kneetopia

Day 9 Mulege to San Fransquito

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 21:19:00 +0000

Day 9

Mulege to San Fransquito

175ish Miles

Once again, I am up before dawn. Bombearo is wrong, it can be Christmas every day, I'm up and excited wanting to drink it all in. I watch some more pelicans bomb the water and make a cup of coffee on the old Jetboil. J finds an odd looking "beetle" crawling on his pillow. Turns out this Montana kid has never seen a cockroach. I was surprised that this was the first one we had seen. We had a pretty long dirt end of the day planned so we headed out pretty early, stopping at the Pemex just south of town for fuel. We followed the highway north into Santa Rosalita and the continued on to San Ignacio. We knew that Effrain's place would deliver the goods, so we pulled for some Pacificos and tacos dorados.

We continued north onto El Marasal/Vizcaino and got some more fuel at the Pemex. We also made a stop at a store and picked up some provisions before diving off the grid to San Fransquito.

Fast forward.........A little nice bottle of tequila would go well with the beach.

Some more jerky and water, and we headed up the black trail for a bit, before breaking off for the dirt heading east. This section was one of the smoothest riding roads we had been on. Nice sand, not too deep, good scenery. We made good time and pulled into SF around 4pm. Juan was there, no Rosa. Man, we really wanted to meet her after reading a few other trip reports. Juan told us we could camp for 150 pesos/pp at the far cabana. Like others have mentioned, the place is in disrepair and the weather has beat it up pretty good ripping roofs off a few of the structures. But with that said, the shitters were as clean as we had seen and there was even a plunger. He asked us if we wanted to eat dinner, fish tacos at 6! We all soaked in the beauty and solitude of the place. I took a quick dip in el mar....it was chilly. J headed off for the rocks and did some fishing.

The fish tacos were some of the best on the trip and the Pacificos muy frio. We slapped up a few stickers and headed back for a nice fire on the beach. I slept like a log and probably sounded like I was sawing some. The stars were epic. I can't say enough about how much we enjoyed this spot. I had heard so much and it lived up to it. It's simple, rustic if you will, off the grid, all that shit. It's great

Believe it or not, this rig actually runs, even with 2 flat tires. Juan fired it up in the evening and drove it over to maybe where he kept his generator. KIR

Thank you to all who recommended it!

Another one minute highlight - watch in 1080p

[MEDIA=youtube]V6JvaCrjB9c[/MEDIA]

Day 8 Rest day

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 17:18:00 +0000

Day 8

Rest day

Nada miles 1

So much for rest that morning, I could hear pelicans bombing the water right outside our hotel room. Every couple minutes they were taking a fish from the river next to Hotel Serinidad. The sunrise was worth the wake up. A quick jet boil and we strolled out to the inlet, passing the military outpost near the airstrip. Interesting. J threw the flyline out and wasn't able to connect with anything. We all headed down to downtown Mulege to grab some pesos from the ATM, some breakfast (chiliequiles) and some more oil for oil change.

We headed down to Santispac, the colors ....wow.

Made a hammock buddy

The water was beautiful and perfect for swimming. The bar/restaurant there had beer, we took advantage of it. And then we proceeded to get burned as hell laying around in the sun all day. Everyone except for the ginger, Bombearo, who apparently thinks sunscreen is important? We talked to 3 people from Utah that had dingied in from a moored sailboat. They had flown down to Matzalan and bought boat, were sailing back north where they would take the boat out and trailer back to Utah.

J didn't bring the flyrod all this way for nuthin! Look at this monster......a finespotted jawfish

We ripped the black trail back to Hotel Serinidad and had a marg and swim. Bill the local drinker informed us of a good place to eat that was running a chile rellano night. In! One of my only painful get offs would occur on the night ride back to the hotel, a sandy corner, darkness, shorts/sandles and too many rellanos = one gash to the shin.

Highlight 60 second video---use 1080p

[MEDIA=youtube]ms7OyUD9Im4[/MEDIA]

Day 7 San Ignacio to Mulege

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 17:11:00 +0000

Day 7

San Ignacio to Mulege

220-ish miles

We got a decent start on the day and went down to eat with Effrain, his parents were working the place this morning. His madre cooked up some mean huevos rancheros.....yep again. They paired well with Pacifico, amazing how well it goes food.

The road out of town was paved for a while then turned to improved dirt closer to Laguna Ignacio. The ride after reaching the water was awesome. Pulsing through perfectly smooth flats and small depressions. Again, some of my favorite riding of the trip.

THere were nice pockets of sand in here too and some really slick ass skimmed mud, better watch that at 70mph! Looks like it would be some epic mangrove exploring along here.

We rolled through a couple sleepy fishing villages and got to hand out some more stickers to some great kids.

There was dodging dogs as well, almost dumped it on the sandy corner as I tried to outrun this pit bull.

We stopped in Scorpion bay for a lunch of dorados tacos and beers. There's a good little gas shack out towards the point. Some weird red tide on the water. Nice clean town. The day just kept getting better. We dropped off the pavement and then started a series of bisecting a few valleys that had small river crossings in the bottom. And then hit the pavement for a bit into La Purisma.

