Author Archives: Brian Sweeney

About Brian Sweeney

Computer programmer, blogger and home-brew software developer with a penchant for back-country adventures, old metal, black coffee and micro-brew.

Glacier Revisited

During their epic 2013 sojourn cross-country, Ziehl and Catherine had the pleasure of rolling through Glacier National Park. Looks like a hell of a place…wouldn’t it be nice to visit some day? Flash forward to Thanksgiving 2014. Kelly and I are sitting around the remains of a holiday feast surrounded by family. My cousin Chris, himself an avid White Mountains hiker, asks whether or not we have any big plans for the upcoming winter. ‘Not really, but we’re thinking about going someplace cool – nothing’s congealed just yet…’, we explain. ‘You should go see Pete in Glacier!’ he quickly suggests. ‘Pete? Who is Pete?’ I wonder, and ‘Where is Glacier, again? I think Ziehl’s been there, maybe…’ My Uncle Terry and cousin Chris fill us in. Pete was a regular dude, commuting in and out of Boston, just the same as everyone else ’round these parts until he’d had enough. He and his wife Lisa pulled up stakes and moved out to the sticks: northwestern Montana. In fact, they found land more or less surrounded by the National Forest. The ‘homestead’ as they like to call it, is basically off-the-grid: well water, solar and gas power, a wood stove for heating. They’re lucky to have a road that goes most of the way to the house; they snowmobile the last leg in winter and 4-wheel it during mud season.

One of about a million switch backs from the highway to the drive way.

Welcome!

The corral for the horses!

The all-important wood shed, the propane tank, a couple of vintage sleds for transportation back and forth between the winter car port and the house, and of course the homestead.

And they have a bunkhouse! Chris, Terry and my dad all confirm that he’s a good dude – seriously hospitable, and apparently harboring and appetite for wilderness fun comparable to mine and Kelly’s. Honestly maybe even bigger than ours… They encourage us to get in touch. Trusty social media pulls through for us. A few phone calls and emails later and we have travel plans! We decided to tack a GNP segment onto the end of our Downing Mountain Lodge hut trip to make for a grand tour of western Montana. The drive from Downing to the Flathead region took the better part of a day, but after a 4 days of climbing up and down mountains we were ready for a scenic ride.

There was much driving…

A bison herd

This pretty much sums up driving in Montana.

Flathead Lake with GNP looming in the background

The photos from the drive can hardly be expected to do justice – it’s just too hard to capture the scale and grandeur of sweeping vistas of the American West without slowing down, hiking around and pulling out a fancy camera with a big lens. Western Montana was no exception and honestly, I was enthralled with practically every second of the drive.

When we arrive in the Flathead Valley, Pete meets us in town in his trusty Tacoma looking every bit the mountain man we’d heard of: wiry, suntanned, cigarette smoldering, boots spattered in spring mud – the real deal. Kelly gets the grand tour of the neighborhood while riding shotgun in the Tacoma as I follow them through the twisting mountain roads leading up to their land. We ditch the cars at a carport nicknamed ‘Camp 1’ and he shows us to our chalet. After settling in we meet Lisa, and go for a stroll around their extensive land with private trails, sweeping views to south, direct access to the National Forest, their private mountain: a little slice of paradise!

‘Camp 2’

Very cozy!

Kelly makes herself at home at ‘Camp 2’

We really had only two days to spend with Pete and Lisa, so we had to optimize. We decided to spend the first day skiing, before we were robbed of any additional snow pack. We, then would spend the second day sightseeing and cruising around. Our timing was was perfect – after some quick consultation with his fellow locals, Pete steered us out to Divide Mountain for a beautiful day of spring skiing on the imposing Divide Mountain. After a stunning drive straight through GNP, a quick jaunt through the Blackfeet Nation, and some brief 4-wheeling, we were at the trail head. We set an easy skin track through a ghostly, burned forest, toward the largely treeless apron at the bottom of Divide Mountain. Armed with super-light Nordic touring gear, Pete and Lisa settled in for a PB&J lunch at the base of the apron, while Kelly and I pushed a bit higher. The snow, only recently emerged from the chilly shade, was at least pencil hard, and a tad sketchy at the steeper inclines. Kelly and I eventually bailed on the climbing in favor of the comfort of steel edges. We enjoyed a couple of quick descents with 270 degrees of spectacular views.

Divide Mountain

Kelly leads the charge on the final stretch

Pete and Lisa chasing Kelly across a scrapey, windblown snow pack.

Pete surveys the lay of the land

Almost there!

Game face!

