Category: Cultural critique
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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…
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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…
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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…
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The enchanting wind
One thing I only touched upon a few months ago, during our final search for a new and hopefully permanent home, was weather and climate. At the time the human components loomed larger, prioritization whose efficacy has been born out in the ease with which we’ve strollered around Helena’s convoluted streets over the last four…
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What ultralight is not
I tried my best five years ago, but despite little technological progress of consequence since, that little bastard ultralight refuses to die. Rather, it lives a more robust life than ever, largely as a marketing catchphrase. That being the case it is important than usual to take some time today and discuss all the things…
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Home
The me of a decade ago would not easily recognize the me of today. Since arriving three weeks ago we’ve done a lot, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how interesting most of it has been. If I had the time I’d probably have a lot to say about how much and just why I…
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Not that, hard
It is easy for me to remember the night before my first Grand Canyon Double Crossing (aka Rim-Rim-Rim). Early December of 2005, living out of our Xterra, driven south and west by cold and the Grand Canyon as our last stop before the true lowlands of Vegas, Death Valley, and J Tree. We slept outside…
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Preserving the preserver
As most of you will know, President Trump recently ordered Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to conduct a review of all National Monuments designated since 1996. Specifically, the executive order directs …the Secretary to conduct a review of all Presidential designations or expansions of designations under the Antiquities Act made since January 1, 1996,…
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We made it
The family is back in Montana, and a mostly sleepness night and a whole lot of box lifting the past few days can’t blunt how good it feels. To celebrate, the Go North sticker is on sale today only, cuz duh. South-southeast is the worst direction ever. M and I have moved a lot in…
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The best and worst of the Colorado Plateau
This is a stupid exercise, one which tends to highlight my more willful and generally less flattering tendencies, but I found a similar exercise last fall useful enough that I feel compelled. Ordering ones thoughts is handy, for historiographical purposes, no matter their prejudice. This time I’ve gone forth without numbers. The landscape of the…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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