I've been slacking on blog updates. Been busy with kiddos and putting together a new house. Flung a few arrows from the bow I got this winter, looking forward to this fall already.

Montana Ice Tsunami!

Things are always crazy weather wise in Montana. This guy captured what I would have to believe is fairly rare, at least on this scale. Pretty neat footage, especially the initial wave and then when it rounds the corner.



Weather across the state for skiers has been on hold for the last couple weeks. Western Montana got pummelled on the 10th of January by 2 feet of snow, and since then we've been mostly in high pressure mode. That means the Missoula Valley was in the deep freeze inversion. That broke a few days ago and now we are enjoying freezing rain. Yippeee

Skiing as a profession?

So I've been planning out what my kids will do in life. You know, picking their careers and such, maybe even focused on what kinda $bread$ they can make. Because let's face it, a fireman's and a part-time environmental scientist salary's may not pave the golden retirement I have envisioned. You know what I'm talking about...your kid making big money, taking care of you as you start to get grumpy and decay. There's a big difference between me living with them or putting my as up in a swanky assisted living facility.




As I daydreamed, I stumbled across unofficialnetworks.com article on skier Bode Miller's 100 foot yacht being for sale. Hmmm...

Ding, the light bulb lit up so to speak. It might be a dim light but hey, if the likes of Bode Miller and Jon Olsson can make millions skiing, why can't my kids? Skiers have been racking up big pay checks and living lavish lifestyles for years. I mean look at

Jon Olsson knows how to ride in style to the ski hill

Bode is reportedly worth $8 million dollars. And Lindsey Vonn's networth is $3 million dollars! And what about good old Alberto Tomba, he was an international player no doubt! But don't get me wrong, some skiers like Tanner Hall remind me of straight up thugs.

What really spurred this whole stupid tangent was the huge smiles that I saw last week when I took my girls skiing separately up at Snowbowl. Being the first day of the year on skis, new 93cm skis to be exact, they were pretty excited. Warm up runs on the rope tow instilled the confidence they needed. Then up top with a little help from a ski leash, they were destroying beginner and intermediate runs.

Somehow I came across this ski coaching article, Don't Praise your children. What's that you said? At first by reading the title, I thought it would be total bullshit. But afterwards, it probably has some really good points, like this one:

• Too much praise of any sort can also be unhealthy. Research has found that students who were lavished with praise were more cautious in their responses to questions, had less confidence in their answers, were less persistent in difficult assignments, and less willing to share their ideas. 

I leave you with a few minutes of floating the mild slopes of Snowbowl with my five year olds. I'm sure most of you detected the bit of my sarcasm, but if not, you might need to have your meter calibrated. The girls at this point are looking to be a veterinarian and a police officer. We're going to need to work on one of those professions.

Kneetopia hunting report

Lots of good friends, of which are apparently good hunters had success this hunting season. Western Montana as always is one of the best places to take in Gods endless beauty. And while you are at it, you can chase around some of the most wild creatures out there. I was lucky enough to take part in a couple of these adventures. Take a look at the full album at the bottom and let me know if you have one to add!

Come on, sent it over.

FULL PICTURE album here

179 1/2" Bighorn Ram

408" B&C 7 x 8 Bull

That's a wrap

Unfortunately I'm not wrapping anything up, as in meat, after this hunting season. In one of my slowest hunting season's in my short career, I failed to bring home the bacon so to speak. I have been lucky in the previous 7 seasons to put some meat in the freezer come Fall. Whether it was antelope, elk or deer, one of those varieties has become a regular in my freezer in the garage. As I eat the remaining packages of game, it will likely only see the graces of Otter Pops and corn dogs until next fall.

Here's a recent article from the Missoulian about the hunting season. Seems they are citing weather as one of the big factors. Not too much mention of predation, more to come on that I'm sure.

Meat Eater

Tis the season to think of meat. As has become part of my ritual I expend calories in order to locate wild game. With about a week under my belt in the woods, I should theoretically be getting closer to filling the freezer.

Hormone free, organic, grass fed, what ever you want to call it. It's good for you and I hop to stock up soon. Cervus elaphus is the preferred variety.

