Missoula and Frank Church River of No Return

Blog updated by Matt:

We arrived in Missoula on the morning of June 22nd with the intention of locating our high school friend who has been roaming the streets of Missoula as a transient for some time now. We sat ourselves down in a coffee shop at a window facing Higgins Street (the main strip in Missoula). There we waited, having determined this to be the most logical place to find spot the elusive Andy. Fortune was with us as I spotted a tall lanky fellow locking up his bike and walking with swagger into the coffee shop across the street. It was him, and this, he said, was the first time he had been in that coffee shop in a month.

We had intended to find another high school buddy of ours who currently resides in Missoula, but checking his facebook profile, we learned that we would be in the woods for 1 month. From our friend Andy, we learned that he was working with the Montana Conservation Corp (MCC). And so, after borrowing a couple of bikes at Free Cycles, a community bike shop where Andy volunteers, we set off for the Library. There we obtained contact info for MCC, and promtly placed a phone call. I explained our situation and told the man that we were looking for our friend Brent. He knew Brent and agreed to disclose his whereabouts.

That night we slept at "The Lab," which is a group living house complete with a huge garden, 7 chicken, a turkey, a homemade wood-burning oven (outside), bio-diesel (used vegetable oil) for the truck, a homemade shack/bedroom in the backyard, and many bike tools and parts. In one of the photos you see Claire, Andy, and two of the other residents gathered around a sick chicken during its final hours. We slept on a few of the many hammocks on the back porch that are reserved for just such occasions.

In the mountains of Idaho, in the Frank-Church River of No Return Wilderness Area, we did find Brent. We hiked the full 18 miles the first day, a feat which impressed even the MCC kids and the horse packers that made the same journey that day. We spent 2 days and 2 nights with the MCC folks, but somehow managed to skip out on getting any photos of the crew themselves.