The "pass" heading east out of La Purisma was one of my favorite vantages of the trip.

That was followed up by some beautiful country, passing small and very remote ranches. These folks out here are tough. I wish we could have pulled in and talked to a few. There were lots of burros and horses out here. I was pleasantly surprised to not be flatting. The rocks were relentlless and varied. I was runnning HD tubes and about 23lbs of pressure. That's what I rocked most of the trip. I had considered lowering the PSI, but I wasn't pinch flatting, so I dealt with the rockhard pressure.

When we connected to the hwy and headed north, we were ready for Hotel Serinidad. Unfortunately, we hauled ass up north and didn't take as much time as I would have liked to take in the bonita vistas. Next time. at 5pm. .

We pulled in around dusk and for some reason decided to do some bike maintenance. It's a great thing to do after riding over 200 miles.[emoji12] But some Tecates seemed to help the job. The food at the hotel was pretty decent and were the margs.

Day 7 highlights - turn on high quality

[MEDIA=youtube]mgPLpZvKQXI[/MEDIA]

Day 6 Bahia Asunscion to San Ignacio 180-ish miles

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 03:19:00 +0000

Day 6
Bahia Asunscion to San Ignacio
180-ish miles

We enjoyed a great sleep at the La Bufadora. And found an excellent sunrise out on the point from La Bufadora,. We only had one unfriendly....a scorpion in the shower...smash.

J took a picture of this exotic looking lizard. Too bad he was fake, fooled us.

We headed down to Mari's for some excellent huevos rancheros, yet another variation....on tostadas this time. Pacificos called our names, so we obliged. We stopped for a few supplies at the local "hardware"/marine store for a few hose clamps, looked for some locktite but had no luck. A quick fuel stop at the Pemex and then we made a right on to the dirt track paralleling the beach outside town. After a while next to the powerlines, we found a track that was closer to the beach, another favorite track for the trip.

Saw a few dolphins playing the surf as we took in the beauty, but you can't see them in this photo...sorry.

We found a great little entrance down onto a beach just outside one of the fishing villages. The beach went on for miles, but we were too chicken to attempt continuing on and getting back up to the road, so we just back tracked.

Back out to the washboard road following the coast, we drifted through a few little towns and then Punta Abreojos. I wanted to check out Campo Rene but didn't make it happen. As we rolled down the black trail near there, I spied some stopped vehicles up ahead and slowed as we approached. There was a shot up Tacoma 50 feet off the road, riddled with bullet holes and a few policemen on scene. They had police taped the area off and had all the shells marked off on the pavement. We were wave around and kept on rolling. Kind of an eerie scene. .

A few miles further, we came up on the Marinos, which were decked out in the usual and had a car stopped on the highway. Just mind your own business and keep on tracking. 5 miles further and J got startled by the Marinos truck hurtling past him as he hugged the center line, they blazed past at probably 90 mph. I was starting to think we were in the hot zone. Luckily shortly there after, we hit our turn off into the dirt and braaped some nice double track towards San Ignacio.

Once in Mulege, we took up the Big Dog recommended hotel, Desert Inn. Great little spot with a clean pool and clean rooms. Not a bad price, as they also offered a room with 3 beds....no spooning tonight Bombearo! They also have secure gated parking. We rolled into town and hit up a little taco stand called Kadakaamán close to the Mision. The owner Effrain was awesome, the silver tongued devil pulled us in and we had a great meal and cold beers.

The mision was closed by the time we finished up la cena. We closed out the night with some margs at one of the restaurants and chatted with a few translator gals that were leading a tour bus of blue hairs. Bombearo quizzed them on their EMS skillz. Surprisingly, but not really, they had no EMT or immediate plans if one of their customers went down. Bombearo proceeded to teach them the CPR and other field protocols. I'm sure they left like OK, thanks Los Trago Humo.

Check out the highlights clip --and be sure to watch'r in 1080p

Day 5 San Borja to Bahia Asunscion 175ish miles

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 03:12:00 +0000

Day 5
San Borja to Bahia Asunscion
175ish miles

After dreaming of snakes crawling out the palapa onto my tent, I awoke and enjoyed a badass sunrise with some java. We had a good sized day inline and hoped to get another good start as we had the day before. We had asked Jose about Huevos Rancheros (he probably rolled his R's about this stupid gringo request) and he said he could make it happen. Unfortunately machaca pescado would have to do, it was good stuff though.

We headed south and left the hwy after about 10 miles from Rosarito. It was some great flowy 2 track that headed west towards the coast and then more south. A few spots as we neared Laguna Manuela were a bit tricky on the loaded KLR with deep sandy ruts. I had one get off in that stuff, but no damage.

