Clearing the Way

In addition to being prepared for any kind of weather conditions when driving mountain roads in Montana, you need to be prepared to suddenly find the route impassable because a tree has dropped across the road. To that end, I carry a couple of handsaws in my truck at all times. Often, I also have my chainsaw bouncing around in the box of the truck.

Yesterday, after rounding a corner on a road traversing the mountains outside of Lincoln, Desiree and I encountered an aspen tree slashed across the roadway, making it entirely impassable. Not a sapling, either. This one was nearly sixteen inches thick at the base. Luckily, I had the chainsaw.

I fired it up and chunked the lower section into pieces we could roll aside. Desiree and I worked together, clearing just enough space for the truck. At one point, the chainsaw bar got pinched between two trunk sections, and I had to dig out the handsaw to free it. Fifteen minutes later, I squeezed through the narrow path we’d made—back on the road, the way open behind us.

The Aspen Tree Across the Road

Me Sawing Through a Section of Truck

Driving Through the Narrow Section of Cleared Road

—Mitchell Hegman