boats that run tourists to the base of the falls: The Maids of the Mists.

Niagara Falls is an impressive display of the power of nature and of water. I have to say though, I expected it to be a bit bigger. The gift shop, in addition to the usual assortment of shot glasses, T-Shirts, and other touristy logo-gear, has historic facts about the falls, including a photo of a young boy who was rescued after being swept over the falls in 1960. It's hard to imagine that this boy could have survived the plunge. He was spotted swimming for dear life in a whirlpool at the base of the falls and was rescued by one of the Maids of the Mist boats, according to the signage.

Niagara Falls is a must-see attraction for anyone passing through this part of the country. You can spend $13 or $14 for the boat ride and $11 for the Cave of the Winds Tour, or you can spend absolutely nothing. The park admission is free and the trails provide a good view. For $1 per person, you can get access to the observation tower and the elevator to the bottom of the gorge to view the falls from downstream.

We spent between 90 minutes and two hours at Niagara Falls. It's not something I would travel four or five hours to see, but it's definitely worth a detour of a couple hours if you're passing by. It's one of the great natural attractions in the United States that you hear so much about, so just to get the chance to experience it for yourself is worth it, especially for those on a budget.

I should also mention that there are a number of luxury hotels surrounding the falls and at least two casinos (one on the American side). If you're combining those activities with a visit to the falls then it might be worth driving further.

When I have more time, I'll put up a more extensive slide show of the photos I took of Niagara Falls, perhaps when we get to Montana or, at worst, when we get back home to New Hampshire in September.

The Ice Beds at White Rocks National Recreation Area

We are off on our cross country trip. We packed the van, handed the house-keys to the sitters and headed west yesterday afternoon. Our first stop is my mother's house in Vermont where we will spend the night, pick up one more travelling companion and head out first thing in the morning. My mother happens to live almost in the shadow of a place called White Rocks National Recreation Area, which is a must see attraction in its own right.

I've written a complete review and description of the place here.

Essentially, the granite mountainside was torn off by a glacier leaving a fall of boulders that stretches from valley floor to mountain peak. All winter long, snow and ice packs into the crevices between these boulders so that by spring there is a deep ice pack insulated by tons of chilled rock. As a result, air flowing over the rocks is cooled and follows the ice beds down into the valley. As you enter the valley, through July at least. You feel the air temperature drop by ten degrees or more as this chilled air settles there.

There is a steam that issues from the base of the ice beds as well which is ice cold all year round. It's probably a good idea to use a micro-filter or other purification system before drinking from it, but we never did as kids. This is theonly place in Vermont where it is possible to have a snowball fight in early July (depending upon snowpack and summer temps.)

So we'll hit the road at 7:00 am, headed for Niagara Falls. 

• Vacationing with the In-laws

Niagara Falls Searchers Find the Wrong Body

Yesterday, I wrote about the young woman who had fallen over the safety railing and was swept over Niagara Falls to her presumed death. Searchers are still looking for her remains, but during the search, says a report by CBS News, a male body was found in the water below Horseshoe Falls. At present, authorities did not know the identity of this body.

Authorities told CBS that it was rare to have anywone swept over the falls themselves, but that more people are injured in the Niagara Gorge along the river below the falls. Parks Police Sgt. James Riddle says that people commonly ignore safety precautions in order to get a good photo or a better view. Unfortunately, too many of them end up with a much closer view of the bottom of the gorge than they intended.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time discussing tragedies like this, but I will say that where ever you travel, make sure you research the potential hazards and are prepared for them. Follow posted safety instructions and use common sense. I read about far too many hikers being lost, injured or killed in mountains and forests of New Hampshire. Most of those stories contain the words "...tried to take a shortcut..." and "...wasn't prepared for the weather."

• Hike Safe New Hampshire has everything you need to know to stay safe while visiting the White Mountains.

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Meanwhile, we are just a few days away from leaving for Montana. We've got most of the packing done and are finalizing our lists of things to bring. This afternoon, one of the house-sitters is coming by to get the full instructions package and to go over the responsibilities they'll have while we're gone. I'll also be outfitting the van with new tires and an oil change today. Not only should that help prevent trouble on the way, but it should help maximize gas mileage as well. As it's planned, we expect to spend about 9-10 hours of driving each day. We'll be using the Garmin GPS unit to help find hotels at the end of each day's travel.