In G. Negro we found a great taco truck and filled our faces. A stop at Pemex and a couple Tecates. We short cutted the pavement with some great 2 track towards Bahia Asunscion. You could roll wide open in most parts. And that's just what Bombearo did. J and I came around a corner and started seeing tools scattered in the berm. Getting off our bike we picked up tool, after bolt, after trinket for a couple hundred yards. Bombearo had been having issues with his tool pouch riding on top of his Giant Loop. It had apparently decided to give up the ghost. We finished and mounted up finding him just around the corner with the bike on it's side and him prying on something. SHIT.

He was trying to remove a wad of metal and plastic that had took up residence in his rear brake rotor. The tool pouch had ripped open, its contents somehow dropping down into the rotor, where they became instantly lodged and brought his bike to a skidding halt. There was a plastic bag, a rag and some chain links shoved in there. After 3 monkeys F-d the football for a few, we got it out and found everything in good shape.

We rode by a couple pieces of beef jerky, but it didn't taste good.

The highway was brutally windy crossing the salt flats, cool looking though.

Thanks to BigDog's recommendation, we found Juan at the La Bufadora Hotel, what a great guy. He called ahead for us and pointed us to a stellar dinner at Mari's .

Highlights for the day - turn on 1080p

Skiers vs Snowboarders 1985

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Fri, 05 Jan 2018 21:04:00 +0000

Haha. Well one of these days maybe I'll get around to linking up the rest of the Baja trip. For now, laugh on this.

Day 4 - Coast camp to San Borja Mision

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Wed, 03 May 2017 13:20:00 +0000

Day 4
Coast camp to San Borja Mision
110ish miles

A great night sleep in the damp ocean air led us to some scenic ass coffee overlooking the waves. The jetboil delivered some of the best coffee for 50 miles around.

We headed out southeast down the coast around 9am, with the weather picture perfect. This ride was another favorite of the trip. Nobody around, just a few fishing camps.

Drink it in.....

The great riding gave way to some good washboard and then dumped us onto the pavement near a little town. We dropped down in to see what was shaking and found a little beach access.

It was the first time any of us had officially road sand on the beach. We thoroughly enjoyed our childish selves ripping back and forth up the beach, possibly harassing the seagulls as well as the campers. Sorry.

Progressing down the highway we ran into the town of Rosarito and fueled up at the "gas truck" :-).

Poor man was in some serious leg pain, part way through the fill up he asked us to self serve. But we still paid the FULL SERVICE rate :-) We chowed down at Mauricios and then repeated our drybag/ice/tallboy method out of the abarote. Beers aren't even shaken when we get to camp!

The ride up to San Borja was great, desert was green and the road lively. We got to the mision earlier than we had on any of our previous days. It felt good not to have the pressure of night fall.
We had a tour from the younger son and then had Jose, the father show us around their property. They had been working that land for 70 or 80 years. It was interesting to see the contrast of the fertile and irrigated trees and the desert just feet away. We asked about the possibility of cena, and he replied no problema. We ate at their house and enjoyed a simple meal of rice, potatoes and beans. Deliciosa.

Today's sermon....more throttle

This snake snuck up on J, just looking for some shade in the palapa. Anyone know what this is? Jose said it wasn't bad, but he may have mistook my poor spanish. It later cruised up in the rafters.

A great sunset. Well worth the 150 pesos/pp

We almost took this little perro home.

Day 4 highlights - Turn on HD 1080

Day 3 - San Quintin to a remote ass beach

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Wed, 03 May 2017 12:32:00 +0000

Day 3
San Quintin to a remote ass beach
170ish miles

Shaking off some strong ass margarita induced fog, we strolled over to the restaurant. While sitting we couldn't help but employ some of our firefighter skillz and pull down a smoke detector that was beeping a loud ass low battery beep. Huevos Rancheros were solid! We hit the black trail at the crack of 11am after getting some gas at the Pemex at Los Pinos. They hwy drive down to to Catavina was awesome, at least on the KLR. The 350 and 450 were crying about their butts, but we pressed on.

We found the barrel gas in Catavina. Then headed over to the hotel for some lunch.

This is gonna taste good!

We hit up the abarottes, stocking up on snacks and beers as we would be camping out at the beach tonight. Bombearo kindly packed ice and beers in a drybag in his backpack for the next 80 or so miles of dirt

The ride heading south out of Catavina towards the coast was phenomenal, the desert was green as green and the cactus were ridiculous!

Some great little strand stretches and smooth stuff too. All was flowing well, except for feeling the pressure of the pending night fall that as nearing. At about 5pm, I heard a funny squeak emanating from front tire.....braaap...then I felt it...a flat.

We worked like a pit crew and had it changed in about 20 minutes.

There happened to be some nearby timbers we used to prop the old girl up. I yanked out the affected tube and found a pin hole.....hmmm must be a cactus, nothing else on/in the tire. I dropped in the heavy duty tube I had brought (also had a spare tube for the rear). I pulled away cringing at the thought of how many more flats may be in my future.