Steve Rinella takes the love of meat to another level. His show Meat Eater is great and he's an inspirational hunter. Some interesting commentary and debate below:

On a related note, Ari LeVaux a columnist for the Missoula Independent always puts out some good wild-game related thoughts. Sometimes recipes, sometimes meat philosphy. This article Hunting Vs Shooting was good.

The numbers don't lie either:

Backpack hunting

So there I was, no shit, just looking for the perfect backpack. Scouring the internet in search of the a backpack that would fit my every need. Are you still reading this? Crickets? Anyway I'm just kidding. I have been seriously domesticated, but I'm not that bad yet. Really I'm not.

I'm talking about a bad ass elk hunt with nothing but a backpack. Five glorious nights camped with nothing but what your legs & back could bring in. We had done an early season rifle hunt the 2 years prior, with one year having a successful harvest and the second year no so much.

Our hunting plans festered all winter long. Then finally my hunting partner and I hatched them this late October. Much planning preceeded the trip as usual. Interestingly I seem to enjoy the logistical side of the extended hunts much more than I used to (see old and lame). As a result of the busy family schedule, work and life in general, I literally started packing for this hunt 2 weeks in advance.

I spread out the known necessities on the bed in the basement and then filled in the gaps with all too many trips to the sporting goods and grocery stores. Between a solid list and just one more double check, I only managed to forget 2 things: the gourmet salami and cheese in the fridge & dental floss.

We put up a respectable distance and set up camp at about 8000 feet. The valley floor still had the brilliant yellows clinging to the trees. The high country was ripe for some snow. One day prior to the opener we glassed our quarry. We hoped to find them in the right spots in the morning.

Hunting grounds all fogged in

We split up opening morning and as luck would usually have it, one of had more than the other. RS had the opportunity to pass on two bulls. I saw lot of squirrels and also snuck in to 20 yards of a decent mule deer buck. I watched as he lounged in his bed chewing grass, nonchalantly looking at me over his shoulder for a minute.

Through the rest of our hunt we shared much time around the campfire, telling half truths and discussing life in general. We heard wolves howl, but did not cut their tracks. We watched as our perfect setup on a mature bull was blown by sloppy ethics and bad shooting. Our freeze dried meals were complimented by Glenlivet, warming our bellies after our long days afield. The adjacent camps which were living high on the hog (with horses and wall tents), marveled at our dedication (or stupidity?). We watched 6 inches of October snow fall out of skies. A large grizzly bear followed us as we left the area.

The only things we brought out were memories, motivation and sore legs. Thanks for reading. Leave a comment if you feel so inclined?

More mountain lions

Last year a particular area that I hunted seems to be overflowing with mountain lions. For those of you following along, you may remember the post here. It was also interesting that this summer, not too far from that very same area another mountain lion was seen stalking campers. It was later dispatched by MT FWP and most people were better off for it.

The big game opener also was no stranger to seemingly the same mountion population. A friend hunting in that area ran into a hunter who ended up shooting a mountain lion at "6 steps". My buddy described him as shaking and bone white. Below is the excerpt from the news clip:

Summer finally over?

Much of western Montana tied an unfortunate record at midnight Tuesday, when we tallied 42 consecutive days with no measurable precipitation.

The period ended with a gutter-rattling rain and snow flurry about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Missoula Valley. But a mark that’s stood for more than a century has now been equaled.

“We matched the all-time record that was recorded between September and October of 1896,” National Weather Service meteorologist Corby Dickerson said Wednesday morning. While an earlier records search cast doubt on measurements prior to 1948, a re-check found good data from weather stations at Fort Missoula and in the downtown area covering the city’s earliest days

We all know it's been dry and smoky. Today when I peered out the window onto the hills that surround Missoula, I could hardly believe me eyes. As usual the weather forecast had been wrong, stating that we wouldn't see a trace. Instead the surrounding hills picked up a couple inches of the white stuff. Unfortunately our Idaho brethren seem to have missed the boat on precip. 

It was a busy summer for me. Spending lots of time behind the driver's seat of a water tender both in Western Montana and also Idaho. I shared just about the same days out on fires at this rainless stretch here in Missoula. I've not been that busy on fires since I worked for the hotshots.Good to be home.

