Musings

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Bounce Across The Beartooths, September 2010

Repost from Michael:

Below is a short, personal parody I wrote of a camping trip I took with friends almost five years ago. We hiked across the Beartooths (they're plural, and it is tooths, don't argue with me) in Montana, a truly incredible trip and great experience. Along the way was a friend named Bob Bley, and in my parody account I captured something close to the reality -- he was in far better shape than any of us, with far better poise and trail skills and every quality you'd want in a fellow outdoorsman. He'd crossed the Atlantic in a two-man sailboat, biked the Canadian Rockies, hiked the Alps twice. You know, little things. He was planning more adventures. Then came a spring bike ride near his home, a slip in wet sand, an impact so powerful it shattered his helmet.

And left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Behind the Books

Video: Top of the Pass

This is at the top of the Beartooth Highway – note that snow! Taken in late June. Yes, you read that right – June. The Beartooths have the largest block of contiguous alpine tundra in the lower 48.