August 12, 2002. 6:50 p.m. at Aspen Grove Campground, Helena N. F. near Lincoln

Today we left our semi-permanent camp at KOA and traveled south to the place where trekkers will emerge from “The Bob” after eight days in the saddle. We have been assigned the “picnic area” rather than camping spaces because of the large number of people and vehicles. Good. It is a pleasant place and very quiet. A small river runs 15 yards from my tent on the grassy bank, and the area also has mature pine and aspen trees.
Repair work was needed on the tech trailer, which Cheryl pulled behind the motor home. I accompanied her in a Honda to Kalispell, only slightly off the route taken by the others. The repair took an hour or so. We drove through Swan Valley—a beautiful drive, as most of it is forested, and the lakes are sandwiched between the two mountainous Wilderness areas. Numerous businesses depend on the timber as materials for prefabricating log houses. At the south end of the valley, just before we turned off Hwy 83 onto 200, the land opened up into patureland for cattle. Some pastures were covered with sagebrush. Radio “dead zone.” We arrived in camp sometime after 5:00.
Last night’s presentation was satisfactory, but I was left with some feeling of inadequacy because the questions were not very good nor very numerous. The photos Steven showed were good, the narration I presented felt okay, and we had at least as many persons attending as we did the first night (about 80). However, I wonder if the videotape is better for “warming up” the audience for questions. Overall, the four presentations were very successful.