Continuing on we finally hit the fish camp on the coast. The sun dipped below the horizon. We rolled a few more miles and pulled into the area we would camp in the dark. We found a perfect little spot that was out of the wind. Amazingly enough we scavenged a few pieces of wood and found that they burned awesome. We all expected by their size that it would be a fart in the frying pan, must be some sort of coastal thing? We enjoyed the Tecate tall boys and dozed off to stars equivalent to what we are used in the Big Skys of Montana. Highlight video - make sure to put on HD1080 [

Day 2 - Mikes Sky Rancho to San Quintin 100ish miles

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 04:56:00 +0000

Day 2
Mikes Sky Rancho to San Quintin
100ish miles

The Tecates flowed like the rio the night before as we shared stories with some other riders from Bend, Oregon. A bit of frost on the roof that morning had us like WTF! this feels like Montucky. We knew the cooler temps would be short lived. We exchanged some map info with the Oregonians and we shoved off south, with the idea of hitting their recommended trail out of Rancho Coyote. The trail out of Mikes was a work out for the ole KLR, with the other boys making short work of it. The baby heads were enough to keep my fully loaded bike on it toes.

Some awesome looking blooms as we headed out.

We passed a entourage of Mexican 4 wheelers heading the same way. That must have been some slow going.

We stopped in at Rancho Meling for a few cold ones, the cervezas were mucho refreshing and we enjoyed the rancho porch.

We back tracked to Rancho Coyote and took the trail that takes off to the west just as you come into the ranch from Mikes (before the cattleguard). I was feeling some trepidation about the trail, as the riders who suggested it were obviously better and had 690's with a lot less gear. I agreed to give'r a try. We encountered some sand for the first bit and then got into a few rocky dry creekbed sections. While the KLR did handle it, it was at the upper limits of my skills and teetering on possible bike damage if I tipped er over. After 5 or so miles, we hit a junction and hung more to the south.

This overgrown and little used road was more manageable, just lots of rock. It spit us out at goat ranch, where we eventually encountered a locked gate. We reluctantly tipped the bikes over and dragged them under the gate, just thankful that the folks working in the nearby fields didn't seem to be concerned with us. We also took a few minutes to refurb my buddies drybag set up on 450. It was bouncing all over place and had already worked through one of his NRS straps.

We soon dumped onto the pavement and flowed through some nice looking ag land. There were a chitload of bees on that section, several times riding through what felt like someone tossing a handful of gravel in the air. Only one rider picked up a sting to the face.

We crossed Hwy 1 and headed out for the coast. This riding along here was some of my favorite, beautiful views and smooth. It was crazy to see how many folks were working along this section, bagging up rocks for what I assume was destined for landscaping purposes. And you thought your job sucked!

We pulled into Molino Viejo right at dusk, ready for some good food and drinks. The boys ordered a couple of bubbling cauldrons of goodness

There were several moto groups hanging out at the hotel's bar area. A few cool guys from Colorado on 990's (advriders?) and a big possee of SoCal riders on smaller bikes. The hotel was great and the food even better. One guy commented on it being like the Claim Jumper of Mexico.....jajajaa

This dude was tearing it up in the bar. Good, but one of the more aggressive serenaders I've seen in Mexico. Are you having a conversation? Don't worry mi amigo.....I'll get a little closer and a little louder :-).

Here's a 60 second highlight of the day

Day 1 - Mexicali to Mikes

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 19:05:00 +0000

Day 1
Mexicali to Mikes
175ish miles

Just like Christmas eve, I slept like shit in the HoJo of Calexico. Rousting the boyz, we enjoyed a super continental brekkie and set out to find a place to park the truck and trailer for 2 weeks. We settled on Parking Del Valle - Parking Lot, Forklift Service & Storage Yard. Pulling it to the yard, my gut churned a little bit. The lot was full of wrecked cars and parted out cars. We spoke with el Jefe and he set our mind at ease, 24 hour watchman, razor wire....the works. The only thing he suggested was we remove the license plate....okay....when in Rome. We geared up and set out. Give this place a look, we had no issues and it was only $4/day. He even moved some junkers with the forklift to give our rig a front row parking place.

Had to include the obligatory entrance shot

Followed by the turn right after entering and following the non existent WALL!

It was a great first look for Bombearo and J, as they were Mexico newbs. We followed the wall for 5 or so miles and then weaved through the ghettos of Mexicali. I purposely and maybe stupidly thought it would more interesting to fumble through the west side of Mexicali. The sights and the smell for the 2 newbs was eye opening.

We beat feet for La Rumorosa and then turned off for Laguna Hanson. Grabbing fuel just at the Pemex, just before the turn. Only 2 miles onto the dirt and we had our first mechanical. I had added a tool tube to my bike, on the opposite of the exhaust.

Well, I think the first good bump caused the swingarm to come up and contact the tube. This resulted in the black KLR chain guard wrapping it self up in my wheel. After dicking around for an hour to remove the shit show and reinstalling it, I pitched the tube off the side of the road. Braaap.

Pulling the mess out of the wheel

Cruising the road to Laguna Hanson.....braaap!

