Big Sky - Thanksgiving Day!

On the way there...


There...






On the way home.....from there....

Targhee - November 22, 2009

Great Day at the Ghee!

Top of the hill is fantastic. Lower 1/3 is a little rough....

I Want To Take Your Photo

At some point I would like to run into you EIOP guys somewhere to get some shots...

Most of my trips will up to Targhee, anyone going to be up there this season?

Living in Paradise

Living in Paradise, yes.....I think so. For all the negative things I can think of that come with living here (and there are a few), they pale in comparison to the plus side of great things to be enjoyed in this area.

Not everyone enjoys the great outdoors. Hard to believe, I know. Why that is so, is hard to say. Too cold, too hot, too many bugs.....blah, blah, blah...... you get the picture. Anything worth having is almost always hard to get, it takes perseverance, and to a degree a perverse attitude. This stuff ain't easy. Not many find this kind of fun to actually be, well....fun.

My boss asked me what I did this weekend. I told him that me and one of my boys drove up to Targhee for some snowboarding. "Oh, I didn't know they were open." He says. "They aren't." I inform him. He looks at me and I could see the question forming in his mind. I answered him before he asked. "We hiked up."

I saw the puzzlement in his face. "Why would you do that?" he blurts out. I found no answer that would satisfy him. I mean, how could he understand? If you have to ask, you won't understand, no matter the answer.


Hard? Yes. Sweaty? A bit. Tired? Oh yeah. Satisfaction level? Extremely high.

Have a look.

Weekend - Early November 2009

Woke early Saturday to go cut a load of firewood with my good friend John. Love to do this sort of thing. Trenton came with and ran the chainsaw for us. A load appeared after a couple of hours of good times. Thanks John!



The weather is holding off just a bit, not quite winter, but definitely feeling like late fall. The winds were light, and the skies clear. Just perfect for an afternoon hike close to home.

The dogs were ready to go, aren't they always? I drove a few miles and decided to hike near Kelly Canyon, but someplace where I would have the area to myself. Just before we got to "Little" Kelly Canyon, I pulled off, parked and headed straight up the slopes to the north. Some pretty cool rock formations cover the hillside here. Climbers come to scale cliff faces here, but no one was busy doing that this day, not yet anyway.

I made my way upwards trying to get a view of the setting moon over the Lemhi Range, some 70 to 80 miles distant. I did get to see it for a few minutes before it disappeared into the haze. The views across the Snake River plain were quite stunning, me being above the haze. The mountains rising high, and seeming to float in the sky with bases hidden from view.

It was windy and cold along the ridge line. A hard world with everything bent in the direction of the prevailing winds. A sheepherder monument capped the highpoint, eight feet tall and in silence kept watch on things, near and far.



The dogs live for these outings. Anxious and prone to get ahead of me, but always a look behind to see if I was still following. Good dogs! I can see that all my hiking lately has helped, I felt strong and even the steepest portions were no longer dreaded by my old legs.

We dropped down into Little Kelly Canyon and followed the cow trail down to the pavement, the dogs munching on cow pies and "road apples" .....mmmmm good.

Dang....