Just a run in the park
Thu Sep 11, 07:04 AM
Here are a few pictures from last weekend in Glacier. Brendan and I ran from the loop, up to Granite Park Chalet and then along the Highline Trail to the top of Logan Pass. We hitchhiked back down to the car and cruised down to the Packer’s Roost for a burger and a taste of the local flavor. Days like today are just another reason I love to live in the Flathead.
Running to the Granite Park Chalet
I’m smiling because the rain just quit!
Halpin ripping down the trail.
A quick stop at Haystack Butte.
Alpine Trail 7 pictures
Wed Sep 3, 08:00 PM
I am feeling much better today. Most of my body is sore in some way, but my mind is back to normal, or as normal as it gets. I made it back to work today and was greeted with 20 emails and 16 voicemails. It sure was fun to wade through all of those!
My appointment with Dr. Jay went sucessfully, as I am cleared to resume daily life. I am not supposed to hit my head for a month, so the mtn bike is out for a while. I can still do most things, I just have to be careful. As you all know, safety is always my number one priority so I have nothing to worry about!
As promised, here are a few pictures from the ride on Alpine Trail 7.
As always, the spirits are high at the trailhead
Gue, Pippo, Halp, C-Man, Dustin, Doug-Dale, and Laurel
Dustin and Owen are thrilled to be riding today!
Mount Warrior-A checkpoint along the ride
Big D riding trail
Halpin and me fueling up on Snickers and apple fritters
It might be time for another layer!
We all wait for Doug and Laurel to finish making out.
This also happens to be my last memory of the ride…
Labor Day Weekend-Man Down!
Tue Sep 2, 09:01 AM
It’s been a good one here in the Flathead! Saturday was a ride from town into Haskill Basin, then up the Summit Trail to the top of the Big Mountain. The goal was to check out the new downhill trail that opened a few weeks ago. With Greenburg, Pippo, and Halpin pushing the pace, I got left in their dust on the climb. Only when the trial started pointing down the hill, did I have to wait for them. It was a solid four hour ride that set the stage for the rest of the weekend.
Sunday was a trail run with the FVCC cross country team. This was an early season run that was supposed to be pretty casual, but had a few racy moments. We ran on the river trail out of West Glacier along the Middle Fork and had a pretty good time.
Monday was the crown jewel of the weekend as we planned to ride Alpine Trail 7. This is the ridge top trail along the Swan Range. We rode from about 25 miles from Goat Creek to Wire Creek, then down to Bond Creek. The weather was the first issue of the day. It was raining in town, and snowing on the trail. Living up to our motto, “You’ve got to be tough when you’re stupid” we hit the trail at 11:15am. We had a solid crew of Owen, Doug, Halpin, Pippo, Dustin, and Laurel. We all found that the cool weather, snow/rain, and mud were slightly miserable some of the time and tolerable most of the time. This was evident in the “perma-grins” that we all had riding down the trail. This ride was billed as the epic ride of the summer…and it did not disappoint. There were hike-a-bike sections of trail, stellar single track, steep technical climbs and decents, mud, snow, blood, but mostly smiles and high-fives. We knew it was an epic ride, we just didn’t know how epic it would be…
Just after five hours in the saddle is where my mind goes blank. I remember riding the Wire Creek trail, the final eight mile downhill. I remember getting most of the way down the trail, then I remember the CT scan at the hospital in Whitefish.
I have a big lump on my head, and the right side of my body is pretty torn up. I don’t know how I wrecked and I must have been out of sight because my friends don’t know what happened either. Doug’s story is that we were about a mile from the car when I went down. I vaguely remember the Whitefish hospital, then I remember texting my boss Paul to tell him that I can’t work in the morning.
I have a level two concussion and have an appointment at the doctor later today. The word now is that I can’t ride for a month-that is something I will have to negotiate with Dr. Erickson, as September is prime mtb season and the beginning of cyclocross season.
I am currently at home, catching up on some sleep and some tv. I should be back working and resuming normal life tomorrow or Thursday. I will post pics of the ride shortly and keep you posted with the progress of my dome.
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The Daily Grind
Mon Aug 25, 07:08 PM
I generally write about my adventures and athletic pursuits. I thought that I would shed some light on what pays the bills.
The long version of what I do:
After graduating with a Construction Engineering degree from Montana State University, I am ready to build something. Actually, with a degree, I would tell somebody else to build something. In September 2007 I started with Montana Build. We build custom homes around the Flathead Valley. My job is to estimate and schedule a project from concept plans. I get bids from subcontractors and hire all the subs and vendors.
The coolest part of my job is that we are building green homes. The Saddlehorn Development that we are building in requires that all the homes we build in their community be certified under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system. Since I was the only one that was familiar with the program, I was designated the “green building guy” and took the responsibility for the green building effort. We haven’t done any crazy solar or wind energy projects, but we are building a bunch of high performance, luxury homes. This market is growing and becoming more and more important. It is fun to be part of this trend at the “cutting edge.”
