By admin on 2/8/2010 9:50 PM

 

 

In the middle of february I drove my new-to-me Toyota Previa (toyota's pre recall era) up to Bozeman, MT, for a Yurt trip in the Swan Mts. with my one of my closest friends.  Bill patrolled for a while in UT and MT, and is currently working on a masters degree in architecture.  That means he works really hard at school, and parties just as hard the few times a year he can.  So, I met up with billy and his wife in Bozeman and we headed west to Mizzoula.  On the way we stopped in Butte, MT, for a little tour and a beer. 

Butte is home to the biggest open copper mine in the US, as well as a huge statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of their mountain.  Butte is a lot like Rio.  Well, not really I guess.  Butte was once one of the richest cites in the US because of the mining, and according to Bill (which is always a treat) was one of the first cities to ... Read More »

By admin on 2/8/2010 9:44 PM

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By admin on 11/24/2009 11:10 PM

previa madness 911 from ryan ... Read More »

By admin on 11/21/2009 2:12 AM

There is a thing about mountain folk.  I had a good friend pass through boulder this weekend.  It was unexpected, as many of the drop in guests are, but as usual worked out perfectly, which got me to thinking.

It turns out there is a thing about mountain folk, a common understanding.  We aren't looking for a nice place to stay, though they can be nice.  We aren't looking for a cooked meal, though they can be lovely.  We are looking for a place to lay our heads, but not only that, we are looking for a few beers, flowing conversation, and most importantly, great stories. Ours is a storytelling culture, one where random people can stop by and spend the night, and through mutual friends who may be in a different state or a different country, we realize we have everything in common.  We are looking for a random sleeping bag to keep warm and a smile. 

I now own a house.  It is a fluke that I fell ... Read More »

By admin on 11/3/2009 9:28 PM

Its official.  Totem Josh is going to Kyrgyzstan.  Where you ask?  Kyrgyzstan.  No, not Kazakstan of Borat fame, although they do share a border.  Kyrgyzstan, you know, the former soviet block country that borders Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China.  Yeah, thats the one.

So the story goes like this.  Two of my good friends, Ryan, a worl ... Read More »

By admin on 10/25/2009 9:20 PM

Its sunday, 10-25, and I just returned to boulder from the first proper ski-weekend con camper.   Now, as I've written before, the camper is a 1973 Mitchell fishing hut, something that I looked for for a while and paid $175 for it.  I will admit that it is a little leaky, a little moldy, but these are things I can fix, and plan to in the near future (even though I have been saying that for a year now).  most importantly, it stays warm, very warm.  Anyways, my ski partner andy and I left boulder at 7 a.m. and headed west to our go-to front range spot.  After getting coffee we continued west, toward the big mtns, and what appeared to be the big storm as well.  While it is always nice to get out in the woods in winter conditions, we had a tough time and after a while of dealing with zero visibility and big winds, we decided to call it.  it was one of the few times we actually got shut out.  There are many times that because ... Read More »

By admin on 10/23/2009 8:49 AM

Its October again in CO, and somehow, quicker than expected, again, its winter.  The topper and the ladder rack came of the veggie rig today, and the camper is going in the bed of the truck.  Skis are out and ready to go (not tuned, ever, but ready to go), dogs are fired up, and everything seems to be in order. 

Now, understand that we are skiers, some of the most dedicated at that.  People often ask where we were all day, and the answer is pretty simple.  We walked, and walked, then put the skins on and climbed and climbed, and halfway up the final face, when we decided we ... Read More »

By admin on 4/21/2009 8:18 PM

Its late april, and the ski season is beginning to wind down.  We are at the point that the snow is no longer getting deeper, but the days are longer and we are 10% over average snowfall for the winter.  While Boulder is not a ski town, not even close, april always seems to be a good month for the front range.  Instead of storms coming from the west, they tend to come from the southeast and when they get to boulder and the weather begins heading up and over the mountains snow begins to fall, hard and fast.  So last week, after a long work week, my buddy andy and I headed up to Eldora to check out the storm.  In boulder it had been raining for two days straight, unheard of for us, but at eldora (which had been closed for two weeks), it was hammering, snow like I hadn't seen all year.  We followed a plow truck up to the closed eldora gates and parked the van.  Skiinig was amazing.  We skinned to the top of the mtn, basically found ... Read More »

By admin on 4/1/2009 2:23 PM

Well, its all happening.  I have been looking for a camper all winter, but learning from my past mistakes I have been holding out to find the right one.  As light as possible, not a pop-up because they don't work so well in real winter, and most important, WARM.  I was driving home from a backpack manufacturing meeting when I saw it.  It wasn't for sale, it wasn't pretty, but there it was.  I went inside, and a few negotiations later I had my "new" camper, a 1973 Mitchell Fishing Hut for $175.  This is a non cab-over really meant for 1 person but it will easily sleep two people and a few dogs.  I spent two days cleaning it out, getting some dishes and pots/pans for it, and left on a wednesday morning for Vail.

Keep in mind that at this point it had been full on spring in Boulder, nearly 70 degrees every day for the past several weeks, and winter was fading quickly....

But when I arrived in ... Read More »

By admin on 3/10/2009 12:06 PM

I have been on the hunt for the right camper for the past few months.  Last winter I had one, and I spent about a month in my buddies as we toured montana and interior British Columbia.  I have found that for around $300 you can transform not only your entire winter but your entire outdoor schedule.

Think about it.  Whether its going for a hike or heading out on a saturday morning for a ski tour, do you want to drive home when you are done?  I usually don't.  What I do want to do is relax, make some tea, maybe do some computer work at a coffee shop, go to bed early and get up and do it again.  The little dog can stay warm if you have a decent heater, and the whole family is happy.  Not only that, when you eliminate the morning drive you buy yourself a few hours to get out earlier, to enjoy the morning light, the sound of frozen snow under your skis.

While the winter is more than half over, my search ... Read More »