montanapalooza 2002

“Tex, your room is ready Darlin' You can't get here soon enough to suit me.

Man, I can't get this swappin' thing out of my mind.”

“Well, Geezr, you know they say there is a first time for everything and I know I have lived a sheltered life in some things...

But Swappin'?? Now that would really be out of character for me!!!”

“Think of me. I'll need all of the EMT training you have.”

“LOL. You two are hilarious. Ha Ha Ha”

“CMB, you should have been here Tuesday night then. We tried real hard. Only we got called off the course due to lightning. We wanted to stay but they wouldn't let us.

It's pretty much like hiking in the rain, isn't it? Only difference is we are carrying a bag of lightning rods.”

“Hey Geezer and Tex whats up with this??????

Hey Chief I know what ya mean you want to go on but a bad ful of lighting rods might be a bad idea!

8D”

“OK, if we all do Sierrapalooza in July, what should we do in August - Hodge - want to guide us through BC? TX, anything you want to show us in Texas? How about trusting Mike to show us something totally pimp? Actually, I would really like to see something east coast, too, maybe Maine or New Brunswick.”

“Hey Pep- I'd kinda like to get 'out east' (further than Montana.... that is) sometime, too. I always wanted to chec out the New England area. I doubt it will be next season, though. Especially if this Sierrapalooza thing gets off the ground.

BTW - Check your mail”

“Tex, Watch out. I was over at Geezr's place yesterday having an Oregon microbrew and Malinda was upstairs. I kept hearing this strange clicking sound. Kind of like a shotgun....

After a while, she came down to join us and Geezr got real nervous....

Chief, that T-storm came up a little while after your post. They activated the emergency alert system on the TV stations and all. Some of the clouds were pretty scary looking, but all we got was some wind and a few drops of rain. Even the lightning (about 10-20 miles away) was pretty wimpy.

Flyin' home today, then I can put together a trip report, upload pics, and check out this Oct. trip (probably doubtful for me, but don't have my calendar here).”

“BTW, I learned all kinds of interesting things about all of you - heh heh heh....”

“yah pepperdog....i have been thinking that it is about time the left coasters should be coming to an ECT thingy!! ..planes fly eastward and there is awesome stuff and trips going on over here too!!! that isle royale, maine, AT, cumberland island, and on and on........expand your horizons...span the planet!”

“Martyb, you'd be nervous too if your wife was armed AND dangerous.

Enjoyed having you and Cameron here and thanks for everything. Hoping we get to see you this fall. Anxious to see the photos.

Remember, everything that was said here, stays here! Right Mike?????

Travel Safe!”

“Morning Om (and everyone else)

You're right about the directions planes fly. I do have the east on my list but there are so many darned things on that list!!

martyb - Anything interesting about me must be the result of Geezr's overactive imagination....”

“Pepper, that's my bladder, not my imagination.”

“Morning Pep & Geezr

I was talking to Islandgirl and le Subtil a bit about that Isle Royale.... It sounds pretty cool”

“I can be trusted!

8)”

“Hodgeman - I'll follow you anywhere - Isle Royale is definately on my list.”

“Mike's not telling the truth. He can not be trusted. He keeps bringing up the meat comment I had to so stupidly blurt out. LOL!”

“Meat, corn & Auto-erotic asphyxiation in Minot . . . I thought we raised you better”

“It was a good try Dad. I'm just a bad apple I guess.”

“Speaking of Apples, I saw this cool apple flavored champagne the other day and it was just dying to be taken along on an exciting TT trip.

Pepperdag, I may have to smuggle a bottle onboard for the Sierra trip. Hmm..how do you pack a bottle so it doesn't break in your gear? Somehow, I don't think it will travel as well as Navi's Tequila did in Montana..lol

Geezr, no worries about the EMT training but you better get scared when I start my Paramedic program next year!! Oh, by the way, I found this cool Wilderness EMT course - it's a transition course for urban EMT;s that want certification in backwoods rescues. Of course, it's on my list for 2003 and get this, it's in WYOMING!!! Now, how cool is that?

Geezr, find me a partner then we can negotiate a bit more about this "swappin" thangy..lol

You know, we could make one of these Montana adventures a hike/bike/raft kinda adventure too...

