I went for a ride after work, no longer a rushed commodity with the departure of daylight savings.  I veered off the plan, thinking it might be worth seeing if Lone Pine State Park had really melted off in the last week.  To my surprise it had.  Dirt season is ON!

Weather in the Flathead Valley has been spectacularly schizophrenic today.  I overheated riding to work in sunlight and a hoody, froze coming back from getting a coffee this afternoon when I walked out into a 15-minute blizzard, and rode home without gloves in sunshine.  The final two climbing laps of the ride were in another, nuclear ground blizzard, just as my iPod serged into this posts title song, by Pretty Lights.  Huge flakes, hero dirt and slick roots on twisty narrow tread through the forest, and my favorite rigid singlespeed merged with the music in a way which was quite magical.

If you haven’t checked out Pretty Lights, you ought to.  The full oeuvre is available online, on a pay what you want donation basis, and is really good.  The songs keep opening new doors the more I listen.

Lastly, an article I wrote for Backpacking Light was published online today.  You need a membership to read it, but for most manners of wilderness travelers it is money well spent.  I’m happy with the article, and it seems to be well received, which is gratifying.  I intend to do more.