One thing I love about summer is the early sunrises. I tend to wake up whenever sunlight starts streaming through my window, so in the summer I tend to wake up early. The older I get, the more I enjoy waking up early. The other day, I woke up at 5:45 am. Wide awake. No … Continue reading Mornings
There's a running joke amongst my friends. I buy campers, sit on them for a bit, then sell them again without even using them once. The last three were like that. I don't think the Ram van was my fault, though. The first time I loaded it up to go camping, it wouldn't start. At … Continue reading Sanford Park Campground, and a little camper history
My buddy Steve mentioned that he was going to run down to the Hardy Creek Bridge area of the canyon to shoot the ice blocks on the Missouri. The weather was perfect, so I headed over there with him. I've driven through this canyon that runs between Great Falls and Helena a million times, and … Continue reading Wolf Creek Canyon Ice
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I didn't explore as much as I'd have liked when I was a kid living in Central Montana. Now that I'm back, I'm having a blast exploring all the little reservoirs along the Rocky Mountain Front. Dad and I fished Holter Lake for the most part, but never … Continue reading Eureka Reservoir
When I was a kid, my sister and I would take the Greyhound bus between Missoula and Great Falls. We started out sitting in the front seat so the bus driver could keep an eye on us, but as we got older, we moved further and further back in the bus. On one trip, there … Continue reading Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild
When I was in high school, I would drive out along Giant Springs Road and park by the railroad bridge. There was usually something interesting down the hill by the water--a shopping cart, a bike, etc. I don't remember there ever being trailheads, though. It's entirely possible they were there, but my teenage self was … Continue reading South Shore Trail
Mom and I had a mission to visit every brewery in the Missoula area. Yeah, I know--it's not as lofty a goal as visiting every brewery in Portland, but it was a goal. It's important to have goals. We're going to need new goals now. Conflux was the last on the list, and it didn't … Continue reading Conflux Brewing
For the past 20 years, I've been suffering through Portland "winters". Basically 6-9 months of solid gray skies and rain. When we did get a day or two of snow in the metro area, the whole city would shut down. Now that I'm back in Montana, I love every single damn snowflake. I woke up … Continue reading Winter
The Missoula area is full of good food and beer. Lolo Peak Brewery is about 7 miles southwest of Missoula in Lolo. It's worth the quick drive to try the food and beer. Mom and I were visiting friends in Lolo, so we decided to grab lunch at the brewery. She ordered the wheat, and … Continue reading Lolo Peak Brewery
Google Maps has made a huge difference in how I pick places to photograph. In the 22 years I lived in Montana as a kid, I never knew Benton Lake Wildlife Refuge existed. Maybe it didn't back then, I'm not sure. But since I moved back, I've been scouring the satellite view of Google Maps … Continue reading Benton Lake Wildlife Refuge
