It's All in Your Perspective

Dave Ungerman cannot remember a time when he did not love the Great Outdoors.  One of his earliest outdoor memories is living on the last road before the edge of a forest in Washington State. Dave and his buddies loved spending their time hanging out in a tree house, bike riding into the forest as far as they dared, or climbing enormous trees for a view of a clear day.

When Dave was thirteen, his family moved to Butte.  At the time, Dave thought he’d come to the end of the world.  But he soon found out that Butte was a great place to live for someone who loved the outdoors.   Although Dave and his buddies did not have driver’s licenses, there were plenty of back roads where they rode motorbikes. Once when school was out for Parent/Teacher Conference, Dave and a friend rode their motorbikes down a back road into the Butte Highlands.  Since hunting season was scheduled to start in a few weeks, they parked the bikes and scouted for deer. 

After tracking deer for a while, Dave and his buddy decided to head back to their bikes.  In his zeal to track game animals and being a newcomer to the area, Dave had neglected to keep tabs on his own location.  He and his friend spend the next four or five hours trying to find their motorbikes.  As night fell, they realized they were lost.

In typical Dave Ungerman style, Dave shot a grouse, made a camp fire, ate dinner, and settled in for the night.  Since the temperature dropped into the teens that night and Dave had only a jean jacket, he remembers that he unconsciously rolled into the warm ashes of the fire as he slept.  Both Dave and his friend woke up the next morning covered in black ashes.

Their predicament ended when a National Guard plane spotted the smoke from their fire.  A rescuer arrived to show them the way out.  They hitched a ride home with the Silverbow County Sheriff.  “He loaded our bikes into his vehicle and never said a word to us about riding them illegally,” Dave recalled. While he escaped trouble with the Sheriff, he remembers being in big trouble at home. 

This experience in no way soured Dave’s love for the outdoors.  One of his favorite outdoor places is the Glacier Park Highline Trail.  This trail winds along a ridge for several miles, affording fantastic views.  As he hiked, Dave recounts stepping off the trail for mountain goats to pass by.  This trail ends near a main road where hikers can catch a shuttle back to their cars. 

When asked about handy equipment to take on outdoor adventures, Dave picks his Leatherman utility tool that is in a case with a mini flashlight.  He uses it daily, outdoors or indoors.

As a Montanan for over 40 years, Dave notes that things change.  “Every generation that ever lived in Montana has seen things come and things pass away.  In our generation we see land locked up, but our grandfathers saw open land fenced in with barbed wire.  The new generation coming up has its own perspective on things.   My grandchildren think Montana is the most wonderful place on earth.  We can be miserable or not.  It’s all in your perspective.”