Monday, July 30, 2007

Griz in Griz Country






It was quite a happy occasion last Tuesday, as an old friend of mine from college, Griz, and his girlfriend Jessi came up to Big Sky Country for a visit. They drove up from Denver, spending a few days in Teton National Park, then making their way through Yellowstone before arriving in Bozeman.

Unfortunately, I had broken my foot playing soccer the a week before they came, and I was (still am) hobblin' around on crutches with a boot on the left foot. Could've been worse, that's for sure, but it wasn't the ideal situation for having the rare occurrence of a visit from good friends. I didn't figure that a bum wheel would hinder my ability to put-in and take-out a boat, untangle knots, or row... so we headed up to the Upper Madison on Wednesday. We got a late start, and didn't arrive in Ennis until around 5:30. After making our own meteorological predictions, we decided that a float that night wasn't a good idea based on the massive storm cloud hovering over the river to the North. It was the right call, we would have rowed into a nasty wind, gotten pounded by cold rain, and arrived at dark. I have to thank Jessie for that judgment call, because if left to Brandon and I, we would've ended up in the dark, drunk and wet. The weather that afternoon did provide a nice reprieve from the recent Montana heat...with temperatures at around 72 degrees when the storm was overhead.



After fighting off the mosquitoes at our campsite during dinner, we were treated to an amazing sunset on the Madison River. Truly amazing.




After a sunset like that, we figured the only sensible thing to do would be to go have a few cocktails in Ennis then retire for the evening.

As suspected, Thursday morning came and it was a beautiful day. Light breeze, pretty mild temperature, and some sunshine that willingly shared the Big Sky with multitudes of cloud gatherings in every direction. For some reason those clouds decided to let us stay warm and dry all day, and the trout seemed to have the same great attitude that afternoon.

Griz is a novice fly-fisherman, but picked up the rhythm quickly. About 10 minutes into our float he poked a nice brownie which told me immediately that it was gonna be a good day.



We finished off the day by stopping by Norris Hot Springs for a soak, where there happened to be this gorgeous blond woman who sang original bluegrass tunes and picked guitar. Then we gorged on Rosa's pizza when we got back to Bozeman. Not badski.

My feeling that it was 'gonna be a good day' was correct. It's not that we caught a ton of fish (although Griz did catch some good ones) it was more of a combinations of things...basically just what happens when good friends get to catch up on a Montana river. I float these rivers so often thinking, "man...'so and so' needs to see this", and when they actually make the trip it's pretty much the beez knees. It means the world to me, actually. So to Brandon and Jessie...thanks again for making the trip, and to the rest of you clucks who haven't made it up, I reckon I'll see you next year.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

More music I like...

Two bands outta Portland to checkout....

1. Freak Mountain Ramblers

2. Foghorn Stringband (satisfied mind is an swesome song)

I hear Freak Mountain puts on a free show on Sunday evenings. Catch a show if you're in the area.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

"Dog Days of Summer"


The last month has definitely flown by, a common occurrence for us here in Montana. We endure the long winter patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) so we can enjoy the beauty that is Montana Summer. Like most years, there's a laundry list of things to do... float the Dearborn, float tube Clark Canyon Reservoir, backpack into Slough Creek in Yellowstone, go up to Glacier National Park for the weekend, hike up to Pine Creek Lake, go to Targhee Bluegrass Festival, and the list goes on...


And here we are, in mid-July, and there are still a lot of things left on the list! It's actually been so hot around here that backpacking seems a little rediculous unless you gain a good deal of elevation...it's been 100 - 107 in Bozeman for the past 10 days or so! In any event, the past month has been very busy at Powderfin.com, but we've managed to have a great time as well. I had some visitors in town for about a week, which allowed me to get some great river time in on the Missouri and the Yellowstone. Here are some pictures from some recent floats.....








Ricky Bobby with his first ever fish
on a fly-rod....shortly after fumbling
out of the boat.

Right before the warm streak hit us....the last glimpse of snow in Paradise Valley.

4th of July on the Yellowstone River...not a bad spot for reflection.

Smitty and Hazzard lampin' up


Yellowstone Cutthroat - We like it when they eat hoppers!



Neil with a nice foam eatin' Bow.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Kitchen Sink Rapid in Beartrap Canyon

We headed to Beartrap Canyon on Saturday for some of the hydroelectric dam release water and really fun late season run. If you’re a kayaker, Beartrap Canyon has it all… incredible views, seclusion, and a variety of class 3 and 4 rapids.The video is of the Kitchen Sink rapid at 2000 CFS. It was so much fun that we ran it 3 times and it was great in spite of the carnage.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Mrs. Bubbles
Hi all,
Here are a few pics from Mrs. Bubbles, a stationary wave on the Yellowstone River. We surf it in our kayaks and attampt to throw tricks... with varying degrees of success...