Hey, we may as well earn every friggin grey hair we can, right gang?

Om shanti Om~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still smiling, folks!!

Tex”

“Tex, they have something like that. It's called Peaks to Prairie. Ask Aero about it.”

“Tex, that course wouldn't be in Lander, would it?”

“Hey Chief, I do believe it is in Lander..is that close to you? The course is in May and it is post definitely on my radar screen.

Have you ever heard of it by any chance??

Info PLEASE!!

Tex”

“Made it back to CA without incident. Have uploaded about half the pics so far, but still need captions, etc. and to upload the rest. Will post a link, maybe later today! Also will do a trip report.”

“and took a peek.

Wow, you live near Lake Chabot? I used to live within walking distance of there and work at Oak Knoll. Great place for bike riding.”

“Hey Naviguesser..... Do I have your correct email addy. Maybe you could send it to me..... hodgeman@telus.net”

“Yeah, Pathman, we're about 20 minutes from Lake Chabot - I've done a fair amount of my longer running workouts there. Be sure to check the Montana photos again later - they're all there now, but most of the titles and captions aren't done yet.”

“Here are my photos from Montanapalooza v. 3.0:

Pre-Hike Activities

Days 1 and 2

Days 3 and 4 and Post-Hike Activities

Trip report to follow before too long....”

“Nice pics, martyb. Takes me back”

“Looks like Cameron was really enjoying himself”

“Thanks, Hodge. The rain most of Day 3 was pretty miserable for Cameron. We stayed warm, but the trail was literally a 3" deep river most of the way. He (and maybe I, too) concluded that hiking in the Sierras is more enjoyable, weather-wise....”

“All that bad-mouthing of Jordan, Montanans as banjo-playing hillbillies was just compensating for my own insecurities. Apparently, when visiting my parents last week, I discovered that the banjo gene was passed to me:

”

“Dang, I thought that would work. Oh, well, just go here.”

“Martyb,

I previously snuck a peek at your trip photos and just now completed going through them following your captioning. Nice job!

However, I won't be able to sleep tonight wondering WHY the tent had been abandoned at Bald Knob. What was the movie out a while back where the three kids went out camping/videoing never to be seen again . . . The Blair Witch Project?????????”

“Hey Geezr,

Our first thought was that somebody was camping there, went for a day hike, got hurt or killed, and never returned. But we figured if someone was missing, we'd have heard something, either before or after. Plus, there was no other gear there at all. I think our final guess was that the person's tent failed in some way or the person got sick and figured they could afford to lose the tent instead of hauling it back out.

Still planning to write a somewhat detailed trip report....”

“Marty- Those were a great bunch of pics! I liked the ones of Cameron looking for Crazy Mike's water bottle. it's nice you didn't have many bugs, but it sounds like you got a trade off for more rain. That tent is spooky!

We just got back from 4 days of our running camp up at Cooke City. I had the XC team up there and we did a few long runs at 9-10,000'. Stopped at the Cooke City Sinclair for a picture. It's starting to get a little colder up there now.”

“Cameron looks like quite the trooper. I loved looking at the pictures of the familiar trail.”

“Aero, me, the wife, youngest daughter, and my in-laws drove up to Cooke City for lunch yesterday. We drove by your cabin, but you must have already left.

Don't worry, MOST of your stuff is still there!!!!”

“I hid the beer!”

“Not well enough!!!!”

“We've had more bears (Black) running around there this summer! The F&W folks said it's because the crop of white bark pine nuts is really low this year and the bears are coming down lower looking for food. We had one under the deck 2 nights ago. The kids sleeping out there got a BIG charge out of that!”

“Hey Aero - those XC retreats can be a lot of fun! It's excruciating not being able to run this season - my teammates are doing really well and looking forward to the USATF nationals in December.

Re: bears, I saw on the Sinclair web site that there was a bear right in town just 2 nights after we left. We were amazed that there were so many berries on the ER Lake side of the divide, but no bears.”

“Marty, that banjo pic. is sooo cute. Very funny too.”

“I noticed in the Billings paper that there is a 1450 sq ft cabin for sale on East Rosebud Lake. Any takers?