 

America Remembers

 Thanks to those that gave their lives to help better others. We won't forget.

Anybodys guess

Thanks to the Powder magazine's facebook page we now have an accurate forecast for this winter. Stay tuned.

The Campbell clan has been busy, summer is nearing an end all to quickly. Smoke has become more common place in the valley, but at least it hasn't reached hazardous levels (yet). I got in on a few fires over in SE Montana the last couple weeks, man it's good to be home though.

Bad day to be in Yellowstone National Park

Careful out there people.

A German tourist died at a Billings hospital Monday after suffering a head injury when he was thrown from a horse near Tower Junction in Yellowstone National Park.

Two other park visitors were seriously injured Monday in unrelated accidents.

Carl Dullmaier, 56, of Gernsheim, Germany, was helicoptered to Billings after the fall. He was on a guided horseback ride near Yancey’s Hole when the accident occurred.

“The word we got was that the horses were spooked, possibly by some birds,” said Dan Hottle, park public affairs officer.

A 10-year-old boy on the same outing was also thrown and was taken to the park clinic in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo., before continuing on to Livingston for further care, Hottle said.

He did not know if Dullmaier was alone or with family at the time of the accident. Rangers had to carry him to a helicopter landing area so he could be flown to Billings. Dullmaier was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m., Hottle said.

Yellowstone rangers also responded to help two other injured tourists on Monday.

A 37-year-old man from Provo, Utah, suffered thermal burns on the Solitary Geyser Trail in the Upper  Geyser Basin. He was transported by ambulance to West Yellowstone and from there by airplane to the Salt Lake City burn center.

A 65-year-old British national from Bangkok, Thailand, was thrown into the air by a bull bison at Mammoth Hot Springs. He was transported to Memorial Hospital in Livingston.

July is typically the busiest month of the year in Yellowstone. Yellowstone officials respond to an average of 700 emergency medical calls each year.
    
Visitors are reminded when they enter the park and by signs throughout to stay on boardwalks and designated trails while viewing thermal features that are near or above boiling. They are also constantly reminded to stay at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards away from all other animals, including elk and bison.

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_8c988a83-f068-51a8-8971-039695b23dbc.html#ixzz22Gmkf598

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Historical snow data

Snow is really the last thing I want to think about now. But it is interesting. The northern Rockies have had some good years this last decade. Take a look at this nerdy table below.

Fires are popping to the east of the divide in Montana. Their grass is dried out reportedly, while ours in Missoula is still deep green.

Heres to hoping the smoke never gets too thick in the valley this summer!

Click here if you are a snow nerd!

Alma Desnuda

It feels like we are finally approaching summer, last year of course summer never really came. This year a lot of the SW US has been in drought conditions and fires are busting loose and burning structures left and right it seems. Western Montana is pretty wet and we've been sitting below normal temps for the most part. The teaser 80 degree temps we had a couple month ago have not returned, but they'll pop soon.

We'll have some much anticipated visitors in a few week from California and the cousins will be going beserk in the backyard. We're planning to get out camping with the 6 kids for a few nights and enjoy some pyrotechnics in the Missoula valley. We can't wait Horans! 

Mountain biking and riding the KLR have been great this spring, lots of loamy soil to be shredded. And our little man has been great, he is very pleasant and so far is a mellow little baby. Our girls have took to him like fish in water, even showing interest in changing some diapers. My goal by the time they are 5 = change a diaper :-). I celebrated a new year with some great friends and a bbq.

 

New tire for the KLR, sweet traction!

My birthday cake from my funny wife, I'm really not that anti-wolf

The kids rocking out to Alma Desnuda at a private jam party.

A generous Bitterrooter friend of ours invited us down to enjoy some music last Sunday. The band is a San Francisco based group called Alma Desnuda. The herd of kids each grabbed an instrument (tamborines, rattles and maracas) and played the opening song. The rest of the energized adults rocked out to some great music and enjoyed some excellent Bitterrroot Brews (Single Hop and Nut brown). Thanks Goeltz's!