Yesterday, Dec 14th, was our "good deed" day. It started on Monday when I drove from Kalispell to Hamilton MT and picked up two dogs for the English Springer Spaniel Rescue group (one springer, one clumber) and returned home with them. After a short night with two strange dogs in the house that wanted out every couple hours we got up at 5 AM to take them on to another foster home in Spokane WA.
An hour into the trip all the dogs were expressing a need to be out, so we stopped on top of the pass near Hot Springs MT and let them play in the snow for a few minutes before loading up and moving on... about 45 min later one of the dogs again wanted out so we stopped at a wide spot along the Clarks Fork and took the one rescue out on a leash... putting her back in, the clumber jumped/ fell out of the Suburban and took off down the parking spot... Lucky for us she did come back with only a bit of calling, begging and very little swearing.
Getting back in I knew I would not want my coat on for the rest of the trip to Spokane so removed it before getting back in (it will be important to know that later-trust me.)
Arriving in Spokane Valley, we stopped at the rest area in Post Falls to walk our own dogs knowing they would not get out at the foster care house. We drove to the foster care home for these dogs for the next two days and had a delightful conversation with the man (Bill Murphy) we met there. A retired military man, he had just recently got into the rescuing of dogs and was having a blast!
We left his house to start our Christmas shopping at Harbor Freight where when I got out, I discovered that I didn't have a phone on my belt anymore... retrace steps to Bill's house, but no phone there. If it had fallen out at the rest area we could only hope it would be picked up by an honest person that would turn it in to the police and we would get it back.
Giving up on any thoughts of bad things, we continued our shopping at Woodworkers Supply, Cabela's, etc.. and headed home. Stopping at the turn out we had walked the dogs and I had taken off my coat, there was my phone, inches from our tracks (I missed it) and a foot from a set of semi-truck tracks.. WHEW! The cold had drained the battery and it died while I was listening to my messages.
Happy that we had found the phone, we headed on toward home. A few miles on down the road we made the right turn at Plains MT and headed for Flathead Lake. A couple miles up the hill a man is standing in the middle of the road (it is now Very dark) and flagging down cars. The pickup in front of us nearly hit him but went on when he saw us stop.
The man told us that his pickup had slid off his driveway and there were two women in it that were hurt, could we call 911? Well, no our phone is dead... obviously upset he headed down the road toward the nearest house.. we told him we would return to Plains and call for help.
From the Subway store Lynn called 911 and we headed back to the scene. Once there we saw another car on the side with the man talking to them. Now Very upset he wants to go to the women and help them. We give him our blankets from our emergency kit and my flashlight and he heads across a field that we know ends at the base of a steep hill.. Thinking "NO WAY" I pulled the Suburban into the driveway of the house (no one home) and shined my lights on the hill.. sure enough, there were tracks down the hill/ cliff!!!He had slid off the road, got the pickup to stop for a second and told them to bail out as he jumped out the driver's door, they did not make it out.. this is a good 1/4 mile hill and too steep to even walk up in the snow on the ground. Had it rolled instead of coming straight down the outcome would not have been as good!
I had just gotten out and was digging out our mag light from the concole when the first ambulance drove by on the highway.. Waving them down with the light I had them drive through the field to the crash sight and left Lynn there to direct the rest of the crews to us..
The two women were out of the pickup by the time I walked over.. one Very serious, one hurt , but not as bad.. Soon there were EMT's and volunteer firemen all over.. we worked fast and furious for a few minute to get the women on back boards and in the ambulance. The first one to be flown out by Life Flight once she was stable and at the hospital. They were SO lucky that the pickup did not roll...
After the two women and the man had left for the hospital we reclaimed our flashlights from the crew and headed on our way with good deed number two done for the day!
Before going the last few blocks to home we stopped to buy lottery tickets, figuring if we had ever gained enough Brownie points for some good luck on our part, this was the day!
If I find out how the women are doing I'll let everyone know.. nothing on the news last night or this morning and nothing in the local paper...

High School turning demo

            Yesterday, November 17 the Glacier Woodturners Association from Kalispell put on a demo for the Flathead High School shop program. Over the course of 4 class periods many projects were demonstrated. Larry made custom file handles from a 1919 plan, Norm made mini tops, a Christmas Bell ornament and other small items, Joanne did finials (the small tops to boxes and ornaments that look like icicles), Al turned bowls from Box Elder and Elm, while I did plates from Maple. (see photos below).

            While this is going on Rich was playing MC, giving introductions, answering questions from the kids and generally directing them to look at the different projects happen. We have another demo planned for December at the Whitefish High School where we will do similar types of work. 

Do I continue posting?

            It seems that keeping a blog is no easier than keeping a journal. Something I did for many years, but have somehow lost the discipline to do so in the last few years. In an effort to rejuvenate both of those the blog and the journal, I’d like to ask for a hand from all of my readers. (do I have any readers?)

