X-mas Strollin!

Once again, it was time for the annual Main Street Christmas Stroll in Bozeman. It was full of

Alpacas, turkey legs, lights, and spiked egg nog.

Look, a walking sweater.

The overflow seating was by the sink.

This is Irving.

This is a refrigerator.

Warning: Content may be unsuitable for people who only obtain food from the store

I accompanied a couple of friends on a bambi extermination this past weekend. I have never hunted before, so I thought it would be an enlightening experience. Instead of opting to be a trigger man, I chose to loosely document the event with my camera. We got an early start and spotted a buck within the first hour of hiking. We split in to two groups to try and better the odds of flushing the deer into each other's line of sight. My friend Aaron and I tracked a small herd for a few hours, only to find out later that our compadre Shawn had already taken down the buck we were searching for. Unfortunately, we did not know this until we had already hiked down the mountain. He saw us in the valley below and signaled that he had made a kill. We then trudged back up the path we had taken a few hours before to help haul the deer out. The good part about this whole thing is that the deer is going to be processed and consumed over the next few months. So rest easy; we just went shopping for food, but in a much cooler store.

This is Cutler Lake. Off on the horizon is Yellowstone Park.

That's my hunting face. Extreme.

This is Earl. Sorry Earl.

Note: Molly was glad she was not able to be in attendance.

So much white stuff

It snowed almost two feet this past Thursday, which means the ski resort

might open early. Please send money for lift tickets. Thankyou.

Quit Looking at Me

The Walk to School

B-day's and All Hallow's Eve

Last week my lovely wife celebrated another wonderful birthday in Montana. If everyone sets their calculator to degree mode, then you can calculate Molly's new age. It is 38.82cos37. We went out for dinner and drinks on Friday, and then attended a "wedding" on Halloween night. Two friends of ours were married in early October and we were unable to attend, so we threw them a wedding party last Saturday. I was a wedding present, Molly was a less than admirable brides maid and the groom was a bride. Enjoy

The gift was brutally attacked and left on the floor to be unwrapped

Autumn has Returned

The winter weather has momentarily left Bozeman, leaving a few days of Autumn to be enjoyed. We all know what that means: more mountain biking! It was back into the 70's this past weekend, so I headed further west to the Beaverhead/Deerlodge National forest where the snow had already melted.

Last Ride of the Fall

Last week it was in the 80's and we had a forest fire. Now it's in the 40's and snow is falling.

School Starts, Brain Plays Catch Up

I'll spare all of you the boring details, but this semester has me backed up against the ropes and is continuously hitting me below the belt. It's not all calculus and physics though; I was able to join a small research group that has a team of us hiking a different peak each Sunday for the next 5 weeks. Last week I went up Sacagawea Peak in the Bridgers and this coming Sunday we're headed to the Spanish Peaks south of Bozeman. We're taking pics of geologic features and marking their locations in order to build an informational website for hikers. Now everyone that hikes one of these trails will actually know what they're walking on and through. That is all---back to the books for now...............................

Labor Day Weekend on the Yellowstone River

Sacagawea Peak

Folded and Tilted Sed Beds of Hardscrabble Peak


Gallatin Valley Looking to the Southwest



Mountain Goat at top of Sacagawea

Moonlight at Cabin

Sunrise in Paradise Valley

Fossil near top of Sacagawea

Soil Profile East of Bozeman

24 Hours of Grand Targhee

The 24 Hours of Grand Targhee is a sadistic mountain bike race that tests the stamina and sanity of anyone willing to take part. The race took place at Grand Targhee Resort which is situated on the West flank of the Tetons, near Alta, Wyoming. The race started at 12:oo pm this past Saturday and ended at 12:00 pm the following Sunday. The object of the race was to complete as many laps as possible in the time allowed. Teams ranged in size from 1 to 6 people, with all males, all females, and coed. Our team consisted of four guys: Orlando, the seasoned veteran; Matt, the experienced road biker/racer; Tripp, the singletrack afficianado; and me, the ex-downhill racer whose longest race ever was 4 minutes and 30 seconds.
The course was 8.2 miles long with a total elevation gain of approximately 850 ft. The track was a mix of gravel/dirt roads and lots of singletrack trail. The first lap went well for everyone except me. My chain broke which in turn aided in the obliteration of my front derailleur. I fixed the chain and was able to complete my lap, but I delayed us by at least 20 minutes. The rest of the race went smoothly with everyone keeping fairly consistent times. Our best lap was 42 minutes and our worst (my worst) was 1 hr 14 minutes. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to keep pedaling all through the night. The best part of the race was that I got to do two of the things I love most: biking and eating. You would ride a lap, then eat a bunch of food, rest and repeat. I ate pasta, candy bars, chocolate milk, strawberry/banana gu, pumpkin bread chocolate chip cookies and lots of water and gatorade. And, I weighed less this morning than when I did last Friday. This is the new ultimate diet craze. Everybody needs to go ride a bike for 24 hours, eat whatever they want, and then sleep for 12 more hours. Anyway, we completed 27 laps which was about 222 miles. I only had to ride 6 laps while everyone else rode 7. Tripp completed his last lap 3 minutes past the cutoff, sparing me from further punishment. Enjoy the pics and go out and do a 24 hour race!