Book Report: Black Mad Wheel by Josh Malerman

Black Mad Wheel has a lot of silliness at its core, but Josh Malerman knows how to tell a compelling story, and it's an entertaining read. The book opens in mid-'50s Detroit, where a band called the Danes - few years removed from their #1 hit - are trying to get a teenage band, which has bought recording time in the Danes' studio, drunk so that they'll loosen up their sound. As they're passing around shots, a military man interrupts with a proposition: $100,000 each for them to travel to Africa and identify the source of a mysterious sound which causes illness and injury, and also disarms weapons. Meanwhile, in the later timeline which alternates chapters, Philip Tonka, band leader and piano player of the Danes, has just awoken from a six-month coma and is recovering in a military hospital near Des Moines from mysterious injuries that include basically every bone in his body being broken. The scene is now set! If that's intriguing, you should read it yourself, and I won't provide any more spoilers here.

This is a thriller, so I guess I shouldn't be upset about the lack of three-dimensional characters, but here I am, upset. And much like pretty much every TV show in the Lost vein, Black Mad Wheel does a much better job of presenting baffling events than it does in eventually revealing satisfying reasons for the baffling events. It's not a bad book, though.

Book Report: Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

I'm really glad that I read Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer's masterpiece (please don't see the movie), because it's an amazing book that opened up my mind to what's possible in a science fiction book. However, I'm kind of bummed that I read Annihilation, but I'm increasingly concerned that VanderMeer will never reach those heights again.

Borne is a fine book in its own right, weaving an intricate tale of dystopian survivalism in a future where biotech (and holy shit does he use that word a lot) has run amok, but it just doesn't sing, you know? And I stuck with it all the way through because VanderMeer, to me, has earned the trust that he might be building to something amazing, but Borne never quite got there.

Book Report: Who Really Feeds the World by Vandana Shiva

I thought I knew what I would think of Who Really Feeds the World by Vandana Shiva: a Wendell Berry-type work with a more global perspective, basically a beautiful reminiscence of an earlier time when farming was done right, but no real prescriptive solutions except for "not like we're doing it now." However, I was very pleasantly surprised that Shiva laid out her issues with modern, industrial agriculture clearly, and advocates for a similarly clear solution: smaller farms.

My interpretation of industrial agriculture has been that of a necessary evil: it sucks that there are so few farmers using too much petroleum, terrible pesticides, and corporate-owned GMOs, but that's what needs to happen in order to feed a world of 8+ billion people. However, Shiva makes a compelling argument that very few people are actually fed by the huge fields of corn and soybeans. She claims that most food is actually produced by small farmers, and that the huge farms are mostly successful at enriching corporations.

I need to spend some time sitting with these ideas, but I'm excited to have been introduced to this new way of thinking about this problem.

Glacier National Park: TL;DR

Molly and I went on a trip this past week to Glacier National Park in northwest Montana, along with two excellent dudes that Molly went to high school with at Manual in Louisville: Nathan Busse, who now lives in Denver, and Reed Thompson, who now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. They were excellent travel companions and demonstrated high standards with regards to preparedness and hiking fitness.

Here are some random thoughts and things that I'd wished I'd known before the trip:

• The train was a good way to get there, but don't do it because of the views. I'm glad that we did it, but I'm glad we flew back. 
• It's great that the glaciers exist, and it's a damn shame that they won't in a few years, but the glaciers themselves aren't very imposing in their current state. They've been diminished to the point where most are just a little bit of ice on a far-off mountain. You should definitely go to Glacier, but don't feel like your experience will be a bunch different in a few years after the glaciers are completely gone. 
• In order to see much of the park, you're going to have to do quite a bit of driving, so having lodging right in the park wasn't much of an advantage. We probably paid more than we needed to on hotels by trying to stay in or very near the park.
• The exception to this rule is the Many Glacier Hotel, which is majestic and also located right at the trailhead for a bunch of great trails that you'd have to drive a substantial distance to if you're not staying in the park. 
• There are a lot of alpha predators hanging out, which is a little unnerving. We carried bear mace the whole time, and camping in soft-sided tents wasn't allowed in a lot of the park because of the risk of bear attacks. 
• The western 2/3rds of the Going-to-the-Sun Road (the main east-west route through the park) was closed to public traffic because of wildfires near Lake McDonald, as were the hiking trails in that area. There were still plenty of things to see and do, but we weren't able to do some of the iconic hikes like Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Lake. 
• The eastern side of the park is pretty depopulated, visibly impoverished, and not fancy at all -- much of it is within the Blackfeet Indian Reservation -- and a lot of the roads are in pretty rough shape. The western side of the park is where much of the cheesy tourist stuff is located, and it's more directly connected to Whitefish and Kalispell, larger yuppie-ish towns with more amenities. I was glad we had enough time to spend in different parts of the area to get a better overall sense of things. 