            If you are still here after that boring bit of “blogging” here is what I am asking. Post a comment to this blog and ask a question. I don’t care what the question is about, but make it something that I will have to write an answer to on this blog. That will give me the needed push to write and as most of you know; once I am started I’m hard to stop! One of my friends said it was kin to the old adage that shit rolls down hill…

            If I don’t get any responses to this than I’ll know that what I have to say is not considered worth reading or worth adding to most people’s busy schedules and stop taking up your time and take this blog off line.

            So, it’s all up to you my friends and readers… want to hear more of my drivel or not? Have specific things you would like to see photos of? Ask.       Oh, and I have dug out a clean/ blank journal pad and started filling it up with my day-to-day thoughts and ideas/ projects and follies.

Back in MT

Hello again everyone. Well I'm back in MT but might have to return to WY for another 10 day session when or IF, BLM gives us the go-ahead to do some testing on another site.

We found three house pits on the site we were on, many fire pits in those house pits and thousands of pieces of debitage and bone fragments. Most of the bones were small, but a few were large leg bones of Probably antelope or perhaps deer. We will know for sure once the lab has time to look at them. There were also several jaw fragments, again they will be sent to the lab to confirm the animal(s) they came from. We did not find any whole points, but did find several parts of points, including one Archiac point base. A stone pendant was also uncovered, basicly a "pretty" rock that has a hole drilled in it for hanging.

While WY is not a place I'd want to live full time, it was pretty nice while I was there.



A few rain showers did pass by, but only once while we were working and it didn't last all that long.



We were camped on the edge of the Great Divide Basin and there were Lots of "two track" roads in the area for me to ride my trials bike.



On the north side of the highway there were hills of solid rock that I'd have loved to ride on, but there are no two tracks over them so I was not able to do that. If I return next year I'm going to find a private land owner that will give me permission to ride on the rock on their property... I hope. :-)

Field work

Well, work this year has been hard to come by and I'm just now going out on my first dig. To that end, we have picked up a new (to us) trailer. (Tents are fine for a week or two, but this is two months work) A 1991 Shasta 30 footer.



Unlike any other 5th wheel we have owned (this is # 3) this one has the bedroom in the back and the living room upstairs. Hence the front of the trailer is Tall. It didn't seem to be too much of an issue when I pulled it back from Goldendale WA where we purchased it, but in a stiff head wind it might be. In the process of cleaning it up, making some minor repairs, and getting it loaded today and leaving for central WY tomorrow.

Along with that, there is Very limited internet connection while on the job site so I will not be updating my blog or be on FB during most of my time there. I do have one place that is 6 miles from camp that has limited internet access but we don't know yet if it's even still in business. (It was the only business left in a small town that went in for mining and has a reputation of shutting down for months/ years at a time before someone else starts it up). If it is, I'll check in once a week or so, if not... and no phone service there either. :-(

Trail wins again!

Last year I attempted to go up the Columbia trail that starts near the town of Hungry Horse here in Montana. It is a steep, narrow, and seldom used trail that was brought to my attention by some other riders who said it was one of the harder trails in the area. While I didn't find it all that hard, there are some narrow spots and a few sharp switch backs that are a bit tricky. 
What was the issue last year was trees that had blocked the trail and were simply too big for me to lift my motorcycle over. I Might have made it over, but then if I ran into more trees (which is almost a given if there is one, there will be more) I would have had to lift it back over on the way down after I was even more tired. So, I decided to give it up and try again later. The problem is that time is limited and I never had the time to attempt it again. 
This year, with a riding partner (Andy Reed) I decided to try it again. A decision that I don't regret, but in hind sight, think it might not have been the best trail to take Andy up for his second ride on a trials motorcycle. :-/ In my defense, I did leave it up to Andy to make the decision as to when we turned back. If he felt that it was more than he wanted to tackle or if it got to intense, we would come back down and go find a different trail. 
Here are a couple of photos from the trail. 
This first one is what stopped us this time. About 1/2 mile farther than I made it last year.. but still about 2 miles from the top of the divide. 

The next photo is of one of the switchbacks that make the trail "interesting" to ride. The trail goes by this root wad hole and makes a Hard right turn before going on up the hill. The fact that there was a Big sharp rock in the middle of the hole, no added pressure at all! :-)

A few times we almost were going by feel on the trail as the brush has so overgrown it this year that it disapears from view. Add to that, some of the over hanging brush is Devil's Club. If you don't know what that is, think leaves like giant raspberry plants, but with a spinney stalk that would put a rose bush to shame.

Since we couldn't make it to the top (the trail crew had been  up here, but must have only had one day to work on it, and didn't make it to the top either) we had to settle for terrible views like the two that follow. Don't worry, I'll be back either later this year or next year and WILL make it to the top of the divide on this trail!