Valle de Trinidad

Minute highlight of the first day....make sure to turn Quality on to 1080p HD

Baja 2017 - 13 days and 1900 miles

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 18:51:00 +0000

This thread is somewhat of a dream that started to form over 5 years ago when I figured out that I need to buy a motorcycle. I don't remember exactly what the spark was, but something to do with the cliche stuff of Dusk to Glory and The Long Way Round. I was at a point in my life that I needed something new. So I bought an 06 KLR650 with the goal of riding somewhere in Mexico for more than a week.

Let it be known, the name is tongue in cheek, joking and hopefully translates into a cheesy meant The Smoke Eaters.

During those 5 or so years, I farkled too much like all KLRistas do. And I putzed around Montana and Idaho doing mostly on day trips. And then I spent an shit ton of time in here reading and reading. I saved and bookmarked an enormous amount of information. The years passed and I still had yet to put dates to my Mexican adventure. Then finally a year and half ago, my lovely wife Mrs. Snirt said, " You just need to pick a date and then things will fall into place." So as any good husband does, I obeyed and announced to all my potentially riding mates that it was going down in March of 2017. I immediately had one bite from a co-worker, Bombearo. He brought the skillz, mechanical prowess and fun factor that would be perfect. Digging into the details of my plan, at times I thought he may bail. We picked up a 3rd rider (not on advrider....yet) and stuff fell into place. Working at FD, there were numerous other bomberos that were on the fringes, but couldn't commit. Enough with the background.....We left Montana at 0400 hours with the trailer and 3 bikes - KLR650, WR450 and a KTM350. We hauled ballz all day, pounding a case of redbullz and dreaming of cold Tecate. 1200 miles and 20 hours later we arrived in Calexico. This trip is very close copy of BigDogAdventures route. He was awesome, helping me with questions and sharing the ultimate GPS track. We would follow it and became more confident in it's delivery as the days progressed. Big Dog is the man!

Missoula - Snowiest winter since 1996

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 16:58:00 +0000

The official snow depth at the Missoula airport stood at 15 inches this week, marking the first time since 1996 the city had that much snow on the ground at any given point.

Corby Dickerson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Missoula has recorded 39.9 inches of snow this season – two inches above average for an entire winter.

“We’re already 2 inches above normal for an entire winter, and we aren’t even halfway through January,” Dickerson said Friday. “We’re ahead of normal and will have an above-normal winter.”

The average snowfall for December is typically around 11 inches, though Missoula received just shy of 28 inches this December. Snowfall from January through May generally averages 21 inches.

If the rest of the winter is average, Dickerson said, Missoula stands to record nearly 60 inches of snow this season, or roughly five feet.

“It’s been 20 years since Missoula has seen this much snow in the city itself,” Dickerson said. “It’s the first time we had a snow depth of 15 inches or greater since 1996.”

The cold temperatures – subzero at times – has kept the valley snowpack in place. The average temperature in December was 5 degrees below normal. So far this January, Dickerson said, the average temperature in Missoula is 16 degrees below normal.

Snowfall records also are being tested in other categories this winter. From Dec. 9 to Jan 9., Missoula recorded nine days with snowfall over 1 inch.

“The last time we had that amount was 2008 when we had eight days with snowfall over an inch,” Dickerson said. “In 1996, we had 11 days over an inch. It wasn’t one storm in 1996, but it felt like it because it snowed for 5 days in a row. This is the snowiest it has been since 1996.”

Back in early December, Nick Silverman with the Montana Climate Office at the University of Montana forecast near normal temperatures in western Montana with a slight increase in precipitation.

The snow is piled high just about everywhere in Missoula. (Martin Kidston/Missoula Current)

His winter forecast was based on a weak La Nina setting up in the Pacific Ocean. The phenomena remains in place, and Dickerson said predictions suggest it will linger for a little longer.

“We expect La Nina to remain in place,” said Dickerson. “The Climate Prediction Center just released their latest findings. It will be designated as a weak La Nina, but La Nina nonetheless.”

While the Missoula Valley is above average in snowpack, the mountains surrounding the valley are running at around 80 percent of normal. Dickerson attributed that to the recent arctic air that has sapped moisture from the snow.

The cold temperatures should ease as the wet weather returns.

“We anticipate more wetter winter storms than what we’ve seen,” Dickerson said. “It could be mixed with some rain. We’re evaluating what areas might be susceptible for that.”

Flooding or ponding remains a concern.

“There’s no prolonged areas of warm temperatures or precipitation,” Dickerson suggested. “The biggest concern in the next seven to 10 days with any rain potentially causing issues is that a lot of the storm drains are covered up with snow right now.”

Contact reporter Martin Kidston at info@missoulacurrent.com

Makes you proud to be a Montanan

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Tue, 17 May 2016 05:28:00 +0000

A great episode about Montana. Bourdain does it well just like he always does. He manages to interview/share food & drink with some of the great people of Montana. Not to mention shedding some light on the ever growing important topic of public land access.

Watch it, you'll be glad.

I do the foot rest... How bout you?

