Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Hiking up Mt. Oberlin... but not yet to the tough stuff.
Taken on the hiking trip in Glacier National Park.
Friday, September 28, 2007
I seriously am really busy.
To give you an idea of how busy this week has been, here is how my day went down:
Breakfast at 8.
Class/lecture for 3 1/2 hours.
Homework for 2 hours, beginning immediately after lunch (every other day, dishes immediately after lunch and then homework)
Work for 5 1/2 hours at IGA.
Come back, check email for 20 minutes.
Do homework for 2 and 1/2 more hours.
Write this, 15ish minutes.
Hopefully go to sleep.
Lumping together class time, homework, and regular work, I spent about 13 and 1/2 hours fulfilling my responsibilities.
Breakfast at 8.
Class/lecture for 3 1/2 hours.
Homework for 2 hours, beginning immediately after lunch (every other day, dishes immediately after lunch and then homework)
Work for 5 1/2 hours at IGA.
Come back, check email for 20 minutes.
Do homework for 2 and 1/2 more hours.
Write this, 15ish minutes.
Hopefully go to sleep.
Lumping together class time, homework, and regular work, I spent about 13 and 1/2 hours fulfilling my responsibilities.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Lack of Posts
Sorry for the lack of posts... the internet at the school has been pretty shoddy the past couple of days. I will try to get something interesting up after class today (we're currently taking a quick break.) So cheers everyone, and have a great day!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
An Amazing Poker Game
I was down to 300 chips in a 20,000 chip game; i.e. I had only 3 minimum bets left. And I CAME BACK TO WIN IT! For real! It was totally amazing!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Big Decisions
I have again reached that point in my life where I have to try to decide what I'm going to do with the rest of it. I'm talking, of course, about college. Last year when I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go and what I wanted to major in, everyone that I asked was like "Well, what are you good at? What do you enjoy doing?" The answer to both, is simply: skiing. I'm good at it, and I love doing it! I think maybe, maybe I won't go to college. Working and skiing doesn't seem like that bad of an idea.
Slush
There was slush on the road when I was out driving around today, and it is only September 20th! Winter is coming!
Snow on the Mountains
Yesterday morning I woke up, dressed, and went over to breakfast a little earlier than normal. I stood in the dining hall for a few minutes, just looking at the mountains. "Holy crap, do they look beautiful this morning!" I thought to myself. And then it hit me: there was snow on the mountains! It looked like God had reached down and drawn a line straight across the mountain range, above which the mountains were covered in white. It truly was gorgeous! I don't know if the snow is still there, because the clouds are currently shrouding the tops of the mountains. But winter (and skiing) is definitely coming!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
My first time mountainboarding in Montana yields a beauty of a scrape
Yesterday I went mountainboarding for the first time ever in Montana. I decided to just ride one of the gravel roads that lead up into the mountains. I drove to this one road which led up to the Jewel Basin Hiking Area trailhead. I drove part way up the road, and proceeded to continue up it when it started to climb just to see what I was in for, but I hit some potholes and bottomed out, so I decided to turn around, park, and just check it out on the hike up.
I had brought my iPod along with me, because I was pretty sure that it was going to take a little while to hike to the top. Well, I was right: it took me an hour and 45 minutes to reach the top. An hour and 45 minutes! That was a huge hike, especially in full pads with a mountainboard strapped to my back!
I arrived at the top, took a breather and had a bite to eat, turned around, and started rolling back down. I began with my tires at 40 psi, but I knew that the top was flatter than the bottom half, and 40 was still way too high, so after one powerslide or two, I stopped and let some air out to what was probably about 25-30 psi. I kept rolling on down with that, and that was still incredibly fast! The roadway was just such a hard surface, as there basically wasn't any loose gravel on it, that you would just accelerate quickly and keep accelerating.
As I was throwing my next powerslide, I failed to completely commit to it and my front tires caught and I flipped over forwards. My board went flying off the edge of the roadway and down the mountain about 10 feet or so, and I landed on my left forearm. My elbow pad got pushed up, and I basically slid solely on my left forearm along the frozen, graveled road surface , stopping less than a foot from the edge of the road. I got up, and my arm felt like it was on fire! I was sure that it was just a scrape, so I just pulled my elbow pad back down and went to retrieve my board.
Here's what I got out of it:
(This was taken more than a full day after the fact, so it is pretty much already all scabbed up.)