Here are the links to the individual day posts:
Glacier National Park: Day 1
Glacier National Park: Day 2

Glacier National Park: Day 3

Glacier National Park: Day 4

Glacier National Park: Day 5

Glacier National Park: Day 6

Glacier National Park: Day 7

Glacier National Park: Day 8

Glacier National Park, Day 8

Reed popped Little Richard. We drove to Polebridge, which was in the northwest corner of the park about 35 miles from West Glacier, and was gravel roads a good portion of the way.

Putting things in perspective - photo by Reed Thompson

We met a German ranger at the gate, who said everything was open and there weren't bear problems.

We stopped at the Bowman Lake campground and parked there. Busse and Reed hiked to Numa Lookout, which was about 5 miles each was with about 2600 feet of elevation gain.

What a difference a couple days make in apparel - photo by Reed Thompson

These three are by Reed Thompson

Molly and I were going to hike along Bowman Lake, but there were many, many wolf howls which caused us to redirect. We ended up hiking on the Lower Quartz Lake trail; we made the ascent but didn't do the descent down to the lake because of fatigue.

We saw some bones that wolves had eaten along the shore of Bowman Lake. Busse got really out of breath on their hike, but then reached the top triumphantly. They couldn't see the fire tower until they were about 50 feet away, but the view was great. They ran into a Russian ranger named Ola there who had seen the wolves on the trail, and said that you should share cheese with friends. They saw more bones from wolf meals on the way down, including a deer skull and ribcage.

We went to the Polebridge Mercantile, which was really nice, and we got some huckleberry pastries of excellent quality.

The Polebridge Pastry Selection - photo by Reed Thompson

For dinner, we took a real cute drive to Columbia Falls, and we ate at Backslope Brewing. Along the way, we had some excellent views of the Flathead River, a half-burned mountain, and we nearly ran over some deer.

The next morning. Busse and Reed drove us to the airport in Kalispell, and they continued onward to Denver. Thanks for hangin' with us, dudes.

Here are the links to the individual day posts:
Glacier National Park: Day 1
Glacier National Park: Day 2

Glacier National Park: Day 3

Glacier National Park: Day 4

Glacier National Park: Day 5

Glacier National Park: Day 6

Glacier National Park: Day 7

Glacier National Park: Day 8

Glacier National Park, Day 7

We each did our own thing in the morning. Reed displayed poor light discipline at 2 a.m. when he went to the bathroom. Molly and I had a pillow fight. Busse laughed in his sleep a few times.

Tight quarters at the ol' Apgar Village Lodge - photo by Reed Thompson

We went on a half-day horseback ride at Swan Mountain Outfitters in the afternoon with Mason the overbearingly chatty 23-year-old. Mason lives in a tent behind the corral and has seen 70 bears in four years. Reed rode Astro, Nathan rode Ice, Molly rode Dakota, and I rode Mongo. Nathan and Reed's horses were half-Icelandic, and Mongo and Astro liked to snack on the grass and saplings along the trail. Busse's horse could eat on the run. Dear reader, please note that Busse's grundle was fine in the saddle, and he noted that he got an erection from the motion of riding. Reed had horsehair on his shoes.

We went to Kalispell, where all the sun in Montana appears to reside. We went to a thrift store, where I bought two western shirts, and Reed saw two typewriters that he chose not to purchase. Reed learned that he had become an uncle while we were in the thrift store. We went to Moose's Saloon and got intimidated by the saloon doors and sawdust and peanuts on the floor, and the carved graffiti on the tables and walls.

There weren't any tables available anyway, so we went to dinner at A Taste of Rome Pizzeria. Our waitress wasn't helpful, but the pizza was excellent. The cook was able to confirm that Moose's exists, but didn't have any information on why it would be packed at 5 p.m. on a Friday.

We went back to Moose's for a pitcher and to share stories of fights we'd gotten into. Busse hit Reed with a tangerine on the walk through town afterward. Jose Frank is the Dick Idol of Kalispell. We got ice cream at Sweet Peaks (aka Sugar Tits), and Reed got a cool hat and hit on a mom.

We drove back to Apgar and toasted champagne on the dock on Lake McDonald and looked at the stars. There was a dude laying on the dock in a sleeping bag totally silent, which was odd.

Here are the links to the individual day posts:
Glacier National Park: Day 1
Glacier National Park: Day 2

Glacier National Park: Day 3

Glacier National Park: Day 4

Glacier National Park: Day 5

Glacier National Park: Day 6

Glacier National Park: Day 7

Glacier National Park: Day 8

Glacier National Park, Day 6

We checked out of our hotel in East Glacier, and headed westward on US Highway 2 toward West Glacier. We saw two fires burning south of Highway 2, and we could smell smoke when we pulled into the trailhead in Flathead National Forest near Stanton Lake. We hiked trail 146 back to Stanton Lake, which took us along the lakeshore.

Molly came up with the cheer "Bear Elsewhere," which we used to good effect on the trail. We saw fishermen with an inflatable standup paddleboard, and we hiked past an island with a cairn in the middle of the lake.

