Yak Trax

Around here if you're not willing to brave the cold and get outside in the winter ... you'll most likely find yourself out of shape pretty quick (I have), unless you love going to the gym (I don't). For those times you can't strap on the snowshoes or head to the hill to ski/ride, Yak Trax are a great way to conquer the icy streets of Montana winters. There are two versions, Yak Trax Pro ($24.95) and Yak Trax Walkers ($17.95), we highly recommend the Pro models for higher levels of activity. They're pretty simple devices, you just strap them over your shoes for added traction. We've found Yak Trax to be very popular with winter runners, and those that just like to head up the local trails with the dog. There's Yak tracks all over Pete's Hill. We like things that help people get outside and breathe the good air, and these help out a bit.

The Tree Question

Lately I've been having an internal struggle. Not one that keeps me up at night, but something that has me thinking. If one choses to have a tree for their holiday celebration... what is the most responsible way to go about it? Abstinence is obviously an option, but we're starting with the premise that one has chosen to have a tree. So, I reckon there are 3 ways to go:

1. Buy a plastic tree and re-use it every year

2. Buy a tree from a commercial tree farm

3. Harvest your own

Here are my thoughts. The main elements involved in my thinking on the subject are environmental impact, aesthetics, and cost.


1. Buy a plastic tree and re-use it every year

Most plastic trees I've seen around Bozeman are cheap looking and cost $65 - $100. I didn't want to pay that much for a cruddy looking tree, especially when I don't have much room to store one. I definitely could find a spot in the garage if I really liked a plastic tree. I had one growing up, and it served it's purpose well.

2. Buy a tree from a commercial tree farm

I can't figure out whether it's responsible to support the local tree growers. I'd rather support them, but some of the "local" trees I looked at came from as far away as Kalispell. That's sorta weird, in my opinion. For a 7 ft. tree I was looking at anywhere from $25 - $70, depending on which type of tree. Not a bad price, I suppose, but since I've never owned a tree before, I need a stand as well... $20. They look good, but is that a healthy, sustainable practice those companies are employing? I honestly don't know the answer to that question.


3. Harvest your own

In Gallatin County, for $5.00 you can purchase a Personal Use Christmas Tree Permit from the Beareau of Land Management to go cut down a tree under 12 ft. on National Forest Land. They give you a map of where to do it, and some guidelines such as... stay at least 100 ft. from roads, don't harvest at campgrounds national monuments, cut as close to the ground as possible, etc.

After initially reprimanding my friends who wanted to harvest their own tree.. "Why on earth would you go cut down a live tree?!" I started to see the upside.

One thing I know is that in this situation I have control over how the tree is harvested. I have no idea what happens at tree farms. Plus, I could find a tree that appealed to my sensibilities, get some exercise, and only spend $25 (stand included). Zeus liked the idea, so we headed up to Hyalite to find one. After an hour or so of trying to find the perfect tree, I feel we did. After an anti-climactic 24 seconds of sawing, it was a done deal. I felt good about it. I don't know why, particularly, but probably just one of those inate caveman male pride things. "Uhgha...look what me did!".


More romantically speaking, it reminded me of Thoreau... "Every man looks at his woodpile with a kind of affection." Truer words have never been spoken.

Essentially, I'm wondering what other people think about this issue. Maybe nobody does think about this issue... and I should start spending my time knitting or whittling. One thing to be clear about, although that in my thirtieth year on earth I'm becoming more and more in tune with the condition of our environment and my personal impact to it, I'm by no means a "hard core" environmentalist. You can tell that from the photo of my gas guzzling truck above. But I feel that I'm like many of my peers... trying to make some positive changes as I go along.

Here's one interesting alternative I just found... rent a live tree, root ball and all!

Bus to Big Sky

In a county pretty much void of public transportation, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Big Sky Transportation Service is now offering year-round bus service between Bozeman and Big Sky. This is a very good thing for our area. First of all, Highway 189 has to be one of the most treacherous highways around. It's a two lane winding mountain highway, complete with anxious skiing and riding afficianados, construction workers late to their great paying jobs in the Yellowstone Club, tourists on the way to Yellowstone National Park, and commercial trucks making their way down through West Yellowstone to Idaho and Wyoming. Throw in nasty Montana winter weather and it's a recipe for disaster.

If this bus can get 25-50 cars off of that highway each day this winter, Highway 191 will be a safer, cleaner place. It could be a great way to meet people, or just sneak a nap, read the paper, and have a bagel and coffee on the way up to the hill. Best of all, you can toss on a buzz apres ski and ride down worry free. That sounds decent to me.