So 25ish psi was way too much, so I let my tires down to maybe 10 psi -- almost nothing. The tires were way soft, and yet I had to continue to throw powerslides every couple of feet all the way down. The entire ride down (including tire adjustment) took me a half an hour, so it was definitely a blast, but a load of it was powersliding. The road was just to narrow to carve up, unless I had extremely loosened my trucks up. But if I had done that, I would have speedwobbled like crazy if I had gone fast at all. So powersliding was the name of the game. I usually don't powerslide a whole lot, but by the time I got to the bottom I felt like a pro at it. To give you an idea of how many slides I had to throw: I started out with a brand new glove that had literally never been worn before, and by the time I reached the bottom, I was left with this:
It was quite the experience!
I had brought my iPod along with me, because I was pretty sure that it was going to take a little while to hike to the top. Well, I was right: it took me an hour and 45 minutes to reach the top. An hour and 45 minutes! That was a huge hike, especially in full pads with a mountainboard strapped to my back!
I arrived at the top, took a breather and had a bite to eat, turned around, and started rolling back down. I began with my tires at 40 psi, but I knew that the top was flatter than the bottom half, and 40 was still way too high, so after one powerslide or two, I stopped and let some air out to what was probably about 25-30 psi. I kept rolling on down with that, and that was still incredibly fast! The roadway was just such a hard surface, as there basically wasn't any loose gravel on it, that you would just accelerate quickly and keep accelerating.
As I was throwing my next powerslide, I failed to completely commit to it and my front tires caught and I flipped over forwards. My board went flying off the edge of the roadway and down the mountain about 10 feet or so, and I landed on my left forearm. My elbow pad got pushed up, and I basically slid solely on my left forearm along the frozen, graveled road surface , stopping less than a foot from the edge of the road. I got up, and my arm felt like it was on fire! I was sure that it was just a scrape, so I just pulled my elbow pad back down and went to retrieve my board.
Here's what I got out of it:
(This was taken more than a full day after the fact, so it is pretty much already all scabbed up.)
So 25ish psi was way too much, so I let my tires down to maybe 10 psi -- almost nothing. The tires were way soft, and yet I had to continue to throw powerslides every couple of feet all the way down. The entire ride down (including tire adjustment) took me a half an hour, so it was definitely a blast, but a load of it was powersliding. The road was just to narrow to carve up, unless I had extremely loosened my trucks up. But if I had done that, I would have speedwobbled like crazy if I had gone fast at all. So powersliding was the name of the game. I usually don't powerslide a whole lot, but by the time I got to the bottom I felt like a pro at it. To give you an idea of how many slides I had to throw: I started out with a brand new glove that had literally never been worn before, and by the time I reached the bottom, I was left with this:
It was quite the experience!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
New skis!
Thanks to Nathan for finding and bidding for me, I am now the proud owner of a NEW PAIR OF SKIS! (They now have bindings on them... I took these pictures about 2 weeks ago.)
Almost getting lost in the mountains of Montana
I am about to relate an ordeal that I went through this evening while trying to mountain bike. It has left me extremely worn out, so please excuse any choppiness that may creep into my writing.
It started out with attempting to find the place that I was going to ride at. I ended up taking the long way around, but I think I found it. At least, I did find a trail to ride. All was good for the first bit, except for the fact that big hills take a lot of effort to ride up. So I'm moseying along, and I end up getting a pinch flat. Well that was no biggy, I had my spare tube and mini tire pump along, so I just started changing my tire. As I was changing my tire, another rider came along, and I asked him if he was from the area, and we got to talking about the trails. He recommended that I continue along the trail I was on, hang a right at the T junction and climb up that trail, and at the top there was supposed to be a "totally bomber run with motocross jumps and hills... you know dirt bike jumps and stuff. It will drop you right back out in the area that you started."
I was like, "sweet," and so after I finished changing my tire, I hopped back on and kept going. Unfortunately, there was a creek crossing immediately after where I was changing my tire, and I was in the wrong gear so I ended up putting my foot down in the water. "Oh snap," but it was pretty warm out so I was pretty sure it would dry off pretty soon.
I climbed up the hill (it really was a climb) and I hung a right onto the trail. What the dude neglected to tell me was that these weren't just dirt bike jumps; they were dirt bike GAP jumps. So I went over the first one, dropped my front wheel into the trough and did and endo. It wasn't too bad, as the ground wasn't too far away due to my wheel being in a big hole, but the consequence turned out to be a severely bent wheel. I beat on it until it was at least mostly ridable, and continued on.
The trail forked. The trail that looked like the main trail had huge, old logs down all over it, so I took what looked like a narrower reroute. I pushed my bike along that narrow excuse for a trail for about ten minutes, decided it wasn't worth it, and turned around and went back and tried the other fork. I climbed over huge logs for about ten minutes, and turned around yet again. I decided that I didn't want to backtrack, so I decided to follow the narrow trail again.
