Four Wheel Camper / Brand New Adventures

Traveled to Bozeman, Montana to pick up my new camper. Drove up into the Bridger Mountain Range to explore some backroads.

Daylight to Dark / Get That Campfire Started

 CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE!!

Always a good ride from daylight to dusk... Then duck into the trees off the trail and light it up. The fire drill for me is to locate a sheltered little nook and then create a campfire in less then 5 minutes. As if I had a situation on my hands, the need to survive with a fire in the cold winter temperatures. 

Well, first off good to enjoy the River and catch the Canadian Geese settling on the water for the night. The Geese are coming in from wherever they had been feeding for the day.  

 Cheers to a good ride and to get back safely. Always feel recharged after my adventures.

Fire Starting Kit

A inventory of the Mike Hall/Adventure Fire Starting Kit:

Strike Anywhere Matches / waterproof matches in waterproof container / several small squares of Fire Starter Squares / Bic lighter / candle / and the most important item... Hand Sanitizer / Plastic sandwich bag to keep everything dry.

Small stick matches are the best to ignite the fire, Bic lighter does work, but not very good in cold or at high altitude. The key is Hand Sanitizer, it is alcohol, it is flammable so it will even start on wet wood. Fire Starter Squares will burn for several minutes, to help ignite wood. Candle is also a source of fire starter that will burn for a while.

The drill that I use, is to gather some small dry twigs. A small supply of firewood about the diameter of your finger, that will get ya started. you can gather some larger wood after ya get the fire started. Crisscross small twigs, break off small piece of Fire Starter Square, drizzle about 1/3 bottle of Hand Sanitizer onto twigs and a small squirt of Sanitizer onto Fire Starter Square. Set the Square under the twigs... Fire time! I used to use a almost a full bottle of Sanitizer, I use less these days. Ya get better with practice.

Ride on!!

Cowboy Fire / Fat Tire Biking

Snowshoes and Fat Bike / Morning after Storm

Fat Bike Break Time in da Winter Swamp

Leave it to the Dang Beaver / Snowshoe

 CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE!!

The local beaver showing off his wood carving skills.

Today was a good day to change up the river travels... switching from pedal power to snowshoes. Gotta keep it well rounded in our travels, this is good for the fat tire bike trails that don't get many bikes in the winter. Snowshoes can pack in the singletrack trail. Plus it slows ya down so ya can check out the surroundings at a slower pace.

 I'm hiking the Atlas mountain climbing snowshoes and Weez is sporting her brand new MSR Revo Ascent snowshoes. Ours are both 25" long, hers are a bit narrower, women specific. We are both using Black Diamond / Triple collapse poles. this is the snowshoe/pole setup that we use on our backcountry mountain trips. Good to use and test our equipment in a more controlled environment like this, plus we are packing in the bike trail. The bonus is that we are improving our fitness for the mountain trips in March and April.

The beavers sure left a mess on the river bank...

Here's lookin' at ya till next time. Snowshoe on!

Mid January / Mid Winters Fat Bike Ride

 CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE!!

With it snowing the evening before, gotta ride in the morning...

 Snowing the night before, chance to get some fresh trail snow on the fat bike.

 Outta bed at 4:15am to get on my Fat bike by 6:00am. Gives me an hour and a half of dark to start the day on the bike. Right away I was riding on the fresh coyote tracks, looked like a pair of them traveling the trail.

 It was a crisp 14 degrees with the fresh snow. The moon was still up in the western sky.

This ride , I was experimenting with a lighter weight head lamp setup mounted on the bike. The light I was using this morning was a "NightRider Lumina 900". There was plenty of light, I used the third highest setting @ 700 Luminas. I used it for 1.25 hours and still had a strong light. On night rides that will be longer, over 2 hours. I use a "NightRider Pro 1200. The 1200 has a separate battery pack that fits in my water bottle cage. The separate battery gives a longer and more powerful burn time. These lights are rechargeable. I like the idea of the lighter 900 light for this type of ride where I am riding into daylight.   

 Sunrise and the coldest part of this day. Stopped for a break in the woods to hydrate and snack on a Cliff Bar. Another stop on the River bank to capture the sunrise.

 Wasn't ready to wrap it up after 3 hours, so headed out on another loop along a swamp. The trees, both standing and laying on the ground never cease to amaze me by their size and, almost artistic shapes... Almost 4 hours in the woods along the Minnesota River. From the dark transitioning into the daylight. A very good day on the fat bike.

Ride on!

Riding the Banks of the Minnesota River