The bus to Big Sky will run every day, leaving the SUB at MSU at 5 am, 7:45 am, 9:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 5:30 pm. It's free until December 15, then the fee will be $5 per one way trip. Monthly passes will also be available for $60 for unlimited rides.

Either way you slice it, the more public transportation we start to see around here, the better. $10 round trip makes sense for sleeping to the top, riding all day, having a few drinks, then relaxing on a safe ride home. Kudos to the Big Sky Transportation District for their efforts.

Bear Trap Canyon Breezes

"Breeze" is a pretty mild term for what actually takes place in Bear Trap Canyon, 20 miles or so west of Four Corners, MT. It's a lower Madison River canyon that provides a nice setting for a hike, and holds some sizeable trout. I cruised up there last Saturday, basically because I hadn't casted in awhile. It was 32, but sunny in town, so it was nice enough to give it a shot... and I convinced Chris to come with.

I managed to lasso a nice rainbow with a flesh colored streamer, but somehow broke him off on my brand new 3x leader. That's pretty much like missing a 3 footer for birdie. It's always frustrating to break one off, especially on the heavy stuff. Nice to be hooked up, though... Chris caught a nice brown. I love it when he catches fish, it helps him become a more confident angler and adds to the chances that I'll have someone to fish with when I get the next itch.

Bear Trap is a nice place to go, regardless of the outcome. Yeah, it's windy, but it's beautiful anyway. It's -2 degrees at the moment, so I reckon I won't be flailing fly line around for awhile. Looks like it's time to start spinning bugs.

"It's A Solio...Sun!"

Solio is an funky little handheld device charger worth mentioning. As we're all aware, or at least you should be by now, we need to start using alternative energy sources in a bad way. Everyone has their electronic gadgets these days, iPods, cell phones, Blackberry's, handheld GPS's, etc. The people at Better Energy Systems have developed a great tool to charge your handhelds, using solar energy. Unfold the three panels on the Solio, and let it soak up rays.

Basics of this solar charger....

One hour of sun will give you enough juice to play your iPod for about an hour, but if you're at the beach and leave it plugged in and charging, you're good all day. When fully charged, Solio also acts as a battery pack, and can store enough power to fully charge a typical cell phone or an iPod Nano at least two times. That's nice. Charge it up and take it with you on a river trip and you've got tunes the whole trip.

Last spring some friends and I did a five day Smith River Float, and I brought my newly purchased InMotion I7 iPod player along (which thumps by the way, I take it everywhere now). It was rockin' our camp for the first three nights, powered by 8 D batteries. Only problem was that my iPod eventually ran out of juice, not my player (I had back-up batteries too). This year will be a different story with the Solio. Tunes galore. There's little better than floating a river with your friends trying to catch trout while Jerry sings to you. Whatever your musical preference, the Solio Solar Charger will keep you juiced and in the game. It would be ideal for backpacking trips and backcountry skiing as well.

Check out the full details and handheld compatibility reference "Will it work with my handheld device?" page on powderfin.com.

Bee Hive Basin...Bro...

Despite no new snow in the area, Sunday 11/18/06 seemed like a good day to get out and burn some fat before Thanksgiving rolled around. Chris and I headed up to Big Sky, met up with a friend of his and his 15 year old son, and began the trek up to beautiful Bee Hive Basin around 10:30 or so. Lone Peak was looking ferocious as always, not quite covered but enough snow to tease.

As usual, I was pretty much the slowest one in the group, but I'll blame it on being on snowshoes instead of skins. I need to pick up a splitboard, since these two plankers will most likely never re-convert me regardless of their incessant "knuckle dragger" jokes. I'm kinda lazy on the way down, and snowboarding provides a lazy fluidity that is nearly perfect in my opinion. And if the snow is above your knee... forget about it.

It was a cloudy Sunday, which actually provided some pretty amazing vistas full of stratified cloud layers and intermittent shafts of light. I kept thinking the sun would bust out, but it never quite made it. You could see for miles, which was the main attraction way up on the ridge.

I think we went in about 2 1/2 hours or so. All I know is that I was hungry when we got up there, and ready to make some turns. We hiked quite a distance for a short run, partly due to the fact that I didn't want to take another lap. But the views were worth it, and as always, Zeuser had a blast.