Loungin'

These two are by Reed Thompson

We skipped rocks from the beach, and hiked past a Montana guy who razzed us for our bear avoidance techniques.

The road to West Glacier was much better than what we'd experienced on the east side of the park, and we ate up the miles. We checked in at the Apgar Village Lodge, and we discovered there were no doors between the rooms in our room, so Molly repurposed the shower curtain as a room divider.

We went west to Whitefish in search of Indian food at Kandahar, which turned into a bit of a Kipling-esque runaround. We debated popping the blister on Reed's little toe, which he has named Little Richard. In Whitefish, we stopped at the Spotted Bear Distillery, which was nice.  Busse got a huckleberry sour. We went to a Mexican joint for dinner, got wet burritos and drank Rainier.

Whitefish is a yuppie ski town, and surprisingly affluent. There was a sign for a realtor named Dick Idol. The staff was surprisingly racially diverse at the sandwich shop that Reed and Busse snacked at when we first got to town. We went to Palace Bar for a post-dinner drink, which at one point was the home of mouse races.

The Yelp reviews said the bathrooms were either great or possibly terrible, depending on which you read, and I'd have to go with somewhere in between. The men's room just had a commode with no stall next to the urinals, which was weird.

Here are the links to the individual day posts:
Glacier National Park: Day 1
Glacier National Park: Day 2

Glacier National Park: Day 3

Glacier National Park: Day 4

Glacier National Park: Day 5

Glacier National Park: Day 6

Glacier National Park: Day 7

Glacier National Park: Day 8

Glacier National Park, Day 5

Molly along the shore of Hidden Lake

Reed and I got up and walked to the general store while Molly and Busse slept in. Molly made a nice breakfast of the bacon and eggs, and then we got the place cleaned up to check out before we drove to Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We drove the only section which was open to the public, in the eastern third of the park. The western 2/3 was closed because of wildfires near Lake McDonald.

Busse and Reed hiked the Highline Trail, while Molly and I hike to Hidden Lake. Here are some photos of the Highline hike:

Highline photos by Reed Thompson

The trail to Hidden Lake was really gentle for the first half to the overlook above the lake, and then it got very rugged from there, ending at the lakeshore. We saw two mountain goats, two marmots, and a deer. The animals were very used to being around humans, and we got very close to them (sorry for the vertical video, I was caught off guard).

Traffic jam

The weather turned as we were heading back up the hill from Hidden Lake, and we got snowed on for a while. The mountains surrounding us disappeared in fog for a time, and there was snow accumulation on the upper peaks.

Snow sticking to the peaks

Busse and Reed cut their hike short because of weather, and had trouble getting around a mountain goat that was blocking their trail. The drive back was a little rough with bad roads and construction, but we saw some cool rainbows.

Rainbow photo by Reed Thompson

We were going to eat at Serrano's, but it was packed, so we went to the Looking Glass. Reed and Busse tried to take the tour at the Glacier Park Lodge, while Molly and I chilled in the room. Busse made use of the weird public bathroom in the hallway outside our room. I think we all hit our heads on the fire protection piping or the ceiling at one time or another, but we avoided serious injury.

Here are the links to the individual day posts:
Glacier National Park: Day 1
Glacier National Park: Day 2

Glacier National Park: Day 3

Glacier National Park: Day 4

Glacier National Park: Day 5

Glacier National Park: Day 6

Glacier National Park: Day 7

Glacier National Park: Day 8

Glacier National Park, Day 4

Y tho

Reed and Busse hiked the Pitamakan-Dawson Pass Trail Loop from Two Medicine, which was almost 20 miles. They left before 8 a.m. and got back after 6 p.m. Reed had an accidental bear mace discharge, and was still feeling tingling in his fingers when he went to bed. They saw lots of wildlife on the trail, and not many people.

The photos above are by Reed Thompson

Photo by Nathan Busse

Molly and I took the 10:30 a.m. shuttle from the hotel to Two Medicine and hiked from the trailhead to Rockwell Falls, which was a cool multi-layer waterfall.

We encountered a chatty chipmunk, and then a chipmunk that really wanted to eat our dinner.

Chippy!

 We made a detour to Aster Falls on the way back, which was also nice.

The shuttle was kind of expensive, and we had to ride with some gun nuts on the way out, which was weird. Our driver was upset that the officials at the Canadian border wouldn't let him take his 30-round magazine into Canada, and the two Texans in the van agreed that that was a severe infringement on his freedom. The driver on the way back was funny and good-natured, and he talked about driving from Phoenix to Fairbanks.

I went to get groceries and beer when we got back, then we got takeout from the Whistle Stop, which was not nearly as good as the Looking Glass. Reed and Busse were pretty much toast from their hike, and they crashed.

Here are the links to the individual day posts:
Glacier National Park: Day 1
Glacier National Park: Day 2

Glacier National Park: Day 3

Glacier National Park: Day 4

Glacier National Park: Day 5

Glacier National Park: Day 6

Glacier National Park: Day 7

Glacier National Park: Day 8