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:52:00 +0000

Keeping it real, getting old.

Spring thaw started early and I'm about to barf

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 17:38:00 +0000

December 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 06:04:00 +0000

El Nino? Things have been snowy in the Missoula Valley and a decent start to skiing beginning last week. Ran across this in the Missoulian:

Jeff Kitsmiller, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Missoula, said the city met the definition of a “sunny day” twice in December. Two sunny days are predicted in January while fog dominates the weather headlines. But that’s winter living in a valley bottom.

Unfortunately, I may miss a bit of Montana January. We'll see what ol El Nino does! Laters.

Hunt Right Montana

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 19:09:00 +0000

I just happened to run across this and thought it was great to see an organization promoting solid hunting ethics. Just as they state, a few can ruin it for the many.

Hunt Right link here

I took the girls out hunting this weekend, staying in a FS cabin and really immersing ourselves in the activity at much as possible. Both were as excited as I've seen them in a long time. They had a great time and the laughs were a plenty. While we didn't lay eyes on any legal elk or deer, we did manage to harvest a large ruffed grouse. I shared my views on hunting and some mistakes I've made over the year, touching on ethics.

We all walked away with some great memories and Mama had a little quiet house for the two days :-).

Not sure what was going here, maybe a pissed off neighbor?

Where ya been?

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 16:34:00 +0000

Been a while since there's been a post on the old kneetopia. Life's been busy and I've fell off the writing habit. The Campbell clan had a busy summer and fall. I spent 3 weeks in the woods on fire in August, greatly accelerating summer. It always goes by too fast. Summer was hot as Hades. But fall has been awesome, if not unseasonably warm. But you gotta enjoy the Indian Summer. I had 2 great archery hunting trips, one down towards SW MT and one over in the Missouri Breaks. Both were awesome, lots of bugling bulls but just 20 yards short.

Quick ride up Blue Mtn

William and I's first bow hunt

Will and I saw these elk on our first hunt together

Bear skull that I found on a hunt

The Missouri Breaks!

A break from the brutal heat

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Sat, 11 Jul 2015 18:06:00 +0000

We woke up to some much needed rain this morning in Missoula. Its been hotter than hell for what seems like the last 4 to 6 weeks. The weather Office reported that April May and June were the second driest on record. So far no real big fires in Montana. Canada on the other hand is burning up and sending smoke signals down this way, could be a message? ;-)

The temps have been in the 90s consistently for weeks. The rivers are record low and fire restrictions are pushing close to stage 2 soon. The rain feels nice.

Magruder Corridor motorcycle ride

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:36:00 +0000

Let me start by saying how much I love my wife! She is the best and is willing to put up with my sometimes impulsive hobbies.

As of late the adventure touring on my KLR 650 has haunted my brain. I had been wanting to do the Magruder Corridor road for the last few years. Each year there had been excuses, fires, life etc. A three day window opened up and I seized the moment. Leaving the house I felt somewhat rushed, having packed just the night before. But I knew I had a operational moto, fuel, food, shelter and anything else could be dealt with a long the way. It was nice to be rolling towards the wilderness with such a minimal amount of gear (compared to what is required for camping with 3 kids).

I busted south from Missoula, following hwy 93 to Conner, MT, then up the West Fork of Bitterroot. The Magruder road was in good shape and was approximately 110 miles from end to end, the majority of it being dirt. Finding nothing too exciting to camp at along the way, I continued onto to Red River Hotsprings. What a great find, if you are ever in that area, you should go. I overnighted at the campground just down the road.

The next day I continued on into Elk City and had a big breakfast and got fuel. I was having an issue with my radiator fan (bike almost overheating at low speeds) so I decided to detour to Grangeville to see if it could be fixed. No such luck, both mechanics said....well could get to it next week...thanks buddy. So I bagged out on the remaining planned route (Lolo Motorway) and headed for Missoula. A ice cold beer at the Lochsa Lodge refreshed me and I hit up the Elk Meadows road back to Hwy 12.

Forest Service Chief predictions on wildfire season

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Tue, 05 May 2015 20:05:00 +0000

Clear your brush, pack your bags and hope you don't have asthma!

Link article

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell presented the Forest Service forecast on the upcoming 2015 fire season in testimony today before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Forest Service researchers expect 2015 to continue the trend of above average fire activity.

"Above normal wildland fire potential exists across the north central United States and above normal wildland fire potential will threaten many parts of the West this summer," said Chief Tidwell. "We anticipate another active fire year, underscoring the need to reform our wildfire funding."

The forecast indicates there is a 90 percent chance that this year's Forest Service fire suppression costs will be between $794 million and $1.657 billion, with a median estimate of $1.225 billion, potentially forcing the diversion of funding from other vital programs to support suppression operations. Any costs above the median is greater than the "10 year average" and would force the Forest Service to leverage funding from other land management programs. Diverting funds to cover the cost of wildfire suppression affects other critical Forest Service programs and services, said Tidwell, including efforts to reduce wildfire risk through mechanical thinning, prescribed fires, and other means.