(I'm really getting tired of this story, it sounds dull as I write it. )
I attempt to follow that pathetic excuse for a trail for about a half an hour to forty-five minutes or so, carrying or pushing my bike the whole way. I was very sure that it had been a trail at one time, as there was flagging here and there, but I could not tell if it had been traveled in sometime. I kept telling myself "I'll be there in just a couple of minutes..." I never got there. I then started to pray like crazy, as I was starting to get really freaked out. The light was disappearing fast as I hit a dry stream bed.
(I'm getting really really tired right now, and am finding it extremely difficult to concentrate.)
I figured that if it did get dark, a stream would be much easier to follow than the trail; I definitely did not want to lose it in the dusk and get well and truly lost. I decided that streams flow down hill, that I hadn't gotten over the ridge yet so the stream most likely joined with other streams and flowed downhill past the trail that I had ridden across on. And if not, it would end up somewhere in the Flathead valley, so I would be able to find a road. I began following the dry creek bed, and pretty soon there was water in the creek. Rather quickly there was too much water to avoid, so I began wading through it with my bike on my shoulder (and that mountain spring water was cold!!). It would have been sooo much easier if I had been wearing normal shoes or had not been carrying a bike, but as it was, I was doing both. Pretty soon I was wading through three foot water hole, the lower halves of my legs going numb. I tried following the creek from the bank intermittently, but bushwhacking through the underbrush was also extremely rough on the body.
(Now I'm really tired.)
Eventually, after a whole lot of pain, I made it back to my car. The end (of hell).
It started out with attempting to find the place that I was going to ride at. I ended up taking the long way around, but I think I found it. At least, I did find a trail to ride. All was good for the first bit, except for the fact that big hills take a lot of effort to ride up. So I'm moseying along, and I end up getting a pinch flat. Well that was no biggy, I had my spare tube and mini tire pump along, so I just started changing my tire. As I was changing my tire, another rider came along, and I asked him if he was from the area, and we got to talking about the trails. He recommended that I continue along the trail I was on, hang a right at the T junction and climb up that trail, and at the top there was supposed to be a "totally bomber run with motocross jumps and hills... you know dirt bike jumps and stuff. It will drop you right back out in the area that you started."
I was like, "sweet," and so after I finished changing my tire, I hopped back on and kept going. Unfortunately, there was a creek crossing immediately after where I was changing my tire, and I was in the wrong gear so I ended up putting my foot down in the water. "Oh snap," but it was pretty warm out so I was pretty sure it would dry off pretty soon.
I climbed up the hill (it really was a climb) and I hung a right onto the trail. What the dude neglected to tell me was that these weren't just dirt bike jumps; they were dirt bike GAP jumps. So I went over the first one, dropped my front wheel into the trough and did and endo. It wasn't too bad, as the ground wasn't too far away due to my wheel being in a big hole, but the consequence turned out to be a severely bent wheel. I beat on it until it was at least mostly ridable, and continued on.
The trail forked. The trail that looked like the main trail had huge, old logs down all over it, so I took what looked like a narrower reroute. I pushed my bike along that narrow excuse for a trail for about ten minutes, decided it wasn't worth it, and turned around and went back and tried the other fork. I climbed over huge logs for about ten minutes, and turned around yet again. I decided that I didn't want to backtrack, so I decided to follow the narrow trail again.
(I'm really getting tired of this story, it sounds dull as I write it. )
I attempt to follow that pathetic excuse for a trail for about a half an hour to forty-five minutes or so, carrying or pushing my bike the whole way. I was very sure that it had been a trail at one time, as there was flagging here and there, but I could not tell if it had been traveled in sometime. I kept telling myself "I'll be there in just a couple of minutes..." I never got there. I then started to pray like crazy, as I was starting to get really freaked out. The light was disappearing fast as I hit a dry stream bed.
(I'm getting really really tired right now, and am finding it extremely difficult to concentrate.)
I figured that if it did get dark, a stream would be much easier to follow than the trail; I definitely did not want to lose it in the dusk and get well and truly lost. I decided that streams flow down hill, that I hadn't gotten over the ridge yet so the stream most likely joined with other streams and flowed downhill past the trail that I had ridden across on. And if not, it would end up somewhere in the Flathead valley, so I would be able to find a road. I began following the dry creek bed, and pretty soon there was water in the creek. Rather quickly there was too much water to avoid, so I began wading through it with my bike on my shoulder (and that mountain spring water was cold!!). It would have been sooo much easier if I had been wearing normal shoes or had not been carrying a bike, but as it was, I was doing both. Pretty soon I was wading through three foot water hole, the lower halves of my legs going numb. I tried following the creek from the bank intermittently, but bushwhacking through the underbrush was also extremely rough on the body.
(Now I'm really tired.)
