Campfires of 2009: the story continues

This was the least visually interesting campsite of our trip, deep in a shadowy creek bottom, so I only took this quick snap. The entire five-day bike ride, however, was the most spectacular trip in a year of spectacular trips. Oh how I love Canada...

still more campfires of 2009

This is John Stamstad and Todd Tanner attempting to dry out their feet around the fire. We'd crossed approximately 5,000 bone-freezing creeks that day and were seriously wet. Which is yet another example of how campfires are both hypnotic and practical.

If you're curious about our trip, you can read the article from Mountain Bike magazine here.

Yet more campfires of 2009

Heavenly descent

Continuing yesterday's singletrack tangent from the ongoing campfire series, here are a few images taken the morning after the campfire from the previous post. It was the last day of a spectacular five-day bikepacking trip in the Canadian Rockies and all that remained was the three-mile descent from our campsite high in the mountains to the truck at the trailhead below. Fortunately, it was three miles of singletrack so good, so beautiful, so seductively sinuous, that it left us buzzing for days. A perfect way to end a glorious trip...

More campfires of 2009

This was one of my favorite campfire spots of the year. Super secret location in the Canadian Rockies. Though I guess it's not actually all that secret since my article on the trip ran in Mountain Bike magazine. (the curious can view it here.) We slept 50 yards below here in the shelter of some trees, but it was the campfire perch overlooking emerald alpine lakes that I'll always remember.

Campfires of 2009

I was going though my recent images the other day and noticed that I had a lot of campfire shots. Which got me thinking -- how many campfires did I have last year?

Using a highly scientific method (i.e. reflecting for about 60 seconds) I've determined that I was lucky enough to have about 40 campfires in 2009. Took images of about half of them. (A few were in cold, wet, windy weather where the last thing on my mind was getting out the camera. And sometimes it's just nice to have a fire and relax without scampering around trying to make pretty pictures all the time. Which is why I don't have pics of them all...)

For the next couple weeks I'll post pictures from a different campfire every day. Or darn close to every day.

These first shots are from a quickie overnight camping trip Silas and I took in the mountains outside of Missoula last spring. He's roasting pig sphincters, er, a hot dog, which tasted awesome, as hot dogs roasted over campfires always do...

Hurling from great heights in Idaho

Did a five-day family bike ride with my son Silas on the world-class rail-trails in northern Idaho last year and came across these teenagers who were jumping from an old railroad bridge into a deep pool in the river below. As the kids on our ride gathered to watch, the bravest leaper offered to climb to the top of the 80-foot bridge and hurl himself off. Then we all watched in disbelief as he did just that.

It was a pretty great jump. You may have seen this image in various magazines as the fun-loving guys over at Big Agnes have been using it in their ads all year.

A few more images from the rest of our ride follow, including a couple from the magnificent Route of the Hiawatha, a jaw-dropping rail-trail on the Idaho / Montana border that features a series of high trestles. Plus, a couple from a mine tour we took just outside the old mining town of Wallace.

To see a few more images from the Hiawatha, including a couple from its huge tunnels, check out my post over on the Freeman Blog. If you crave still more munchkins-on-rail-trails action, head over here to read my story on the trip.

Firestarters

I'm working on a story about fire-starting techniques in the backcountry. Practiced starting a fire with a nifty little flint gadget on a family ski today, which helped everyone's feet warm up. If anyone knows any good gadgets or techniques for starting fires, feel free to let me know. So far, I'm going to talk about regular lighters, waterproof matches, vaseline cotton balls, magnesium fire tools, high-tech windproof jet-burner lighters, and, to counterbalance all of that modern, petroleum-based stuff, I might try a bow-drill...

Gulls!

How great would it be if you could be a gull for a day? Soaring over the ocean through crystal air. Tucking your wings and diving with speed and grace toward the beach. Snagging bits of sandwich from the hands of unsuspecting children and tourists. Well, I already do that last one, but it'd be a lot easier if I was gull.

These are the final shots from Florida. After this we return to our regularly scheduled programming of wild ramblings and mountain adventure...

Night running, vol. 2