montanapalooza 2002

“Geezr, either is fine w/ me. If a breakfast is better for your wife, I can do that too. Now we just need to see about Aero.”

“On Tuesday it was in the mid 80s and this morning it's snowing. Doesn't Ma Nature know it's my birthday?

If this keeps up we'll need snowshoes to get from Cooke to Alpine.”

“Geezr, I was thinking the same thing this morning. I noticed as I left school last night and was driving over the Rims that it was stormin' hard on the mtns. Get ready TTers, Montana has a funny way of showing she cares.”

“Newgirl,
Are you up here in the Heights?

Did you have anymore luck with Matryb's maps? I believe he listed them in proper sequence and he highlighted the trail. Are you familiar with topo maps, contour lines, etc?”

“Geezr, north of the Heights . . . about 50 miles. I didn't have more luck w/ the maps. I'm not familiar w/ reading topos at all. You and Aero can teach me at breakfast.”

“Happy birthday Geezr...

Areo, are permtis needed for the area. If so what is the situation for permits. Could a person walk up and pull one the day before?”

“Hey newgirl,

Topo maps are easy to understand once someone shows you the basics, but until someone does, they can be very confusing. Have geezr and aero show you, and you'll be a whiz in no time. In the meantime, check out these USGS sites about what they are and how to read them:

Try this first.
Then this one.
And finally this one.

(Hopefully I coded the links right....)

Good luck!!”

“Oops, forgot to say Happy Birthday, geezr! How much of a geezr are you??”

“Thanks WLD & Martyb. $.54 worth, though I must admit it felt like more when I woke up to snow this morning. :-) Mighty depressing! My b-day present and the apple fritter my wife piked up for me on here way home from work helped to cheer me up though.”

“Martyb, thanks, but I think I'm more intimidated now, then I was before. Scary.

Happy B-day Geezy-Geezr.”

“newgirl,
like marty said, it's really not as complicated as it appears. We'll go over it with you at breakfast. Any questions until then?”

“Wld,
Are you coming out for this shindig?”

“I'm sure I will have thousands. Have you read all my ridiculous questions, as Gojo refers to me, New-scence-girl. LOL!”

“Here goes:
Trails are dashed
Water is blue
Forested areas are green
Countour lines are far apart where it's flat
Contour lines are close together where it's steep

That looks like sort of a reverse Haiku or something....”

“So, would that be a ukiaH?”

“New-scence-girl,
Don't let all those "close" squigley lines scare you. :-)

How do you spell squigley anyway?”

“Well, I got some of that stuff pretty easily, but . . . oh hell, I ain't worried. I'll figure it out soon enough. I'm a pretty smart chicky!”

“I remember now . . . squiggly!

Maybe I'm older than I thought.”

“Geezr, ask Ice Tea. He's a darn good speller.”

“Happy Birthday geezr! You'd think we'd be over the snow by your birthday in may, but nooooo! I think they'd planned on opening the pass, but I heard it was still snowed in. May be open by Monday.

I'm still up in the air about getting together with you guys on the 2nd. I might still be out of town. Does a 5:00 beer work for anyone? I can do that about any day of the week.

Hey, cool! Haiku backwards is Ukiah! Maybe Ukiah, CA is the reverse haiku capital of the world..”

“Spillin's only haff da problin, tybin's da utter”

“Doesn't really work well for me Aero. Class! Damn, why did I take summer session.”

“Thanks Aero,
Isn't San Francisco the reverse capital of the world?

A 5:00 beer works for me, though I usually don't dring before noon!

Honest”

“That's drink, not dring.

Am I soused already?”

“Well, I'll keep you posted. I still might make it. BTW, I don't think Stella's is open Sundays. Pug's might be the best option.”

“Newgirl,
Why are you taking classes? Trying to get better than the rest of us?
White Trailer Trash isn't good enough for you now that you can read a topo? ”

“If you all go there, can I experience one of their pork chop sandwiches vicariously through you? Mmmmmmm.....”

“Geezr, I'm hoping to get my degree sometime this century, so . . . Also, I actually have a 4.0 right now, I thought I might not want to interupt the momentum, maybe the ba$tards will give me the dough to go, instead of me paying them.”

“...or Butte pasties! Martyb, have you been to Pug's???”

“Martyb, they have a breakfast/brunch thing on Sundays. It is sooooo goooood. Yummy City.”

“Aero, shame on you, it is only appropriate to eat Butte pasties in Butte at Joe's Pastie Shop. What is wrong w/ you? Aren't you from Montana?”

“Oh yeah, man! Bring on that pork chop sandwich! I went there in November, when in town following my mom's back surgery. It snowed while I was in Billings, but then again, it's supposed to snow in November, for Pete's sake!”

“Aero,
I told you she'd get uppity once she got the book learnin'”

“Aero, Geezr, Martyb, have you guys ever been to Butte for St. Patty's? Yeeeha!

Uppity with the book learnin'. You crack me up.”

“The Patty I know was NEVER a St.

YeeHa”

“Where did WLD go?

Is he coming out Aero?”

“Pretty smarta$$y, ain't ya' Geezr.”

“LOL! I'm just trying to push this thing over a 1,000.”

“Is there a prize for being post #1,000???”

“Don't think I've ever been to Butte - have several relatives from there, though. Just tried to find a scan of a great old old color family photo taken there, but no luck. I've always tried to stay close to the booming metropolises like Billings.”

“I'm not sure. Maaaaatt, do I get a prize if I'm post 1,000?”

“Marty, I lived there a couple yrs. ago. It is where Newergirl's dad is from. I'm very close w/ his family, so we go up to visit about once a month. Butte has its downfalls, but it has some great history and the partying is real good.”

“Martyb,
A friend of ours was out in '96 and as part of their vacation she took in Butte. On arriving home she was telling all her friends about the trip to Montana, which included "BUTT." When she finished one of her friends asked, isn't that "BUTTE" and not "BUTT."
She replied, I've been there, trust me it's "BUTT."

Before everyone from Butte replies, JUST KIDDING!”

“A 1000 is in our future newgirl!”

“Oh, Geezr, you are soooo mean. I have to say the environmental destruction is a little hard to ignore.”

“Martyb,
What topo program do you have on your computer? Does it seem to have most of the Beartooth trails and does it give you trail distance and an elevation profile?”

“What prize?”

“Come on NG! Nows yer chance!”

“I'm not sure. I hope I get one though. I hope I'm a 1,000.”

“Is it me? Did I do it?”