Eventually, after a whole lot of pain, I made it back to my car. The end (of hell).
Friday, September 14, 2007
More about school
Today we had more orientation stuff, and we went over all the rules and policies. It got pretty long... I will post some sweet pictures of the mountains sometime soon (maybe).
Hiking in Glacier National Park
We just got back from our trip to Glacier National Park, and I can honestly say that I have never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life! It was absolutely phenomenal! I'm going to post some pictures and stuff, but I really have to go through them all first. But for now, here are a couple teasers:
Monday, September 10, 2007
A quick update
I am in Montana. Stuff started at 4 o'clock today, so that was awesome, starting to get to know people and what not.
Anyhow, my first morning out here I had to drop my dad off in Whitefish to catch the train, so I decided that I might as well go mountainbiking since I was that close to Big Mtn. So I went biking, and it was absolutely amazing! It was an 8 mile ride to the top, which felt like it took forever, but the scenery was just fabulous! But what goes up must come down, and the 8 mile ride back down the mountain has to probably be the best run I have ever taken down a hill that wasn't on snow. It was just off the wall! Blisteringly fast down super-smooth singletrack for 8 miles... it does not get ANY better than that!
It is getting late and I'm tired, so I'll probably post some photos later on, after I get back from hiking in Glacier National Park. (**snigger snigger snigger**)
Anyhow, my first morning out here I had to drop my dad off in Whitefish to catch the train, so I decided that I might as well go mountainbiking since I was that close to Big Mtn. So I went biking, and it was absolutely amazing! It was an 8 mile ride to the top, which felt like it took forever, but the scenery was just fabulous! But what goes up must come down, and the 8 mile ride back down the mountain has to probably be the best run I have ever taken down a hill that wasn't on snow. It was just off the wall! Blisteringly fast down super-smooth singletrack for 8 miles... it does not get ANY better than that!
It is getting late and I'm tired, so I'll probably post some photos later on, after I get back from hiking in Glacier National Park. (**snigger snigger snigger**)
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Bubbs' Blog: "In Need of More Snow"
Starring Eric Glaze and Kevin Burgess... I think I spelled that right...
Amazing, isn't it?
Amazing, isn't it?
On the road to Bigfork, MT
I'm currently on the road to Bigfork, MT. After 16 hours of driving today, my dad and I decided to get a hotel room and take a break. We've got plenty of time, so we're taking 'er easy, plus it is going to be way nicer to drive through the mountains in the daylight rather than during the wee hours of the morning. We drove over 1,000 miles today.
That was all going to sound way cooler. I was going to mention that we stopped in Billings (population approximately 103,206) and there weren't any hotel rooms available in the entire town, and how the people there said that that was normal during the summer, but I neglected to, and now I don't feel like redrafting the whole thing. and I am way too tired to care. I'm totally sapped, but I decided it would be cool to post a little something something of an update and check my email/myspace/facebook. So until next time....
That was all going to sound way cooler. I was going to mention that we stopped in Billings (population approximately 103,206) and there weren't any hotel rooms available in the entire town, and how the people there said that that was normal during the summer, but I neglected to, and now I don't feel like redrafting the whole thing. and I am way too tired to care. I'm totally sapped, but I decided it would be cool to post a little something something of an update and check my email/myspace/facebook. So until next time....
Friday, September 7, 2007
Randomer August Monthly Update
Here is everything from August. Sorry that it is a tad slim, but towards the last half of the month I have been completely focused on getting ready for Montana. And as far as that goes, I'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning! The next time I write, I will be in the mountains!
Jumping off of a Cliff
Featuring a short video clip, and a picture.Big Sky Bible Institute
About school this fall, which I will be leaving for tomorrow morning.Color is such a concealing mask
A picture of Easter candy.A Beater Truck
The next vehicle I am going to buy.Big Trucks
Unless I buy one of these.The Fair: Before work, Thursday.
The onset of the Fair.Bat Infestation
Bats all over the place.Iron Cross Tail Grab 1/13/07
A short video clip featuring me skiing this past January. It's time to start thinking winter!Laid up, and pondering the state of the world
No mountainbiking for ten days??Drop-dead gorgeous
I hate doctors.I may just have to ride
Another drop-dead gorgeous day.Riding
My decision was...
Thursday, September 6, 2007
T-Minus 1 Day and still dropping...
Today my Dad and I spent all day tying up loose ends and shopping... we both throughly despise shopping in general. We had had enough of it to last us a long time by the end of the day. So tomorrow I'll spend most of the day packing and saying goodbye to people and such, and early Saturday morning we will depart.
So yeah, that's what's up with me. Sorry I've had no time to write anything constructive.
So yeah, that's what's up with me. Sorry I've had no time to write anything constructive.
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