Category: Backpacking
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West Grand loop; debrief and video
Planning post here, whose plan I followed pretty much dead on. Day one took me from Pearce Ferry, up Pearce Canyon, out the north fork of the south arm, and to a camp on the upper Sanup (where I found water, rain/snow puddles in sheltered slickrock). Day two went up the western wall of Fort…
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West Grand loop; conception and planning
Back in December I drew a Grand Canyon river permit. I’d been trying for three years, putting in for the annual lottery, as well as for the winter cancellation permits, and after around 10 total applications (including three waves of cancellations permits in late 2023) luck was on my side. I’ve been planning for this…
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2023 Bob Open report
The 2023 Open ran from lower Holland Lake to Marias Pass, under overall kind conditions. A late spring led to a sunny May, with snow levels tapering northwards, and the foothills of Glacier having a drastically lower than normal snowpack. Moderate temps in the week leading to Memorial Day kept both the Middle and South Forks low…
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Cold crack repair, round 2
I wasn’t exactly looking for this boat, but I was keen to have a solo/smaller version of the Revelation; a canoe that would be as versatile downriver but not be quite so unwieldy, both paddled lightly loaded and especially when moving it around out of the water. I got something close in the form of a…
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South Fork November debrief
I’ve long wanted to float the South Fork of the Flathead in all 9 months I reckon it is ever floatable, read not frozen, those being March through November, with both March and November not providing good conditions every year. This year was obviously a good year for November, and November was the last month…
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The million dollar hat
Something on an exaggeration; but retail, this hat costs 55 dollars. Which seems excessive, even/especially in light of standard Pgucc truckers going for 35-39 dollars. Prior to this, my favorite foam truckers, which I find indespensible almost every day of the year, were the sort I got for free at trade shows or found for…
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Alpacka Caribou review
When we bought an Alpacka Caribou this past winter, to replace our slower and whitewater-poor Double Duck, bikerafting capability was far down the list. Another Explorer 42 could have easily been justified, as it has been so capable with multiple people, on white or flat water. The 42 is a bit much paddled solo, and…
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Smith River alone
The Smith is, for the time being, the only river in Montana which requires a permit. This has been the case since 1989, and the 59 mile “scenic” and mostly roadless stretch is now a state park, with a lottery for the probable floating season of April through early July, and fairly long odds (less…
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Tenderfoot Creek packrafting
(update January 2024) Tenderfoot Creek is the largest west-running drainage in the Little Belt mountains. Like the mountains themselves, it is a unique and somewhat obscure place. It has a public lands story which is worth reading about. As detailed last week, I’ve been mulling this post for a while. I discovered (for myself) floating…
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Patagonia STP Hoody; final thoughts
I’ve been using the Stretch Terre Planing hoody almost daily, and almost exclusively, for 18 months. It has proved to be as ideal a windshirt as I can imagine, without falling into hyperbolic hopes concerning future fabrics. As I detailed in the post last year, my windshirt quest has over the past decade consisted in…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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