Wildfire suppression costs have increased as fire seasons have grown longer and the frequency, size, and severity of wildfires has increased due to changing climatic conditions, drought, hazardous fuel buildups, insect and disease infestations, nonnative invasive species, and other factors. Funding has not kept pace with the cost of fighting fire. Over the last 10 years, adjusting for inflation, the Forest Service has spent an average of almost $1.13 billion on suppression operations annually.

The President's Fiscal Year 2016 budget includes a proposal to reform the way that wildfire suppression is funded. Aligned with the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, these reforms are necessary to ensure the Forest Service continues to deliver the full scope of its mission.

Chief Tidwell said the Forest Service has the capability and responsibility to protect life, property, and natural resources. The responsibility to respond to wildfire is not isolated to the Forest Service. It works extensively with partners within the Department of Interior (DOI) as well as State, tribal and local firefighting organizations to support wildland fire management operations. These cooperators are essential to ensuring that every wildfire receives an appropriate, risk informed, and effective response regardless of the jurisdiction.

Within the Fiscal Year (FY) 15 appropriation for Wildland Fire Management, the Forest Service will be able to mobilize approximately 10,000 firefighters for the upcoming fire season, as well as up to 21 airtankers available for operations on exclusive use contracts, additional air tankers available through "Call When Needed" contracts, and the capability to mobilize cooperator air tankers, if available, through agreements with the State of Alaska and Canada. In coordination with the military there are also eightMobile Airborne Firefighting System-capable C-130's available to meet surge requirements, as well as an extensive fleet of more than 100 helicopters available to support operations.

The Forest Service has worked collaboratively with its partners to develop the National Cohesive Wildland Fire ManagementStrategy, of which fuel treatment is an essential component. In 2015, $32 million of the Hazardous Fuels appropriation was allocated to 50 projects in areas with a likelihood of high intensity fire within populated areas or near important watersheds for municipal water supply.

The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program also assists in the agency's work with partners to conduct hazardous fuel treatments and ecosystem restoration that encourages economic and social sustainability, leverages local resources with national and private resources, reduces wildfire management costs, and addresses the utilization of forest restoration byproducts to offset treatment costs and benefit local economies.

The mission of the Forest Service, part U.S. Department of Agriculture, is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.
Tavis Campbell
IAFF Local 271
406.546.2956 : campbelltavis@gmail.com
Stepping Up: A Guide to The Ridge at Bridger Bowl

Spring time

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 04:46:00 +0000

Just as in years past, I continue to speculate and watch the fire weather forecast in the spring. Why? I don't know exactly. But I usually find myself with extra time on my hands during Spring time. I also think it's some sadistic thing that carries over from my days with the Forest Service. I only did 6 seasons with them, but it left a lasting mark. I enjoy my city fire job much more than the dirty days of the FS, but somehow I still like fighting a good old fashioned forest fire. The vagrant wandering style, camp food, monotony and some hard earned cash is sometime fun.

While I am not hoping for smokey skies this summer, things are still looking a bit ominous across the West. California continues to face serious drought and lack of snow pack. As Unofficial Networks put it: "Tahoe had one shitty season. Squaw Valley received a measly 79″ at their base this entire season. . As of today, April 23th, 2015, Lake Tahoe’s snowpack is at 0% of average. Other regions have not faired much better with Central Oregon at just 9% of average, Northern Washington’s Cascade Mountains at 6% and Utah having the statistically worst ski season in history." That is some scary shit right there.

The spring has been nice here in Missoula. We've had some very nice weather and quite a bit of it dry. The family and I have been able to enjoy some hikes and mountain bikes rides. Make hay while the sun shines right? Will turned 3 on Easter and we celebrated with a crazy amount of candy. I ducked down to the Paradise Valley for some shed hunting with my good friends.

Showing my age?

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 09:36:00 +0000

I guess it's probably a true sign of getting old when your conversation (or writing) is dominated by weather and your kids?

The past week was another spring like nirvana. Weekend temps were pushing 60 and blue skies made for good sliding up @ Discovery. Everyone is making great progress on skis, with Will skiing off the Goldbug chair for the first time and girls now feeling confident on intermediate runs. No tears again on the mountain!

We stayed at a friend's cabin, the kids talk about every stay like it's Disneyland. It truly is a special place, modeled after a forest service lookout. A growler a Philipsburg Brewery topped the night off and pancakes fired the morning up. We explored the woods for antler sheds, but found only decaying bones (elk?). Kids tracked the moose by the many piles of fresh scat in the area. We even snuck in some target practice with the BB gun (or if you are Payton.. the "baby gun"). It's so refreshing to look at things through your kids eyes.

My general lack of motivation towards skiing this winter was not helped by the 65 degree temps this week. I dusted off the mountain bike and dodged piles of defrosting dog poop at Blue Mountain. The lack of skiing showed up in my pedal power, out of shape. But hey, i guess that's all the more reason to get the KLR moto ready!

