Category: Packrafting
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Whitefish P3athlon race report
(I’m inventing the above appellation because Pole-Pedal-Paddle Triathlon is both ungainly and in the wrong order for this event.) The weather this morning and early afternoon was good for doing a race on a fairly innocuous course, which is to say it was 85% crap. The other 15% were left out because it wasn’t raining…
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The Junk Show
Tomorrow is the Pole-Pedal-Paddle triathlon up in Whitefish, and I’ve resolved to get full value by riding there and back and hauling all my gear. Speaking of full value, the forecast calls for 40s and 100% chance of precip. It took some thinkering and futzing, but past experience hauling skis and fly rods in the…
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Testing (testing)
My mission to ski the Nyack-Coal loop failed, but most everything else was a success. In short, bad snow and improperly broken-in boot liners conspired to make for a slow pace and painful feet, so I turned around. I still got to see Glacier, covered in snow but fast melting out, which can never been…
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Western Montana: A seasonal guide for outdoor recreation
The seasons dictate what we do outside and how we do it. Outdoor recreation is at it’s best when the intersection of equipment, terrain and weather come together to provide an experience which is aesthetically interesting and spiritually satisfying. Hauling a bike through unrideable powder or peanut butter mud does neither, nor does skiing micro-patches of summer snow…
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5 great packrafting videos
I’m getting psyched for boating, and right now, these are my favorites. In no particular order. I’m really looking forward to getting back into the South Fork valley. The wilderness scale and packraft-friendly terrain would seem to make it the float in the lower 48. The long-form Chris and Al have been hiding. Awesome…
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2011: Spring and Summer plans
Lac Superieur. Now that a plane ticket has been purchased, I can present my racing/hard trips plan through the end of summer. April 2: Whitefish Pole-Pedal-Paddle -I plan to ride to the start with skis and packraft, be DFL at the end of the boating leg, ride up to Big Mountain with all my gear,…
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I wanna ski like Luc
Luc Mehl, of the Selway packraft trip and awesome ski videos, has written an article for BPL disclosing many of the secrets of winning the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Ski Classic. One of the better reasons to pay BPL money I’ve yet to come across. Timely too, as the first thaw of the year has come…
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Putting the bike in bikerafting
The bicycle and the packraft: both marvelous human-powered vehicles that allow unique explorations of the extraordinary hidden in backyards near you. Example above, the lovely miles of braids of islands downstream from the Old Steel Bridge over the Flathead (before it sloughs out and losses all current). Exploring it any other way would require contrivance…
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The 5 reasons to buy gear
Allow me to begin here at the end: gear should be a means to an end. And not just any end, but a good end. Ryan Jordan has recently written a superlative post on just this point, building on his interpretation of what a good end should be. I agree with him, I’ve written here…
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Tiny cuben drysack
The smallest of MLDs cuben ditty bags. Seam sealed, with the cord removed and the buckle glued on. Made for holding the most basic of fire starting and repair gear in the pocket of my PFD or coat, should I become separated from my packraft and/or pack. The bulk of the webbing may make the…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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