Pepperdog, I drove into those lots I was considering in the Crandall area, the ones that the lady from Davis, CA owns. She says that she is definitely NOT interested in selling any. They are assessed at ~$35,000 each for 1/2 acre (7 lots). She said her parents bought them way back when for a few hundred an acre. Not too bad an investment huh?”

“Chief how much they askin??”

“chief - I always wonder about people who hold onto land like that. The cabin at East Rosebud Lake sounds sweet!”

“You'll learn, later today, when I post my full trip report, that some folks we met on the trail invited us in for a drink at their cabin as we finished the hike - about the third or fourth one you encounter when hiking down. It was SWEEEEEEET!!!!”

“Thursday, August 22, 2002
We were delayed getting to Billings because of some thunderstorms in Denver. It was kind of amusing listening to the pilot-air traffic controller chatter on the headphones: "United 1082, the Denver airport is now closed. We're going to have you circle for a while." "Oh, the new all-weather airport is closed?" "That's right, sir, stand by for a bearing..." The fun part was that we circled above Rocky Mountain National Park, so got to look straight down to some very cool wilderness areas.

Friday, August 23, 2002
We went through a productive gear sort in the morning, and I went to get a fishing license and some fuel. After lunch it was over to Geezr's house for a beer, some last minute tips, a TOPO! demo, and, of course, all kinds of juicy gossip about TTers! Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, so didn't get any photos of his yard. All those mentions of "yard work" apparently paid off - it's a REALLY nice one.

Saturday, August 24, 2002
We awoke at 6 AM to a pretty good thunderstorm in Billings, so we didn't rush too much to get out on the road. We headed out around 7:30, stopped briefly for a photo op at the Grizzly Bar in Roscoe, then bounced our way to the trailhead at East Rosebud Lake. We chatted with a few backpackers who were heading out UP the trail, then it was back through Red Lodge for an early lunch at Bogart's. The weather was pretty nice for the drive up the Beartooth Highway, and we stopped at the Overlook, as well as a couple other spots, like to take a pic of the Bear's Tooth, etc. We were getting close to Cooke City at about 2, so we stopped off at the trailhead just to check it out. The first thing we noticed was that there were NO mosquitos. That's right, none! After a while, we zipped into Cooke City and checked into the Cooke City Sinclair Cabin No. 2. I mentioned that Aero had recommended the place, so the guy immediately raised the price by 20% and mumbled something about that "no good @#$$(! ..." Had prime rib at the Beartooth Cafe along with a couple of Glacier Ales that I hoped would put me to sleep before my parents' snoring began. Didn't work, but the snoring wasn't too bad.”

“Day 1 - Cooke City to Bald Knob Lake

Up at 6 and over to the Beartooth Cafe right when they opened at 6:30. We had a big breakfast, then went back to the cabin to load our stuff into the car. A quick ride to the trailhead and a leisurely pack-up, and we hit the trail by 8:40.

Again, the most noticeable characteristic of the hike was the almost eerie lack of bugs. No complaints, of course. We took a break here and there, including one at Kersey Lake. Not long after, just before the first real hill and just before the spur trail to Fox Lake, we had our lunch of cold pizza (my favorite Day 1 backpacking lunch!). Dad took a nap and Cameron relaxed a bit on his sleeping pad, then it was up the trail. We encountered two of the eight or so people we saw during our 4-day trek, Theresa and Pat, and had a nice chat with them - they were doing pretty much the same hike as ours, although they always camped at different lakes than we did. The uphills weren't too taxing, and we reached Russell Lake by about 2:30. Another decent break at the inlet bridge, then it was on to Ouzel and Bald Knob. Dad tended to hike ahead a bit, and we used our FRS radios to keep each other abreast of our progress. He got to Ouzel first and fished for a few minutes. After Cameron and I arrived, Cameron went to watch Dad fish, and I continued on around the corner to Bald Knob Lake and our Night 1 campsite.

We settled on a nice flat grassy area just south of the lake, then wandered a bit. We found an abandoned tent that worried us a bit at first. But the complete lack of other gear made us conclude that someone must have deliberately left it there, perhaps to hike out after getting sick or something. We made dinner, swatted about 4 mosquitos, then headed off to bed. Cameron and I played cards 'till about 9:30, then collapsed into our tent.”