We'll be hopping over to Vermont on Thursday night where we'll stay at my mother's house for the night. Bright and early Friday morning we'll all set out for our first destination: Niagara Falls. We expect to reach it in the early afternoon of Friday and we'll spend a few hours there having lunch, enjoying the view, and no doubt learning all about hydro-electric power and the history of Niagara Falls.

I'll post at least one detailed review of our visit to Niagara Falls with tons of photos, probably Friday evening from whatever hotel we reach for the night.  We hope to drive well into the evening on the first day to build up a little mileage buffer so we have the option to spend more time somewhere else later on.

Woman Swept Over Niagara Falls after Climbing Railing

As our family is planning a cross-country road trip, one of the stops we had planned was a visit to Niagara Falls. It's something that is on our way and that we haven't seen before. As one of the grat natural wonders of North America, it certainly merits a visit.

Today, however, I learned that a young woman was visiting the Falls on Sunday evening and fell into the river at around 8:30 pm, just about 60 feet upstream of the falls itself. The river current swept her away instantly over the falls. She is presumed dead, although as of Monday morning her body had not been found.

According to the report in the Montreal Gazzette, the woman climbed the railing to sit on one of the pillars with one leg on either side of the metal railing. She lost her balance as she stood to climb down again, says the report and fell to her presumed death. Surveillance video shows no signs of anything other than a tragic accident.

Accidents like these, however, remind us that when we are sightseeing, we need to be very careful and use common sense. Climbing the safety railing is never a good idea. It is after all the awesome power of Niagara Falls that makes it a tourist destination, a power that should be resepected.

Similarly, we are planning on a visit to Yosemite where as many as 19 people have died this year already, mostly from falls. Loose shifting rock along a cliff edge is extraordinarily dangerous. I spend considerable time in the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire and there are places here with similar conditions. We don't always think of a visit to a National Park as a dangerous activity, and with proper attention to safety it isn't. For those who ignore warnings and safety barriers, however, yesterday's tragedy at Niagara Falls is a reminder that they can be very dangerous indeed.

Cross Country Road Trip Planning

At present, I am planning a cross country road trip to bring my son to college in Montana (from New Hampshire). We're planning to spend some time and sightsee along the way. Planned stops include Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, the Wall Drugstore, and the Cleveland Zoo, but depending upon our daily mileage, we may have to change plans on the way.

For us this means getting house-sitters since we have two dogs, a cat, and a variable number of chickens. We've arranged for two responsible friends of the family to stay at our house, take care of the animals, and keep everything in order, and of course, the dogs will help make sure everything follows the normal routine. So, that's already taken care of and it's one big worry out of the way.

For the trip itself, my wife, myself, my son, and my mother will take turns driving as needed. We are planning to spend an average of 8-9 hours driving each day and have planned progress points mapped for each day. We had considered bringing tents and camping out along the way, but the thought of just one night of rain and then having to pack up everything wet for the next day's travel made hotels seem like a better option.

Because we are not sure exactly where we'll end up each day, we have not booked hotels in advance for the trip out or the trip back. We did, however, book several nights in a Bozeman hotel because it is a college town that will be filled with new arrivals and parents and we thought rooms might be hard to find during the orientation period for which we'll be visiting. That's done, and it's another worry out of the way.

If my wife had her choice, everything would be planned in advance, each hotel booked, tourist stop planned out, and so forth. I'm more of a travel by the seat of the pants type person. As long as I can plug in the destination on my Garmin and find my way there and home again, everything else will work itself out as we go. It's good, of course, that my wife ensures that we do some pre-planning when we travel, but we always also try to allow plenty of flexibility to react to changing conditions and new opportunities that present themselves along the way.

In this blog, I'll be providing detailed updates of the hotels and restaurants that we find along the way, as well as the tourist destinations that we visit. I'll talk about the drive itself, with road trip tips, and even talk about specific roads, scenery, traffic, and other highlights of the cross country excursion. I'll also try to use the down-time to catch up with some of the other places we've visited over the years, all uploaded via presumably complimentary wireless access at the hotels we choose along the way, or worst case, from the nearest Starbucks.

By the way, we're fond of bird watching and wildlife viewing so expect to learn about some of the best locations for that as well. It's a couple of weeks before our trip begins, so I'll get a number of posts up before then, including one about what I consider to be the best restaurant in New England, bar none.