Bedrock & Paradox

I’m in the process of constructing a new pack, and vetting foams for use in the hipbelt. I tested water absorption of yoga mat, generic 3/8″ thick white closed cell foam, and standard ridgerest foam by immersing 6″ by 9″ pieces of each in water for 2 hours shaking dry, then weighing. Results follow. Yoga…

Depending on your location, constitution, when you had lunch, and sense of humor, the following may or may not be appropriate. http://player.vimeo.com/video/13831211?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff The fuzzy line between laughing with and laughing at comes into play rather often during outdoor sports. When someone’s getting bouted and laughing in the moment, joining in is an unambiguous necessity. In…

Eilis and Nathaniel got married this weekend, in a place more familiar to my readers than almost any other group: Montana’s Centennial Valley.  At a ranch about 2 miles off the GDMBR, in fact. We chatted and drank beer in a barn.  I was told the stars were excellent, but you had to wait until…

Jill and Aaron prefer an audience.

It’s high summer in western Montana, which means that cheeries of all varieties sell for 2 bucks a pound, and I buy lots of them and them gorge myself before they get mushy.  A good problem to have. M found this great traditional french dessert last summer, and I brought it back tonight.  The following…

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=14198032&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0 High concept video blogging. 3 days down the Flathead were so overfull, and because of that so rushed. I tried to evoke that contrast. Did it work?

Bob Marshall country is alive indeed.  It’s incongruous coming back home and looking at the spot page.  Ya’ll may have seen the dots creep along, but you do not know what you saw.  I don’t know what I saw.  Driving home last night, and all day today, the post-trip hangover has been outrageously outsized. The…

Most importantly, starting tomorrow morning I’ll be taking three days to hike and float from Lodgepole Creek (Youngs Pass TH) to the Spotted Bear Ranger station, down Youngs Creek and then the South Fork of the Flathead.  Should be pretty bitchin.  The weather forecast is really good (projects no t-storms, ha), and there appears to…

It’s pretty hard to go to Yellowstone and not take at least a pretty good photo.  Surely it’s the nature of the place; terrain both sweeping and intimate.  I also think it’s my growing familiarity with the place.  A richer, more expansive understanding of what Yellowstone means makes shots frame themselves quicker, makes light a…

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=14022954&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0 It’s been a bad year thus far for human-griz conflict in the Yellowstone area. Besides the fatal Soda Butte mauling, there have been four bears in the park that have been moved to other locations, typically the last resort before they’re shot. I got this last bit Sunday from a bear management specialist at…