Moboogie.net

Some fine folks in Denver created this website for live music lovers... it seems like they're doing it right. I met one of the proprietors in Winter Park this summer... good people. Check it out if you get the notion... www.moboogie.net

"Haul You Back to Texas, Baby"

In an effort to get in a little "R & R" before the Holiday rush, I headed down to South Texas to visit my family for a few days, then meet up with some friends in Austin for the last three shows on the Fall Panic tour. Being a fishing junkie, of course I had to squeeze in one day before the Austin madness began, and although it started shakey, it ended up being a good one.



My friend Dave had just flown into Corpus Christi from Chicago, so we decided to get my dad out of the house and got on the road in the Ford Focus rental down to South Padre Island. It was interesting spending Halloween in South Padre with the locals, a town still enjoying the quiet off-season. The tone of the town was relaxed and happy, while always preparing for the influx of 200,000 plus Spring Breakers coming in a few short months.

We chartered a bay fishing boat from George's Fishing Charter Service, and George didn't disappoint. We were still reeling a bit when we met him at his boat at 6:30 a.m., following a night of heated shuffleboard and darts amidst the South Padre local ghosts and goblins. The day started off with fishing the jettys, trying to find some bull Reds. After bringing in a handful of skipjack, we decided to head to calmer waters and see how the flats would treat us.


The day took a turn for the better at that point, with our stomachs easing enough to put down a couple of CL Smooths, improving our attitudes greatly. George put us on some fish, each of us easily limiting out on Trout. We found a few small reds, a ray, more skipjack, and a few Mangrove Snapper to boot. We didn't keep any fish, not seeing an opportunity for a fish fry in our near future.

For November 1st, it was HOT. I can't imagine being in that part of the world in August, it must be insane. The fishing was good, and the stories our guide told us were "great". I don't think he stopped telling stories for a full 4 hours, and Dave and I busted our guts laughing the whole time. If you're ever in South Padre and want to go have some fun catching trout and reds, give George Strader a call at (956) 233-4919. I'd post a link, but I don't think he has a website as of yet. Bring your fly rod, I certainly will next time. George caters to fly fishing as well. It was well worth the trip, as we got to soak up the hot Texas sun and enjoy some good fishing in a rare trip to the Gulf Coast before we found our way up "North" to Austin.

Early Start At Bridger Bowl

Just as the leaves started to fall around Bozeman, the snow started to come down with it. It's pretty nice to see, snow capped peaks up high and golden aspens down low... certainly makes saying goodbye to summer a bit easier to swallow. We happened to get enough snow the week of October 16th to dust off the boards, break out the snow shoes and see if we could snake through the rocks up at Bridger Bowl. My super athelete married couple friends convinced me to go with them on 22nd, and it was certainly worth the hike.




We decided to head up to the "Apron" on the north edge of the ski area. Blue bird day, around 30 degrees, pretty much perfect for a hike. After an hour or so up (my friends were nice enough to be patient as a slugged my way up)... we were surprised to find knee deep powder, which the dogs couldn't get enough of.


It was a perfect Sunday to start off what we hope will be a fruitful backcountry ski season in Big Sky Country. Got the heart rate up, made some good turns, didn't scrape any rocks, and the pups slept like babies by the fire all afternoon. As did I.

Sunday Night in the Spanish Peaks

My buddy Ryan and I took the dogs up to Deer Lake on the 17th. It was my first backpacking trip with my new dog... Zeus, and the same went for his Yellow Lab puppy, Pony. It started off a bit cold, but nice enough for the 5 1/2 miles up to where we camped near Deer Creek. Ryan was trying to get an elk with his bow, and my goal was to catch a trout or two up in either Moon Lake or Deer Lake.

We got up there in time for Ryan to take an evening hunt, so I lounged around the campsite for awhile and kept the dogs entertained. Actually, vice versa. Zeus wasn't sure what to make of the camp we had set up, so he just continued to circle it like a curious wolf. Ry didn't end up having any luck that night, so we just filled up on dehydrated Spaghetti, Beef Stroganoff, then topped it off with some Blueberry Cheesecake. Not bad for re-constituted cheese cake, it even had some graham cracker crumbs to throw on top.

We were pretty beat from the hike, so we hit the hay early. Ryan got up to hunt, so I piled the dogs into my tent to keep warm and "slept in".... meaning I was probably up at 7:30 or so. After some oatmeal and some Java Juice Coffee Extract. (This stuff is money... no coffee grinds, no need to boil water, no press.. just tear open the pouch and pour it into warm or cold water) I'm really not one to shamelessly plug a product, but Ryan and I used it, and it's great, so I'll tell people about it.


