Opinion: The War of the Roses

The owl flew from a snag over the creek up into the trees. I figured I’d get a better look at him when I got up on the high bank, but he got a better look at me, too, and flew back over the creek and into the woods.

Photo op lost. Such is life.

We were on the South Boundary Trail and had just crossed Nyack Creek on Sunday. It would turn out to be a miserably hot day and I had the bright idea that I would wear shorts. I haven’t worn shorts on a hike in probably 20 years, maybe more, and I immediately knew why: My legs were a mess of scratches and I had only gone a mile. I had already put a hole in the shorts and the edges were rife with little prickers and burrs.

The boy wears shorts all the time, so his legs are toughened up, to put it mildly, but I have virgin, hairy, sickly white legs that haven’t seen the sun since I was 35.

We were doing the hike from Nyack to Harrison Creek. It’s a little section of trail that runs along the Middle Fork of the Flathead in Glacier though stands of old Ponderosa pines and pretty big larch.

Almost no one goes there, primarily because you have to cross the Middle Fork and you have to cross Nyack Creek, which is refreshing on a 90-degree day in September, but bone-chillingly cold just about any other time.

Crossing the Middle Fork is more complicated than it used to be, too. There’s the channel right next to the railroad tracks which was slow, but thigh deep and then there’s a big old sandbar in the middle (an island, really) and then the other channel, which was shallow and riffly.

In the old days the river wasn’t as braided and the crossing was less complicated.

Typically the Park Service puts orange markers on the trees to guide the way a bit, but I couldn’t find them, so I veered north rather than south, which was a mistake, because we ended up bushwhacking for about 20 minutes through the woods until we hit the South Boundary Trail.

If you can find the crossing trail, which we did on the way back, (veer south!) the hike through the woods is much easier.

The trail past Nyack Creek to Harrison is both pleasant and miserable. Parts of it offer expansive views into the Great Bear Wilderness as the trail runs through open slopes.

But there’s also a good 45 minutes of brush up over your head and the trail is lined with wood rose, thistle and snowberry, just waiting to scratch the heck out of bare legs. (Wear long socks if you wear shorts.)

Thing is, on a cool fall day this would be a nice hike. It was surprisingly quiet and there really are some magnificent old trees along the way. You could extend it into a backcountry trip and camp at Harrison Lake, which we might do at some point.

But on a boiling hot day in September, we were just happy to be done with the 12-mile round trip. On the way back we took the horse trail just beyond Nyack Creek, which leads all the way back to the river ford and isn’t on the map.

It’s as wide as a sidewalk in spots and a super easy hike.

If I only knew…