As the Boys slept all-cozy in their beds, the Knee carried the torch for securing an 8-person backcountry permit for Glacier National Park. They knew in their heart of hearts, if the Knee could remember to awake and fax their request at exactly 2:01 AM EST (midnight in Montana) on April 15th (the first available moment for requesting a permit)... they would be the first to get their request logged into the ranger station, beat all of the other wanna-be permit seekers, and be a shoe-in for hiking Glacier come August 2003. The time had come. Would the Knee sleep through the itty-bitty window of opportunity to secure one of the coveted and limited backcountry permits for Glacier?

Tuesday, April 15th
An e-mail from the Knee to the Boys

Boys,

It was exactly 2:00 AM when the biological clock went off in my head. I woke up feeling like sh-t and said, "Where am I" ... tripping over my guitar chord as I wandered idly to my desk, I managed to turn on my Ott-Lite, tore off the last post-it on the fax machine, and proceeded to dial for 8 days of delarity! [Editor's note: We think this is code for "8-days of glorious backpacking in Glacier."]

My fax machine began to dial. Waiting in anticipation for the phone to ring, I double checked to see if I correctly dialed the fax number... only to hear, "The number you are calling is not in service, please check the number and dial again"...

SH-T! It's all Gary's fault!... this can't be true! He gave me that fax number! Now, what do I do?

Since I only had one phone line, I decided to disconnect my fax machine and re-plug my computer into the phone line. I had to immediately get on-line to check the Glacier National Park official web site for the correct fax number! (That damn "g"!) Time was slipping away!

Twenty-five more minutes passed. All I could think about was the notion of every camp site in the park already having someone else's name on it. Double checking my options, I realized that De Blister did indeed give me the correct number.

Sh-t! I knew It! I had to get faxing again! Fumbling for the phone line to re-plug it into the fax machine (while also taking out the last tooth pick that held open my right eye lid), I frantically dialed the number once again. Sh-t, its busy! Can't be! I gotta get up for work tomorrow... I mean today!

It was 2:45, I must have dialed the number 15 times only to hear that annoying busy signal. I was delusional. I thought to myself, "What sick puppy would get up in the middle of the night to fax a bunch of camp codes to a place where the employees are still sleeping... me! That's who!"

The house was freezing. I always turn the heat down before going to bed. There was no way I was going to sit at my desk in my underwear and keep pressing this re-dial button every freaking 5 minutes. ("It's f-cking freezing!") So, I moved the fax machine on top of my desk chair, rolled it over to my bed and pressed the button from under my covers. ("That's the ticket.")

It was 3:15 AM and I was thinking about reinstalling the tooth picks back under my eye lids to keep from falling asleep. Then, all of a sudden, a miracle occurred; the phone at Glacier was ringing! Thank the maker! God Bless Verizon! I thought those other crazy backpackers would never give up trying to call in their faxes! "We're in," I thought, "...Whew! Our request for a permit was in!"

When the fax clicked off... I drew the covers over my head and thought, "I made "g's" Hall of Fame, "g's" Hall of Fame, "g's" Hall of Fame, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Tuesday, April 15th
An updated e-mail from the Knee to the Boys

Boys,

I spoke to Ranger Brian today at the Park Permit Office at Glacier. He told me they received over 400 fax's today. Do you believe that? It's the 1st year the park decided to use this method to apply for permits. They are totally overwhelmed. I was assured that all permits that came in today would be post marked with today date. They do not grant permits in the order in which they were received. He also assured me that if he came across our permit he would give me a call. I told him how concerned I was about misplaced faxes...

Any hoot, we should have an answer within 2 weeks. I'll be notified either by regular mail or e-mail Keep those fingers crossed!

The Knee

Friday April 25th
An e-mail from the Knee to the Boys

Boys,

Read-em and weep. We didn't get a backcountry permit for Glacier.

Steve