Lunch time…

The climb… Could’ve used ski crampons. Maybe even real crampons. And a mountaineering ax. Glad I decided to lug all that straight across the country and then leave them in my duffel bag back at the cabin…

After topping out at our respective top-outs, Kelly took two quick runs and I took one longer run before we decided to pack up and head back to the car. Satisfied by our relaxing spring schuss, we cruised and bushwhacked back to the car where we plotted some further adventuring.

With plenty of strong daylight ahead of us, Pete brought us on a quick tour through a few nearby attractions. We hoped to go home via the Going to the Sun road – allegedly a spectacular traverse back through the park – but when we got there it was still choked with deep snow. Kelly and I wrapped up the day with a supreme BBQ feast and a can (or two) of Mountain Man Scotch Ale.

…I mean after all, the website’s called One Water, One Coffee, One Beer…

On day two with Pete and Lisa we woke to even milder temperatures and a bit of drizzle. Having filled our appetite for hiking, skiing and general toiling we went for the grand tour. Again, Pete and Lisa served as expert personal tour guides, stopping periodically to fill us in on all of the most interesting features of the land.

Pete and Lisa lead the way

Moose country?

The Flathead River – sparkling glacial water!

Deer country!

Thanks again for the great memories Lisa and Pete! We can’t wait to come back!

Overkill!

This represents the first ‘lengthy’ video I’ve done in quite a while. After roughly a year of considerable slacking, and the associated accumulation of interesting footage, I decided enough was enough. No point in owning two GoPros and two expensive point-and-shoots without ever doing anything cool with the footage. In the end, this video uses on the the Hero 3 Black and HD Hero footage – the rest of the stills I’m saving for subsequent projects.

One of my goals for this project was to collect up all of the clips which were cool but did not really warrant a standalone treatment. Additionally, I really wanted to focus on quality over quantity. I settled on a thematically appropriate soundtrack which was only moderately long and lent itself to the ‘story’ being told. With the intent of producing what is essentially a mashup of miscellaneous old footage, a moderately long soundtrack should let me cram in a lot of random stuff without feeling the need to add filler or fade out the music after I’ve run our of exciting footage. The numerous ‘false endings’ provide the ability to naturally segment the clips and offer some periodic changes in tempo. Also, it’s Motorhead. Seriously, there is not enough classic heavy metal in action sports or pop culture, or really anywhere…

Pemi Loop

Summer 2014 came and went with nary a rugged mile hiked the entire season! Not really sure what happened, but Kelly and I managed to get roped into everything aside from hiking. No regrets really – just no mountain climbing in 2014.

In May of 2105 we uncorked our bottled up zeal for arduous mountain adventure by doing what we do best: biting off way more than we can chew and getting ourselves good and committed. Of course we invited everyone we could think of (the final roster included Deb, Ruthie, Ben, myself and Kelly) and sallied forth into the Pemigewasset Wilderness armed with a smorgasbord of untested backpacks, unbroken boots, and ill-conditions legs.

Our original plan as proposed by Deb was to go summit Katahdin, but we learned at the last minute that Memorial day in Baxter closely resembles winter. Thusly, we aborted that plan and pivoted back to a known quantity: the Pemi Loop. We opted for a more ‘leisurely’ pace by splitting the circuit across 3 days and 2 nights. In hindsight I’m dubious that the 3 day pace is any easier than the overnight, simply due to the spectacular amount of gear that must be hauled to make multiple overnights comfortable. Anyway the hike was ultimately fun, if not a rude awakening for a first-outing-of-the-season.

The Crew

Day one was the longest and most difficult day: we walked from Lincoln Woods Campground, over Franconia Ridge, all the way to the base of Garfield where we camped for the night. Franconia Ridge was hallmarked by spectacular winds and beautiful, clear skies. On day two we dragged our achy selves over Garfield (I’d say we all had some choice words for that mountain – both up and down), and then up and down a whole bunch more gnarly mountains which finally taper into the plateau-ish Bond Range where we were able to skulk into camp at Guyot Tentsite. We were among the last to arrive that night and were relegated to the lean-to shelter. Tents were uncalled for, but earplugs might have been nice. Day three was by far the easiest. You ease into the day with a gentle traverse of the Bonds featuring spectacular views of the Pemi and Franconia Ridge and eventually begin the long slow descent back toward Lincoln Woods. The hike from the bottom of the Bonds along an abandoned logging railway feels simply interminable and the monotony steadily builds toward a bursting point when suddenly you waltz out of the woods and into the parking lot. We wasted virtually no time in trading our boots for flip flops and hastily made our way back to town for some non-freeze-dried victuals. The Woodstock Inn Brewery, pre-ordained about 3 miles after we started hiking on Day One satiated our respective hungers and thirsts as well as ever, after which we sleepily traipsed back toward home, leaving behind a Memorial Weekend well spent.

