Looking chic on Lolo Peak

Stephen and Jon finally made it out from Seattle and bright and early on Saturday morning we set out to ski Lolo Peak. The 30 minute drive to the trailhead was great, and the trip just got better from there. We had to pack our skis up for a couple hours, but soon hit the fresh snow that fell only days before. The view from the summit was fabulous and after devouring our sandwiches we carved nice big turns (except Stephen the turn farmer) straight down the north face in quintessential spring slush. Ahhh... Sunday was rainy so we hung around town, and Monday rolled around way too quick.

As the days go floating by...

Yesterday Brian graciously took me floating down Rock Creek. After waiting out a passing thunderstorm we set out on the river. Right off the bat we hit the Dalles, with rolling and rushing class 3 rapids, which were plenty exciting but easily handled. Most of all it was the perfect way to get to know the river better and enjoy some good company.

Otherwise the days are floating by pretty quick, with lots of time in the field balanced with many a rushed hour trying to get projects done, get through medical clearance for firefighting, meetings, etc. Missoula is finally getting some much needed rain, as the land is ultra thirsty. In a couple days Stephen & Jon are coming out for a visit, and I am very excited to hang out with some good bros this side of the Columbia.

photo credit: paparazzi bentsen

Stephen finally put up his photos from the ski trip & I highly recommend checking out his pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbentsen/20070506NorthCascadesSkiTours.

This week has been awesome at work with lots of time in the field checking out the different ranger districts, interesting meetings, and getting to know people better. It's been in the 80's everyday, and all the rivers have peaked a month early.

Looking forward to this weekend to get out and about some more. Hopefully explore the Rattlesnake for some mountain biking, and get up Lolo Peak finally.

GPS track and map of ski tour on Silverstar Mtn courtesy of Stephen

Spent Saturday at a “bear aware” event at a forest park near town. It was mostly full of girl scouts and it was great to see them learning how to camp, be safe in bear country, and appreciate wildlife. Sunday I went for an hour long run on Mt Sentinel with about 2500 feet of elevation gain. Every time I do it, it feels better and I get faster. I guess that’s to be expected, but at first the loop was pretty painful. In other news I just booked a trip to Kauai for a couple weeks in early July to backpack and lounge on the beach with Stephen, Mary, and Suzie. Can’t wait…

The spring weather is perfect in Missoula, although it's dry and the landscape needs some more rain. The folks in fire say that how much rain we get over the next 6 weeks will determine how much of a fire season we have out here. Right now there is a lot of prescribed burning going on trying to get rid of all the small burnable stuff while there is still some moisture in the landscape before everything gets real dry before too long.

In other news I just picked up tickets to spend two weeks on Kauai in early July with Stephen, Mary, and Suzie, and can't wait to see that part of the world and do some backpacking with good friends...

Having a gas at Washington Pass

And some of us had more gas than others (you know who you are...)

What do you get when when you mix great people, sunshine, wilderness, and awesome skiing? A peak experience (no pun intended). Definitely one of the key things that I live for... Met up with Stephen, Jeff, and Doug for a super-sweet weekend of ski touring in the North Cascades. On Saturday we did the Birthday Tour and found some great spring conditions, a party in the alpine, peace and quiet, plenty of turns and amazing scenery. We started at the Blue Lake trailhead, below Liberty Bell and ended up at the hairpin on Highway 20 after a full day of touring.

On Sunday I forgot my camera battery in my car, sadly, but the kick-ass day in the backcountry will be forever etched in my cranium (or wherever memories end up). After working our way through some dense forest we ended up below Silverstar Mountain and skinned up to the high country where we found tons of great skiing and more massive views culminating in an exciting singletrack descent through forest and glade to get back to the car, with enough time to chow on brats then make the 6 hour trek back home.

Make sure to check out Jeff's Javasport blog for more pics and prose...

May Days

It's been a fun and fast week. On Tuesday I took a couple of local reporters out to the field so they could do a story about migrant workers that do tree planting in burned-over areas, which was a pleasant way to spend a day. Tomorrow I'm heading out to the North Cascades for some backcountry skiing with friends for the weekend, which will be wonderful, especially since fresh snow has been falling. Yippeeee!