Bedrock & Paradox

That, at least, is what I need to do.  I’ve been scuttling around like a mouse in a field all year, trying to preemptively hide from threats imagined.  But some parts of grad school will go down in history as failures, some as successes.  Now, the time has come to work on new things.  Ergo:…

As regular readers know, I spend a fair amount of time worrying about shoes.  When going into the backcountry, your feet are the most important part of your system, and often the weakest link.  On most of the big trips I’ve done in the wilderness over the last two years, sore and/or torn up feet…

The Bitterroots, hiking with M yesterday. Beat rockin’ Jills Pugsley in the Rattlesnake this afternoon. Good days making it easy to savor Missoula.

Seen in Kalispell today. We even found a place to live.

I got a job. In a few weeks I’ll be starting, up in Kalispell, working as a youth case manager for a private non-profit.  The money is pretty bad, and the organization and work perfect.  I’m anxious to get started, as I’ve been out of the field for too long.  I’m also anxious to normalize…

I’m ready to call my fly fishing season just about over.  Pictured above is one of my favorite fishing holes.  I went fishing this afternoon, because I’ve enjoyed having lots of fish to eat, and fishing is a good thing to do on a beautiful afternoon when your legs are still cooked.  I went for…

“Celebrity is as celebrity does.”   ;) http://player.vimeo.com/video/15349837 Bill had his Headwall photo shoot last night, and given the extent to which he is a thoroughly humble, unassuming, hardworking hammer of a mountain biker Ed and I went along as support crew and curious gawkers. Tom Robertson lucked into fantastic light on an absolutely bluebird day,…

Landscape photography might be my favorite material mode of artistic expression.  Thought I love old Japanese haiku, short stories, creative nonfiction (a silly term), Rembrandt and Renoir, nothing has the visceral draw of a well done landscape photograph.  The problem is that landscape photography has gone beyond boring in recent years, deep enough into the…

Yesterday I did 100 miles of human powered travel: 55ish riding a road bike on pavement, 20ish riding the same road bike on dirt, and 25 hiking on a trail. It was a three pronged full body beatdown. The crew drinking beer and grilling at the Blodgett campground.  Note Bill fetal on the dirt in…

I can’t claim I planned it this way: I had a job interview in Kalispell on Thursday, and with little official stuff left to do around the home, figured it logical to make the gas money count for more. I decided to bring the raft, fishing gear, and test the new pack on an overnight…