One of the interesting things was a "hair trap" that was on a tree next to the root wad switch back that has a bit of Grizzly bear fur caught in it.. proof that we were not the only, or perhaps even the main, users of this trail.

What do you, my readers, think? Look like a trail I need to return to and make it to the top? Let me know your opinion!

Teaching wood working

Yesterday was spent teaching a group of high school seniors and their chaperones from Georgia. They were in Montana to enjoy the mountains of the Bob Marshel Wilderness, Glacier NP, and to generally enjoy nature. One of the chaperones is the son-in-law of a guy that has a house in both Atlanta and Big Fork so he arranged for the Glacier Wood Turners (the local turning group) to give them lessons on how to turn a bowl. While turning a bowl in one day is a bit of a challenge for new turners, they were all able to make it happen. In various states of finish, sanding quality, etc... but no one was left without one. Some of them even had some great results.
I have to compliment all of these young men on their manners, how they focused on the tasks at hand and listened to the instruction they were given.
While I don't have any photos of the bowls they turned (not sure Why I didn't think to take photos-too busy teaching I guess) I do have some photos to show bowls of my own that are similar to what they turned.



This is a bowl made from Russian Olive that I was given by my sister-in-law and brother-in-law (thanks Kayte and Kes) in Hermiston. it turned out pretty nice and was a good wood to work with, if a little hard to sand and not make wavy due to the difference in the hardness of the grain. It has a simple oil finish so they can use it for food and replenish the finish as needed.


the bowl below is one made from a piece of walnut that my other brother-in-law (Robert) had in his firewood pile and I was able to get from him in March. The size of the wood didn't allow me to make a big bowl, but this one seemed to turn out ok and is not taking up space in his display section of his entertainment center. I could not convince him it was "useable" :-)



The local fair is coming up in about 3 weeks and the club will be spending 5 days doing demos and talking to the public about turning. That should be both fun and tiring at the same time. While I don't nomally do public demos I don't think the members of the club are going to allow me to stay in the back ground this year!

The items for sale at the "Think Local" shop seem to be selling but I have not been down there to see just what has sold and what is still there. Almost afraid to go look for fear that they will all still be there!

Ok, this should be enough display of wood and texture for this blog and I have to go set my lathe back up and resharpen my tools after yesterday's lessons.

Thanks to all those that read this and/ or follow my blog.

Why I love trials motorcycles

A person asked me a few days ago why I liked the trials motorcycle over a regular dirt bike. Since the end use for each type of motorcycle is different, I can't say that I do like the trials over a dirt bike, enduro, street bike, etc., at any given time. All of them have their places, there specific use and area of need. There are times when I would love to have a seat, be street legal, etc... but then I ride into places like this. (Thanks to Andy Reed for this photo) Andy is a dual-sport rider that is now hooked on trials motorcycles after this trip! :-)



Who would not like a bike that made it so easy to get into a place with views like this? Knowing that some would say we have no place in an environment like this I have to counter with the fact that Lynn and I are both Leave No Trace master educators and probably leave an area we go into cleaner than before we got there. Every type of entrance into the back country leaves a trace, it is up to us to make that impact as small as possible. By using the trials bike we are doing that. We never get off the trail, turn back if the trails are muddy or soft, etc. It is because we value nature that we use these bikes.

Who would not like to be in country as beautiful as this...

Attempt to share photos from flickr.com

Ok, following up on the suggestion.. Will see if this works.

First post

I have been told by several of my friends that blog that I should start one myself... so here is a lesson everyone, be careful what you ask for!

I'm still working on finishing up my thesis and doing research to that end. A week of working on my brother-in-law's roof delayed that somewhat and the week after that with Lynn off, we worked on "fun" stuff and stayed home. That was productive for things getting done around the house and in the shop, but didn't do much for the thesis. Back to it some yesterday and more planned for today.

Thanks to a new friend (Bill Nickel) here in Kalispell I now have some of my wood turnings for sale at a store in town. 'Think Local' offers space for local artists to sell their work and take a small % of the sales. Since I have only had stuff in there for less than a day I don't know how well things will sell, but I know that Bill has sold several bowls and plates over the last couple weeks. I have a few boxes and a couple plates in there so I am not direct competition with Bills stuff. A couple of 10" plates made from Walnut that Robert was able to get for me are probably the best pieces there. Photos of them are on my flickr.com site.

On Sunday my neighbor, Andy Reed, and I went on a ride with the trials motorcycles up the Six Mile trail near Swan Lake. We were only able to make it about 3.6 miles on the 4.6 mile trail before we ran into snow over the trail and had to turn back. It was his first trip on a trials motorcycle so this was an ok thing. In a few weeks we plan a return trip with the hopes of making a 20 mile loop and coming down on another trial head. Photos and video of that trip are also on my flickr page.

Ok, that should be enough to see if this "blogging" is worth the effort. If you read this, please let me know by making a comment and I'll use those comments to see how often or if I need to continue.