Last week I went on my last planned backpacking trip of the year, with the University of Montana’s Wilderness Institute. I was super-excited about this trip, because we were hiking the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness, including a stretch on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT.) The AP Wilderness is absolutely gorgeous, gigantic, and normally empty of people….
Category: Wilderness
Clearing Blodgett Canyon Trail with the Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Whew! What a fabulous but exhausting trip. Blodgett Canyon is probably the iconic trail of the Bitterroot Mountains. Stunning canyon walls, two waterfalls, and a long, gradual ascent to a beautiful lake at the end, twelve miles away. Working with the Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation is always a pleasure, too. It’s great to see the…
A wild trek for the last wild shots
Last Saturday, Seb and I hiked up to the Fisher research site we’ve been caring for to dismantle it and bring back all the equipment. It was pleasantly warm–the mid-50s F–but rainy, so we were in rain pants and jackets most of the way. There was still quite a bit of snow on the…
Watching the Wild
This week I was lucky enough to go on not just one Wolverine Watcher’s hiking trips, but two! First, I went with my assigned group to check on the Fisher research camera up Blodgett Canyon. It was a beautiful bluebird day, a little chilly to start, but bright and sunny. We reached the site fairly…
Snowmeggdon 2019 Continues
And still more snow! But you know what Montanans do with snow? We play! So, behold, here is the cross country ski track I created around our property. It’s a third of a mile long, with just enough up and down to make it fun and a great workout. The only bad part? I usually…
Digging The Root
Digging out, in more ways than one. It’s been an interesting week + since my last post. First, THANK YOU to everyone who bought Lightwave: Lost, Folding Space Series 4.0. I reached my highest Amazon author ranking yet at #854/7000 in the Science Fiction category. While this isn’t best-seller territory by any means, I’m thrilled and…
Putting the Wild in Wilderness Research
On an unusually warm and beautiful (if windy) Bitterroot morning, I hiked up Blodgett Canyon trail with wildlife biologist Rebecca Mowry (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks) and three fellow volunteers to maintain a fisher research site. This is a joint project between Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Defenders of Wildlife. Volunteers from local…
Where in the World is AM now?
Believe it or not, Las Vegas. Anyone who knows me also knows Vegas is not my kind of place. Loud, smoky, too many people, too much crime, etc. But there was a book marketing conference, so off we went. Yes, the Amazing Sleeping Man went too, which is even more surprising than me going there….
Hiking Chaffin Butte
We usually hike the Bitterroot Mountains. With fall bringing cooler temperatures, we can hike the Sapphire Mountains across the valley and enjoy seeing them in all their glory. Chaffin Butte is very short but steep and strenuous. The trail is rocky and doesn’t have nearly enough switchbacks; my hiking poles came in very handy on the…