Summer in the Winter time

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 04:06:00 +0000

Everyone in the West is talking about the lack of winters presence with snowfall in West almost non-existant in some places. Oregon and Washington are reporting anywhere from 18 to 50 of average snowpack. Alaska is reporting around 36 percent of average. The water content of the snowpack in the Sierras, ranged from a paltry 17 to 41 percent of the average on February 26.

.
Around Missoula, the lower elevations from my guess have got to be below average. The college rag ran this graphic recently. We haven't really had any substantial snow in the valley to speak of. Let' s hope this isn't a developing trend.

I rolled the dice and opted not to get a Snowbowl pass this year (did the same last year). It's been odd not to have the coveted piece of plastic to rely on when I'm bored or feel the need to stretch my legs. But I have to say, this might be one of those years to be okay missing (at least considering the total number of deep days we've had this year). I've been lucky enough to hit 2 good deep days (12" plus).

Tracy and I also were able to con my parents (just kidding) into watching the kids while we had a insanely refreshing vacation in the Puerto Vallarta/Sayulita area. It was everything we wanted and then some. Now we have to deal with remaining dreams of buying a house down there. Anyone have a couple hundred $k you can spare?

We've been getting out with the kids and they've been having a blast. William is wedging to a stop and we've had 2 days at Discovery so far with NO CRYING! Not a tear shed by one of them. And another milestone was reached, Payton and Gwynn got on the chair and rode it all by themselves! Almost brought a tear to dear old Dad's eye ;-0.

I leave you with this funny little note that semi-rad.com wrote to old man Winter.

Dear Winter:

Hey man. How’s it going? A few of us were just talking about you. And by “just,” I mean for the past two months. Wondering what you’re up to, where you’re at, if you’re going to make it out West this year, or if we should just put the skis and stuff away until December.

I saw via a couple people’s Facebook and Instagram feeds that you’ve been spending some time and precipitation in the Northeast—that’s cool, please give those folks a high-five from us and tell them to enjoy it. I don’t want to sound entitled or anything, but it seems like you’ve kind of blown your whole wad out there this year, don’t you think?

I mean, I could be wrong, but I don’t think the people in Boston are that stoked about you dropping five feet of snow on them this month. Vermont, yes. Boston, well, that’s a lot of shoveling, and not a lot of skiing.

If you would have left two feet in, say, the Sierras, or in the Pacific Northwest on your way over there, that would have been really nice.

Okay, sorry, you’re right. No, I should not be telling you how to do your job. I am a writer, not a season, and I have no idea what it’s like. Yes, that was out of line. But really, did you leave all the snow in Japan on your way here?

Sorry. But look, seriously, if this were a performance review at your job, most of us would be a little more than disappointed. Metaphorically, let’s say you were a waiter. Most of your customers in Colorado would be leaving you sub-20% tips. People in Washington and Oregon would be sitting at their tables wondering how you could have forgotten to bring the food out to them. Californians would be standing outside the restaurant scratching their heads, confused if you were going to open the doors, or if you just decided to say The Hell With It and sell the business.

I’m not really sure what to say to get you motivated. I mean, the new Mad Max movie trailer looks interesting, but I think a lot of people in California were thinking they might have a few more years before that type of “water war” situation happened, instead of Summer 2015. Are you pissed about people not conserving water? Maybe we can work out a trade. Say we stop watering lawns. Would you, in exchange, drop a couple feet of white stuff in the Sierra?

Let’s be frank: You’re not most people’s favorite season to begin with. Yes, around the holidays, at the beginning of winter, maybe through the first couple snowstorms, everybody’s excited. But by early February, we all get a little tired of tracking snow everywhere, driving on edge, shoveling, watching the fluffy white stuff turn into piles of brown slush on the curbs, waiting in the freezing pre-dawn hours for our dogs to poop so we can go back inside where it’s warm, you get the picture. Spring has blooming flowers, fall has changing colors, summer has vacation, rock climbing, mountain biking, trail running, peak bagging, backpacking, hiking, swimming, kayaking, and exposed flesh—man, you have to put up a bigger fight and at least TRY to make a case for second place.

I’m saying skiing is cool, and is probably the #2 reason people like you (second to Santa Claus) at all. We’ve built all this infrastructure so we can have fun with you. And then you don’t show up. To paraphrase every teenager’s mother ever, we’re not mad at you, we’re just disappointed.

You have about a month left. What do you say?

Face shots!

noreply@blogger.com (Kneester) — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 21:10:00 +0000

We certainly haven't been getting any powder face shots around Western Montana lately. My view is a bit skewed maybe due to my lack of having a season pass and in general skiing less than normal. But the winter around W. MT seems like last year (unscientifically speaking), some decent snow in Dec, January turned into June-uary--with warm temps and rain. Now I'm just hoping that February comes in like last year!

This footage of Canadian National Railway locomotive 2304 (ES44DC) plows through huge snow drifts in Salisbury, New Brunswick was filmed yesterday. Southern New Brunswick was hit with three major blizzards in less than a week, and there is more snow in the forecast.