Bedrock & Paradox

This afternoon Ed, our COO, decided that in light on yet another Thursday featuring 50 degree rain, we would hike and not ride. We realize that upon Jill’s arrival such nonsense will be given short schrift, so we took advantage.  (The sheep are the Missoula town herd, moved around on city land to eat non-native…

Packrafting rules. I was pretty certain it did, but now I know for certain. I hiked up and ran the stretch of Rattlesnake Creek from Fraser Creek down to the parking area (where Woods Gulch comes in on this map). I was going to go a bit further, but could see three river wide logs…

And not just if you’re doing bunch sprints. On the way home yesterday afternoon I had two asshole driver encounters in the space of a kilometer; the first a suburban passing me six inches to my left on Higgins just south of the bridge (the bike lane disappears so I take the whole lane, which…

M tried to hide behind her hair, so she got the inflation bag. Out the door at 615 this morning to play on the river.  This is going to be fun.

The fates cooperates with us: we both had Sunday and most of Monday off work(s), and the best weather in over a month in which to enjoy it.  We had planned on riding up the closed to cars Going-to-the-Sun road, hiking to the snowline, and skiing Swiftcurrent Peak, with a campout near Granite Park chalet. …

Aren’t they all… But first, some thing I haven’t and have done on this gorgeous, sunny Saturday: I have not:-gone skiing-received a packraft in the mail (boo… ;)) I have:-ridden my singlespeed-cut the grass-changed the oil and tranny fluid on the truck-done some sewing-wrenched on bikes-shopped for a Glacier National Park trip on which we’re…

David Brooks has been flat lately (on May 31 he actually wrote “At some point somebody’s going to have to reach a national consensus on the role of government.” !?), but not this week. Of course, it’s easy for me to agree with something with which I already agree. I’ve been meaning to write thank…

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12195639&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1 Intelligence gathering has informed me that the raft has shipped. Question: will it be here by the weekend. If so: day rafting. If not, skiing. But where to ski? Many choices. I also finally bit it and put in those annoying as hell scrambled word deals to post. Japanese bots can, amusing though they…

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12329835&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1 But why? As was discussed (on the trip) yesterday, a day of backcountry skiing can entail carrying your heavy gear up to a sufficient altitude, thin cover, gear damaged on rocks, bushwacking, flailing, falling, wet hands, high winds, a wet butt, and snow that is only marginally skiable (given your or any skill set).…

I went back up St. Marys Peak for the second Saturday in a row, this time with a good crew and visibility.  Why twice?  It has the highest TH in the Bitterroot, and thus the least amount of hiking for the skiing.  It’s also a very aesthetic mountain that sticks out just a bit further…