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Comment now
The Forks of the Flathead and their tributaries are currently the most important places for packrafting in the United States. This is because the Flathead National Forest is, for the first time since 1980, revising their management plan, and it seems certain that backcountry floating on the Forks of the Flathead (especially the South Fork)…
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Favorite spots in the Bob
In no special order. The North Fork of the Sun. Especially now that I’ve shot an elk near here and traversed the ridge in the background. The mouth of Lodgepole Creek. I’ve started a number of great floats here, in all seasons. Those prime 6 miles of the lower White River. (And the top of…
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Astral Brewer 2.0; the hiking review
Shoe weight matters. Read all this stuff if you haven’t recently, the most singular point being that the guy with the lightest shoes was the only one who made it all 1000k. When I was just getting into serious backpacking, about a decade ago, I got the idea that one ought to have a footwear…
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Blue bike tales
Last week, at a yard sale, we saw this pretty blue Trek Antelope 850, and for $40 and in excellent condition I just couldn’t not take it home. A little digging reveals this Trek is from 1990, close to the vintage of the Bridgestone MB-5 which was my first real bike. Functionally identical performance between…
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Small, too small
The last year of college Andy and I lived in a four room apartment carved out of the second story of an old house a few blocks from campus. The staircase to our carpeted kitchen was steep and creaked, tacked on to the back, an afterthought for money. I first took the second, and slightly…
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Low water Dearborn
I was reminded recently that packrafts frame boating differently than just about any craft. Little Bear has recently kindled an interest in fishing, as well as a tolerance for all day endeavors, so I seized the last vestiges of spring which rush out of the southeastern Bob and charge through the northern remnants of the…
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Counter-less
Shoes of the Crosslite family have been my point of reference for rugged backpacking and hiking for a decade now. The Crosslite, Crossleather, X Country, Anakonda, and Bushido have shared basic tread patterns, excellent rubber, close fit and low stack height, making them the best choice, for my foot, for technical hiking. Most of these…
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An object lesson
A few days ago I came home, and having a long June evening ahead and a late start to work the next day, played with our kids and did a few things in the yard, enough to stop gap responsibility, before stuffing a sleeping bag and Neoair in a small backpack, along with a few…
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Hike your age
Things have been quiet here of late, and the simplest, least important reason for this is that by the standards set by the past 12 years we haven’t been doing much. But as will be explained later, that will slowly change. Getting out with two kids, one one and one nearly four, does not happen…
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The grand IPA shootout
The familiarity of Safeway is comforting, insofar as finding oranges and beer and granola bars in the same place sands down differences east west and south. But difference cannot be completely hidden; produce in Montana is generally expensive and often poor, and last week when I wandered through the store in Spearfish, SD fogged by…
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Bedrock & Paradox 
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