Fall in the Bitterroot Mountains is magical. The colors are bright and beautiful, the temperatures are perfect for hiking, and the crowds are gone. Not that it’s ever that crowded here, but it’s even better now. We hiked the Blodgett Canyon Overlook trail on Tuesday. It’s a mere 1.5 miles and 400-foot elevation gain, with…
Category: Wilderness
Hiking Sweathouse Falls
One of the best things about living in the Bitterroot Mountain–a beautiful hike is never far away. Yesterday, the Amazing Sleeping Man and I hiked up to Sweathouse Falls. It’s a fairly easy hike, 2.5 miles with less than a 1,500 ft elevation gain, but it’s lovely. The biggest challenge of this trail is starting…
Backpacking the Lee Metcalf Wilderness — Beautiful and Humbling
‘1, 2, 3…’ This hill is so steep, my pack feels like a thousand pounds pressing me towards the earth, and I’m blowing like an ancient racehorse desperately trying to recreate his youth. I’ve been reduced to counting my steps just to keep moving. Maybe counting steps is better than the earworm plaguing me so…
Living in the Woods: A Privilege and a Responsibility
I am lucky enough to live in the foothills of the beautiful Bitterroot Mountains. It’s a privileged position–and like most privileges, it comes with responsibilities. I firmly believe one of those responsibilities is to make our property as ‘firewise’ as possible. I use the term ‘firewise’ because there is no way to make a forested property…