Missoula

We arrived at the Missoula Smokejumper Base where wild fire fighters train and work. We viewed the small museum and then joined a tour of the base. These men and women must be a wild fire fighter for at least 2 years before they can train to jump into the fire areas but most have been fighting wild fires for 5 - 10 years. These men and women custom make their own jump suits made of kevlar, and their own supply sacks. They each have their own parachutes. Some will fold their own but most will leave that to a pro but they do their own repairs. When a call goes out for a jump, they have about 20 minutes to dress and prepare their packs before they board the plane. Most jump from about 1500 feet but some can jump from 3000. They must know how to lower themselves out of trees and also how to climb back up the tree to retrieve their parachutes. Supply boxes are parachuted to them full of saws, picks and other fire suppression equipment along with food and gear to survive in the forest for up to 3 days. Of course, all that equipment must be packed out. Those packs can weight 85 - 110 pounds. To top off the tour, four jumpers practiced parachuting over our heads.

We spent the afternoon taking care of housekeeping chores but after supper we took a great bike ride into the downtown area. They have some really cool bike trails that go through pleasant neighborhoods or follows the Clark Fork River. The downtown was hopping! It was the First Friday Art Gallery Night when galleries are open, and there were street vendors, musicians and artists. We listened to a great Blues Band outside a bar and strolled with the college kids, at one point getting sucked into a tattoo parlor! We didn't stay there long!

The city has created a special place on the river for kayaker's to surf, there is a fabulous Carousel and Dragon playground for the kids, plus several parks along the river. We put another 9.5 miles on our bikes