montanapalooza 2002

“Its a must see!

8)”

“Man, what a thread!”

“Whew. Four days, a Grizzly Bar double cheeseburger and large glass of Glacier Ale later, we have safely returned. Full trip report to be submitted this weekend, but a few key points:

- Zero bugs. No, really, I'm not kidding. Well, exaggerating a bit, but we used our head nets for about 5 minutes and repellent only once.

- One lightning storm. Cameron got scared. I got scared. Dad got scared. Even the wilderness ranger (Lauren's boyfriend, BTW - sorry guys) got scared.

- Two fish. Caught two pan-sized (with heads and tails cut off!) cuts and ate them. Yum!

- One shredded thumb nail. That's what I get for teasing newgirl about nail maintenance.

- One full day of rain (Day 3, Tuesday). My comment was: "When you look up the phrase, 'It sucks,' in the dictionary, it has a picture of this."

- About 130 pics, to be uploaded sometime this weekend. Almost none were from Day 3 of some of the best sights because of the rain.

- Several years off my life, freaking out along some of those cliffs worrying about a 7-year-old's ability to have good balance IN THE RAIN!!!

- 20 bucks earned. My fee for carrying my dad's boat anchor, I mean sleeping bag the last 4 miles of the trail after it fell off while he hiked on ahead of us. He didn't even realize it was missing until I told him when we met up at the trailhead. More later....

I could go on, but it's late and I'm dead tired. Plus, I want to help get the thread to 3000.

PS: I'll have some specific responses (!) to comments posted above when I get around to it.”

“Only one lightning storm? No bugs? Are you sure we were in the same place?

You must be wrong about Laurel's boyfriend. I have it on good authority that she has pledged herself to gojo (or was it gizmo?).

Sounds like you had a great trip! Isn't it a special place?”

“Glad you had a good time! Now you can start planning for the Sierrapalooza 2003. Also check the TT Sierra Trip.

You might want to load your pics somewhere other than Webshots. They're pulling a Photopoint on us.”

“good news of your trip and that you all made it thru safe and sound!
i just bet the experience of the balancing walk thru the "cliffs" in the rain and the lightening storms will be a stories told by Cameron to HIS children.......(not to mention his school chums) :)
so.....did you find my earring...LOL just kidding....
look forward to your pics.....can't seem to get enuff of that place....”

“Sounds like a great trip, Marty! You're right about the bugs- they were gone by the time we were back in Cooke City last week. You probably had some chilly nights up there because it was in the 20's at our place. Lightning is fun at 10,000' huh?
Are you sure your dad didn't drop his bag on purpose hoping you'd pick it up and carry it out?

Saw your pics at the Sinclair station! I have a big gropu going up this weekend and we'll stop by for a picture maybe Saturday morning.”

“Welcome home gang. Can't wait to hear all about it.

Smart man that Charlie.

Not quite as smart, Martyb.

Congrats Cameron. YOU'RE THE MAN!”

“Just thought I would contribute to the thread that won't die.”

“Lookin' forward to the pics, Martyb”

“Maybe he dropped the bag on purpose in order to get some new gear for the next trip.

Glad you guys got to enjoy the scenic Beartooth Wilderness.

Don't tell anybody else about it, please.”

“The Beartooths, oh ya, aren't they in Kansas? Or was that Nebraska?”

“Heh heh,

Thanks for all of your "clever" comments above, esp. re: the sleeping bag. Om, sorry, no earring - most of the area I thought we would look was literally underwater. Nothin' like hiking in a freakin' river all day!!!! CMB, we looked for your nalgene bottle but no luck. However, I did get a pic you will appreciate in that regard. Also, got a pic near Fossil of some dog prints in the mud - Sarabelle's maybe??

One other quick point - funny how the locals think of that trail as being "crowded," when we saw a total of 8 other backpackers, including Lauren's boyfriend, the ranger. In CA, we call that "deserted."

What's the problem with Webshots, SN? (Haven't had the time to check it out yet myself....)”

“Martyb, they want to charge $1.66/mo. for what they're currently offering . . . well actually for that and a few other bennies. Sounds reasonable to be, but just wonder what the future will bring. I sure like their service though.

Give me a call when you get a chance. The chimney sweep will be here at 9:30 but shouldn't take more than a half hour. Any time after that.”

“I paid for one account last night. Its $1.66 if you pay for 2 yrs. I will try to transfer stuff over when time allows (yeah, right!)

That means Montanapalooza pics will be in 4 albums instead of 8. I'll be able to put 60 photos in a album instead of only 36. That will screw up all my thumbnails, so til we fix it, just go to the Webshots buttons. Will try to get this problem fixed in the next few months. Will probably end up getting one more account before we get this fixed.”

“See Martyb! What did I tell you. A little nail clipper could come in very handy.”

“Snow Nymph, well, I'm $39.84 poorer, but I'm hoping it will be money well spent.

Oh, and the chimney sweep was $80.00. Darn good think I'm working Labor Day. :-(”

“Ain't this trip over yet???”

“It will never end Geo. Ever.”

“Geobeet, reading through this thread will give you something to do while you're in your cast. ;-)”

“He is already jealous enough, Geezr, give the guy a break.”

“Really, one day I was picking spruce needles off my neck and prancing on rocks and the next getting x-rayed and fitted with crutches.”

“In light of your recent experience, you might want to re-think the "prancing" part, there, Geo old buddy....”

“The prancing part is okay, just not on wet Homewood sandstone is all. I do not recommend it atall!

Now how the he11 can sandstone get slippery is what I want to know! Sand stone. Should give good traction you'd think.”

“Was it slimy? All them pores are probably good for holding all kinds of little slippery beasties...”

“I think they were covered with lichens. I just didn't give it much thought at the time. I have given it a lot of thought since. Broken bones will do that.”

“Geobeet, perhaps it wasn't the sandstone that was slipery. Prancing can be dangerous for a man of your age and dexterity, or lack of it.”

“My prancing's fine in dry weather. Speak for yerself!”

“So why are you called Geobeet rather than Geofeet?”

“I've gotten the Montanapalooza thread off topic. Finally!”

“Yup, only 20 posts to go until 3000. Not bad for less than a year.”

“wow! 3000 da!”

“Yeah, but you gotta subract the off topic ones about my leg!”

“most all are off topic?!”

“Ya'll need any help here? BTW, see any poodle while you were up there?”

“Martyb, I do believe you got out just in time. There is one heIIuva thunderstorm moving through right now. You would definitely be getting some rain and lightning.

Exciting stuff man. Only it's really fukcing up my afternoon golf.”

“Hey martyb, sounds like your trip was a blast. I know mine sure was. I would do that hike again in a heartbeat (sans the buggies) and never look back.

I can not wait until next year! We need to do the beartooths again, this time I say we go for a good 7 days..maybe make it so folks can leave or join to fit their schedules.

Montana is sure gooooood country!!

Hey Geez, how's my room shaping up? I figure you can rent it out to me while I'm job hunting as a paramedic in 2004..LOL

her, it's gooood to have dreams!!!”

“I could just see Chief out there playing golf in the rain that would look cool!

8D”

“A 7 day trip would rock!

8D”

“so...um....how many more to 3000?”

“Who knows!

8)”

“9”

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“I got the 3000!!!!!

Ya I know I cheated!

8)”