I cruised up the trail another mile or so to Moon Lake witht he dogs, where I quickly hooked into a little rainbow on a brown wooly bugger. First cast... I was pumped, thinking I'd be railing 'em all day. Then of course I broke off my bugger and had no more browns in the limited bug selection I brought with me.

They wouldn't eat grey. Damn. They wouldn't eat green. Damn damn! Oh well, at least I caught one. (right)

Ry came up about that time and we hiked up to Deer Lake... It's a beautiful spot, and where we saw some fresh bear tracks near the shore. They couldn't have been there long, since there was only an inch or two of snow on the ground and it was melting pretty quickly. It was approaching 60 and blue bird at this point... mid afternoon. Gorgeous day.


I ended up catching a grayling on a dry, which was my first one in over 4 years... so that made me feel better about flailing on the trout in the other lake. We ended up elkless, but we definitely had a great time with dogs and being out in the cool Montana autumn air.

Change is definitely in the air up here under the Big Sky... I took a new friend to an old fishing hole the other day. It's a 'not so secret' spot on the Gallatin River where I used to take my late mutt Porterhouse. I definitely used to get there quicker, pass fewer restaurant chains, and less road construction. "Progress"...I reckon. I'm no Montana Native, so you won't hear me complaining. It's just different.One nice surprise was showing up to the river with Zeus and being the only ones there. Very nice. It was September 8 and I definitely felt old man winter yawning, waking up, and remembering that he has a job to do pretty soon. It was nice though, I got a chance to let the new dog run around, and eventually trick a whitefish into eating a nymph. No trout. No surprise either.In any event... changes are occurring, progress is being made, and growth is eminent in all aspects of life around powderfin. And it feels pretty good.

About the Blog

The Powderfin.com blog is a place to discuss, with your participation, what makes the outdoors the “Great Outdoors”. We want to hear your stories about the best place to fish in Chile, the best camping spot in Yellowstone, an unforgettable river trip, etc., we’ll tell you a few of ours.

We plan to have frequent guest writers, and we’ll also be posting your replies, or discussions with us. If you have something to share, especially if you have pictures to add to the scenery around here, we may ask you to write it up and send it to us, we’ll post it as long as it makes some sense and is of reasonable taste. It's a chance to interact with like-minded people, share your experiences, and hopefully learn a few things.

With that said, here are a few pictures of a recent trip to Jasper and Banff National Parks. It is an incredible place; full of the most amazing scenery and wildlife I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t been, you need to go. Because they are very popular parks, it is a good idea to get up early (around 6:00am) and get to the places you want to see ahead of the crowds. We planned our routine to see the famous/touristy spots early, then retreat on a long hike around 10 or 11. On most hikes over 5 miles, you manage to get away from hordes of people and see incredible places with very few other hikers, if any. Also, going in the spring or fall drastically reduces the amount of people as well. If you have any questions about where to go or what to do while you’re there, drop us an email at www.powderfin.com.

www.powderfin.com 1st post!

Powderfin.com is for anyone who has ever taken a moment to pause at work and think about the river they’d rather be fishing, the big mountain line they’d rather be skiing, or the fresh air they’d rather be breathing. If you’ve ever had a beer around a campfire with friends, carved turns in the backcountry, or wondered what the view would be like from the top of a mountain or the depths of a canyon, we’re your people. We’ve shared your vision, earned our turns and wanted more, we’ve kayaked the river then feasted on the fish we’ve caught from it, and we want to go back.

The idea is to provide quality service from people who understand, at a decent price. We’re still in the fledgling stages and we listen to everything you have to say. Not seeing what you want? Not getting the answer you need? Have a great fish tale to tell? Let us know! We’re about getting you outside with the gear you want. If you don’t know what to get that special someone, call us, we’ve gotten ties when we wanted flies, and comfy sweaters when we wanted a comfy tent to call home for the weekend… we have ideas and solutions.

Powderfin.com was started by 3 average “outdoorsy type” guys from Montana with varied backgrounds. Skiing, snowboarding, fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, backcountry camping… you get the idea. We’re in the Rockies and we love every second of it. The idea of Powderfin came about over some Black Butte Porter (delicious) and bluegrass tunes heavy on the banjo… you know, the kinds of things that make you think about what you really want out of life… we want to be happy, keep our families happy, get people outside, and ultimately give back by helping to protect our wild places!

Just think about the guy/girl in some big city who has never seen a mountain over 10,000 ft or smelled a forest of pine trees in the spring. Break free! If you are that person, you may need our help. Call us, email us, or go to www.powderfin.com.