Just Call Me Roaring Chicken

I have been over most, if not all, of the western U.S.'s mountain ranges during my decades on the planet. It's easy for me to take them for granted because I see the Olympics and the Cascades on a frequent basis. Mount Rainier is a normal fixture on the skyline when it's not clouded in. It's no big deal to plan trips that involve these ranges - particularly if you are going from West to East. At some point, you must navigate through a pass unless you want to drive to the Oregon border and go up the Columbia Gorge. Snoqualmie Pass is only around 3,000 feet, so it's no big problem, plus there is always help close by if needed.

I still remember driving over Going To The Sun Highway in NW Montana many years ago. I was in awe of the scenery, of course, but I also had to pry my fingers from the steering wheel after driving along the edge of the highway's abyss that had rock "guard rails" keeping a car from taking an unplanned imitation of a buffalo jump over the side. I don't know if the road is as narrow as it was back then, but it etched a vision in my brain that is still there today.

Heights never have been a real problem with me, but this one rates up there with standing at the top of a one hundred foot ladder swaying in the wind. At least you only had to deal with the terror of falling for 2-3 seconds if something went wrong. Going over the edge of Highway 2 might give you time to write your will and send several text messages before you met the bottom. However, I'm inclined to think that it would be more likely to have the old ticker give up the ghost  when the downward hoopla began, thus sparing me writer's cramp.

All I can say is that I'm looking forward to the trip...even the scary parts. It was easier to take on the challenges and dare-devil tom-foolery as a young man though. I've noticed that I'm using the railing on the stairs at home more lately instead of bounding up or down them as carelessly as I did in my youth.

I'm sure that the manuscript I'm working on will have many vivid features that I will translate into a story, assuming I survive the trip to the land of the Blackfeet. If I don't survive, it wasn't for a lack of trying! I am Chicken, Hear me Roar!