Elves Decorate Bigfork Village, MT for the Holidays

It was holiday decorating day for the Bigfork Elves on Saturday, November 22th. The only thing more important that day was the Griz-Cats game in Missoula! But thanks to the dedicated Flight Leaders, we finished in plenty of time to catch the game. This annual event is as looked forward to as the "support cart" with it's warm beverages! Decorating the village is part of what makes Bigfork a wonderful place to live all year long!

Father/Daughter Motorcycle Tour

A few weeks ago my 16 year old daughter and I, along with some friends, took a short weekend trip into Canada. We took as many dirt roads as we could and basically circumnavigated Glacier and Waterton Parks. It was extremely hot, but we had a great time, especially when we gained enough elevation to get relief from the heat!

September in Montana

Here are a few photos from last weekend. My wife, Amy, and I did a short trip to Polebridge on motorcycles. The baked goodies from the Polebridge Mercantile made the entire effort worthwhile, even without the spectacular scenery. We headed out north of Polebridge in search of the Ninko Cabin - this is a FS cabin that can be rented in Winter and we wanted to check it out as a possible destination once the snow flies... We were surprised to find it unlocked and enjoyed hanging out for a while.

Glacier Park - Locals Only!

I bet you thought Glacier Park was open to the public... Well it is, but there are certain things that are available for locals that the park doesn't necessarily advertise too loudly.

Of course it's nice to be able to access the park in less than an hour when you 13 year old son says "I'm Bored..." on a Saturday morning! We took a motorcycle ride through the park as far as the Many Glacier Hotel. Traveling with a kid requires waaay more stops for burning off energy!

Then there is boating... Several of the lakes within Glacier Park are open to recreational boating. Yesterday we spent most of the day on Lake McDonald. Spectacular!

A Day in Glacier Park

A day in Glacier Park with Tom Ulrich...Wow! More to come.

Clear Trails - Part Two

More fun and work was shared by good friends on the Peterson Creek and Quintonkin Trails in the Swan Range yesterday. We had previously cleared Peterson Creek trail a few weeks ago but were stopped by snow once past the top of the ridge - so the riding was dusty but fun for the first few miles. The scenery is just jaw dropping from the trail looking out across the Flathead Valley - Swan, Flathead and Echo lakes are all visible...

Once we started down the Quintonkin Trail we quickly ran into exactly the same scene that's been repeated hundreds of times this year - downed trees across the trail! Some of these were so big one of the guys named them "Boone & Crockett" trees for their "Record" size. Naturally, we're limited to a fairly small chain saw and on more than one occasion it took multiple cuts to get through the debris. Darkness was rapidly approaching and we were forced to get out of the woods, while allowing a good safety margin of daylight, without completing the Quintonkin trail.

Enjoy the trails!

100 Miles of Trail Clearing

Let's face it, we all like to enjoy the great outdoors on a clear crisp summer day. The last thing you really want to do is hard manual labor when you're trying to enjoy a day in the backcountry. But each year 100's of miles of trails here in Northwest Montana must be cleared and maintained in order for everyone to enjoy, and importantly to reduce user impact from folks going off trail to get around fallen trees.

A group of off-road motorcyclists I ride with clear literally 100's of miles of trails each summer. It's hard work but richly rewarding to be able to contribute to the community in this way. This past Sunday six of us cleared more than 50 miles of trails on the Swan Range of the Flathead National Forest. We worked hard but enjoyed the quiet escape of the backcountry, tremendous scenery as well as a challenging ride. There are miles and miles yet to clear, but nearly all the trails in the Swan Range north of Strawberry Lake are clear and ready for hikers, horsemen, bikers and motorcyclists to enjoy!