2009 Beartooths Planning
This was a tricky one
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After an incredible cross country trek through Montana's Beartooth Mountains in 2008, it was pretty much a no-brainer that we'd be back in 2009. The fact that Ward, Brad and myself made this decision before even making it back to Billings on the trip back home speaks volumes as to how we feel about the area.
This time, we're going to cover most of the ground we were unable to last year due to unforseen circumstances and add a little bit more, making this a 9-night hike. Should be an epic trip and my longest to date.
TRIP UPDATES
| 7/14/09 | The trusty Santa Fe has been pronounced fit for another trip west by the boys at Satori's Auto. Only $1400 this year, but at least gas is down to $2.46 a gallon here in Wisconsin. |
| 7/5/09 | Food and gear is all together except for some perishable items. I'm about 85% ready to go, only needing to take care of some "housekeeping" issues for the kids and dog. Maybe now I can begin my conditioning? |
| 6/30/09 | The Snotel station at Fisher Creek is now showing no snow. Melt out there is about 10 days earlier than in 2008 which means we'll probably have very similar conditions to last year higher up. |
| 6/21/09 | Yumi's fathers day gift to me was insisting I didn't sleep in the truck on the way out and paid for a room at the Jamestown, ND, Super 8. Ward and Reed will join me. |
| 6/14/09 | Bought my first bunch of groceries today and began assembling and dehydrating meals and food items. Also had a brief exchange with Canadian Dude pondering a small route change, possibly eliminating the descent from Snow Lake, exiting the wilderness via Crow and Sylvan Lakes. |
| 5/30/09 | Received my copy of Mac GPS Pro and was able to plot our route waypoints from both from Google Earth and topographic maps. |
| 5/6/09 | I can't believe it's May already. Not much to report at this time other than to mention the Beartooth snowpack is now at 122% of normal, and there's 112" of snow at the Fisher Creek Snotel station. |
| 4/13/09 | The Starlite is now safely hidden in my gear closet. Time to forget about gear and start concentrating on getting my food ready. |
| 4/4/09 | My Starlite is shipping and a new Z-Lite pad is in my possession. This will be my lightest trip despite also being the longest. Sweet |
| 3/23/09 | The logistics are almost all set. Canadian Dude still has to figure out if he's driving with me or flying into Billings. A condo is reserved for the night of 7/22 in Red Lodge. The Kid is buying the beer. |
| 3/6/09 | After a bit of shuffling schedules we are now set and the dates etched in stone. We will have two vehicles between the five of us and the Kid will fly into Billings where Canadian Dude and I will pick him up. |
| 2/11/09 | Tye from Alabama is now a member of the group (after begging and pleading to come along) as evidenced by his inclusion on the 'Meet the Hikers' page. |
| 1/1/09 | Happy New Year. I can now say "I'm going to the Beartooths this year". |
| 12/31/08 | I know this is mean and cruel, but I managed to convince Canadian Dude that The North Face was going to partially sponsor this trip by giving us free clothing. Oh Canada... The fraudulent e-mail |
| 12/4/08 | Trip dates have been moved up to accommodate Canadian Dude's other summer plans. Game on! |
| 10/18/08 | Started working on web site pages for the epic trip report---more than 9 months before departure. I could knock Yumi up tonight and she'd give birth before I left! |
| 10/14/08 | E-Mailed my route idea to Canadian Dude who likes it |
| 10/10/08 | "HikerJer" expresses interest in coming along for this one. Sweet. |
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