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Friday, April 28, 2017

Smith River Bachelor Party

You put 11 guys together for 5 days and four nights of floating, fishing and general shenanigans and you are guaranteed a trip of a lifetime. My buddy Ben R is tying the knot! Launch day provided us with a short lived blizzard but a whole day of rain. Needless to say camping night one got a little muddy. Within a minute of pushing off from the launch, I caught the first fish of the trip! I wasnt really even fishing yet, I was still paying out line and I dont think my floating line was even beyond the last eye of my fly rod! Boom! We had decent weather the rest of the trip and caught fish everyday but the last. I have never done this float before but now I know why everybody puts in for the permits year after year. Pretty special way for a bunch of old friends and new friends to spend a few days.

Fish numero uno


Caaaaampin in the mud


Somehow, nobody got hooked in the lip.
The miles and miles of cliffs make this float somewhat committing. There are very few places to get out and cell service nowhere.
Cutbow
Browny

Sunset Cliff
It got up to 80* one day.

Theres an awesome riverside float-in cave. I caught a couple while we were loitering here.
Heaven on Earth is this guy's bar/wedding venue, par 3 golf course/horseshoe pits/Deep Creek cocktails...


Hiked up to Pictograph Cave.






Rainbow

Saturday, April 22, 2017

One of my favorite snowboard descents of all time

I recently returned from Coachella and I brought a bad experience and bad attitude home. This was my 3rd consecutive year attending but this was the first time I had a negative experience over all. One way for a guy like me to wipe-the-slate clean is rigorous exercise, to sweat it out. I despise 'going to the gym' or 'training' and havnt for almost 10 years because anything you can find indoors, you can find outdoors. Anything you need to find anyway. It just might require a little extra creativity to find it and god forbid you have to wear a warm jacket and nobody sees you doing it. Therefore, I loaded up the gypsy wagon with my ski gear and my dog and took off for a solo weekend in one of MTs greatest road accessed areas; East Rosebud. I have spent many a night there and hope I have many more. There is a well known ski called the Chamonix couloir that is supposedly an epic descent and I had to check it out for myself. Luckily, I got a relatively late start to the day because the two guys that started an hour and a half before me put in a real nice boot pack up to the point that I caught them (about half way up). All three of us then swapped leads to break trail. Over 50% of the entire climb was post holing. Not just walking through waist deep snow but laying your ski poles on top of the snow, leaning forward on your hands and poles and crawling on your shins because the snow was too deep and powdery to get any purchase. We left a tunnel in the snow, not so much foot prints. The TH is at 6,200' and the top is 11,000'. Over 4,000' of that was incredible winter conditions powder skiing (when I say ski I really mean snowboarding). It took me 5 hours to reach the top and an hour to get back to the truck. Thats one of the big reasons I love ski mountaineering; the return trip takes a tiny fraction of the ascent time. I got back to the gypsy wagon in time to open a bottle of Bordeaux and wet a fly line. The brookies are biting. If there is one way to get your sweat on, go climb some snow in the Beartooths. Lord knows I got the attitude adjustment I was seeking!


I have one attempt on the famous California Ice. Ill get it some day.
The ice flow was in much fatter conditions than a ear ago January when Devin and I tried to climb it.
A couloir is like a gully that splits a rocky peak or cliff.

The previous days storm loaded the couloir full of soft cold snow. Here I am in one of the easy-to-hike sections. The early birds are up in the constriction.





So here is a good pic of how deep the snow was. So deep and cold that there isnt really even a trail behind the leader.
Man was I ready to get to this high point.

Probably the worst name for a beer ever, but probably one of the best beers ever. No there is no THC in it.
Guys with beards always have the most fun on powder days.
What does paradise look like?
Found a really nice knife in the river while I was fishing.
Beach bummin

Three other reasons why I venture here.