The office is in Bigfork, which is a small town at the north end of Flathead Lake. This puts me about 45 minutes south of Whitefish. I am renting a small cabin that is about three blocks from work and downtown (the Garden Bar), but is up in the woods. It is no doubt, the best spot in Bigfork!
The short version of what I do:
I am a number crunching office punk that all the “real” construction workers love to bitch about.
Easy Living
Mon Aug 18, 07:43 PM
Easy living barely begins to describe this summer in the Flathead. The wrecking crew and I are trying to do everything there is to do here, but still have lots on the list while the weather is warm.
The last month has 80F and sunny every day. Here is a picture of Doug that can be taken every ride. He flats, then mooches a tube from me. This puncture is on the gorgeous Six Mile Peak trail in the Swan Range.
After our ride, we rolled down to Polson to invade Graham Meng’s lake cabin. It was hot, so kicking it by the lake was pretty good. When Doug, Matt, and I had overstayed our welcome, (about 11am) we jumped on the sailboat for an afternoon chasing wind on the Flathead.
Here is a picture of a goat that I ran into while running in the Jewel Basin.
Last weekend, I heard Mike Davidson and the family were at their up at their cabin near Melrose and on the Big Hole River. I cruised the motorcycle down for a great weekend of fishing and reminiscing about the old days. Mike is one of my best friends from growing up in Denver. Here is Tom, Mike’s cousin and partner in crime, with a small arctic grayling (RARE) that he caught.
Last week I made the most of my Monday evening and ran up Mt. Aeneas. I brought my skis along as I found a bit of snow to ski. I skied this sliver, then the snowfield, then hiked just past the lake and back over the ridge to the car. The point of this exercise was to continue the “streak” of skiing every month this year. This was what I skied:
August 11, 2008
This weekend was a big one in the Fish, as Alex Guerri and his new wife Melissa were back in town. Also making an appearance was our buddy Fredrick Perrson. He came to Whitefish as a foreign exchange student in high school. We all kicked back a few beers on Friday night, then kicked it on the beach and the boat on Saturday. The highlight of the weekend was the Whitefish Lake Triathalon. The crew of Douger, Halpin, Guerri, and me, along with Matt Shryock and his gf Jen all showed up Sunday morning. It was a rematch from high school when the four of us did the same triathlon just after graduating in 2002. This picture is the same picture that we took before the triathlon six years ago. And we thought we were studs then…
For the record, Halpin kicked all of our asses and won the overall!
Just another weekend of easy living! I will keep you all posted on the latest and greatest.
Martin City Disco and Great Northern
Fri Jul 25, 09:09 PM
It is tough to document every cool thing that is done during a summer in the Flathead Valley. There are days on the lake, days in the mountains, and evenings kicking back cold ones and bragging of the day’s events.
Last weekend was no different. It all started with a little party called the Martin City Disco. This is an annual event that is held at the Southfork Bar in Martin City. As sketchy as Martin City is, all the raft guides from Glacier and a bunch of other dirtbags converge in disco attire for a great party once a year.
After making the most of an evening dancing to the Village People and Saturday Night Fever, the crew met up at the trailhead to climb Great Northern. This is a peak in the Great Bear Wilderness that is right between Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. It is a nasty climb, but well worth the excellent scenery. During the climb, several “attacks” made a leisurely hike impossible and running up the trail the norm. This is no easy task as total elevation gain for the day was about 5200 ft. All the standard dumbasses were there: Doug, Halpin, Dustin, Gue, Matty S. and a few others that joined the fun.
We had to hurry on the trail as I had to get back for Scott and PJ McCracken’s wedding that afternoon.
Sunday was comprised of some “easy living.” This can be defined as going to City Beach on Whitefish Lake, throwing the Frisbee, then going to Les Mason Beach on Whitefish Lake.
It is Friday night, I just finished a bike ride and I am meeting Big Doug down at the Garden for a few beers. This weekend should be another good one. We are riding in the Swan Range tomorrow morning, then heading down to Graham Meng’s lake house to get sunburned on the boat. Sunday will be sailing on Flathead Lake. The beginning of the week only slows me down until 5pm. I have a golf game scheduled after work.
It’s a tough life, but somebody’s got to do it!
Here are a few pictures from Great Northern.
Great Northern looms in the distance.
The crew takes a break before the summit push.
A few pics from the last few months
Tue Jul 15, 09:40 PM
Here are some pictures that attempt to sum up the last several months of my life. We had an awesome snow year, so I included a few ski pics. It is good living right now in the Flathead as it is finally warming up. I will have more stories and pictures soon. Enjoy:
Riding in Big Sky at 9400 ft. Finally, most of the snow is gone!
Classic Ruffatto picture. Skiing in Glacier on July 6th.
All the Connelly cousins at Keely’s wedding.
Just another day living the dream!
Paintballing at Alex Guerri’s bachelor party!
Haven’t we seen that pose before? This time just outside of GNP on Nyack Peak.
Big Doug getting DEEP! Snowshed Mountain