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.