One of the most significant moments in parenting, for us 21st century types for whom proliferation of the species is both an abstraction and a choice, is mourning the trappings of your pre-kid life as they are filed and filtered away, never to be seen again. With an infant around your life will become totally […]
OR, the Rorshach test
The Outdoor Retailer tradeshow is happening, right now, and I am not there. The show is early this year, making conflict with the birthdays inevitable. A frequent comment about OR is “I’d rather be out hiking/climbing/etc” which I find both understandable and peculiar. Obviously we made such a choice this year, but as yesterday wore […]
The best, the worst, and the unsung backcountry sites of Glacier NP
Glens Head, a mere B grade site. If you want to backpack in Glacier National Park you must pay, both in dollars ($7 per person, per night adds up) and in logistical effort. The park generally and the backcountry in particular has gotten noticeably more crowded in the past 8 years in which we’ve been […]
Birthdays
Two years ago Little Bear was born on M’s birthday. Today we’re celebrating that fulfilling and challenging time, and looking forward to a few quiet days in a little corner of civilization and then the backcountry. See everyone on the other side.
The miracle of 2017
Summer has emphatically arrived in Montana, with a solid week of highs in the 90s and little wind or thunderstorms to break things up, but enough lightning strikes in the broader neighborhood to get one worrying that August might justify its seed with a burly crop of fires. It was in brief an ideal time […]
Floating with the bear; what we’ve learned
Our Double Duck has been one of the essential kid purchases. That one boat can fit all of us, gear for 4+ days, and be under six pounds is remarkable (it’s lighter and packs smaller than the modern Yukon Yak). That said, it has acute limitations which heavier, bigger volume multi-person boats would not; namely […]
Shameless capitalism in 2017
First, for my own shameless commerce update: you can still purchase some nifty stickers, or Packrafting the Crown of the Continent, at the store. Sticker purchases have proven highly subject to direct exposure here; whenever I put up a notice like this one sales spike. Guidebook sales have been steady since the launch in early […]