Classic White Mountain scramble

High on the ridge, the winds howl

Garfield Pond

Camp 1

Home sweet home!

So wait, what are we supposed to do here?

Seriously?

Spikes would have been nice…Garfield, grrrrrrr…

Camp 2
Photo Credit: Deb

Sunrise

This picture pretty much sums up everything about backcountry travel…

Photo Credit: Deb

Good Karma

Over the weekend Karma payed dividends in the form of the ol’ white gold! It all started with getting Xterrible stuck in a ditch on a snowy roadside somewhere in Vermont…

…As we arrived at the trail head, as described by a friend of a friend, we attempted to pull onto the shoulder and out of the road. I flipped on the 4WD and crept into the half foot or so of fluff on the edge of the road…only to be promptly pulled into a ditch immediately beside the road. Strongly suspecting I’d just sabotaged our day, Kelly and I exchanged dubious glances as I threw it into reverse and vainly tried to pull out of the snow. No dice. We shoveled a bit. Also not helpful. In a last-ditch effort, Kelly took the wheel while I pushed. The notion of me pushing a 5000 lb car is pretty ridiculous, but the idea of three of me pushing a 5000 lb car begins to sound plausible. If only there were two more of me…

Right on cue, two burly snowmobilers emerged at the trail and took notice of our plight. They strolled over and with one big heave between the bunch of us, we had the car back on the road. We thanked them profusely, cleared out a proper parking area, and started getting our gear ready for the tour.

As we concluded our gear harmonizing, a jovial ski-bum looking fellow rolled up in an old Toyota T-100 truck and introduced himself. Turns out this guy was also here to explore the unknown stashes that were thought to lay somewhere in the woods beyond. We teamed up with out new touring partner Zach, and the blind led the blind into the woods.

We followed the snowmobile trail into the forest; an easy skin after maybe a dozen snow machines packed it out for us. After 30 minutes or so we came around a corner to find a couple of sledders trying to drag a their machine back onto the trail, where it had apparently slid off. Sympathetic to their plight, Zach and I put our backs into it, and between the four of us had the sled back on the trail in a jiffy.

Having balanced our pool of Karma we traveled deeper into the woods in search of the elusive powder stashes. After a series of fortuitous educated guesses we happened across the elicit goods! We set a skin track up one of the best looking pitches and indulged in several laps of powdery euphoria.

Update: video now available here.

Gear List

POC Synapsis 2.0 Helmet White, S

POC engineers backed up with ultralight shell of the Synapsis XP Helmet with APB technology that provides supreme protection in a feathery 13oz package. A new turnring adjustment system allows you to dial the fit of the 2. 0 to your liking quickly and easily. Two oversized vents allow fresh air to enter and circulate your lid so hot-headed shredders can send cliffs or throw down in the park in cool comfort. Ballistic APB places a layer of pentration-proof Aramid between the molded shell and liner, allowing for a thin outer shell that’s both ultralight and protectiveAn EPS liner provides single-impact protection that keeps your head safe without weighing you downOptional visor is included for keeping the sun out of your eyes or looking wicked gnarly

GoPro HERO4 Black Edition One Color, One Size

If you take a look at the tech specs of the new GoPro Hero4 Black Edition camera, and then give us a call to point out some mistakes we made in the numbers, because you simply don’t believe them, we won’t be entirely shocked. The new Hero4 Black is the most advanced camera GoPro has made, and it boasts capture capabilities that rival cameras that cost ten times as much. The 4 is an eye-popping evolution of the already-impressive Hero3+ camera, and that’s where engineers started when they really wanted to knock it out of the park, and then some. The Hero3 and the 3+ were incredibly capable cameras, indeed, but the new Hero4 generation takes things to the next level. A lot has changed, but some basics haven’t, such as the overall dimensions of the camera. Exterior dimensions of the camera itself and its cases are all virtually unchanged. The Hero’s fantastic, wide-angle, six-element aspherical lens (f/2. 8-6. 0) also remains unchanged, ensuring the same stunning clarity and scope of your photos and videos, at virtually any light level, as we came to expect from the 3. Three field of view settings — ultra-wide, medium, and narrow — grant you an unmatched selection of perspectives. And for those lower light conditions, GoPro introduces new Night Photo and Night Lapse long-exposure imaging modes. Those mesmerizing time-lapse pictures of the stars trailing through a dark sky, or the rivers of headlights and taillights that form when capturing an urban scene at night? They’re yours to take now. Customizable settings for exposures of up to 30 seconds — whether taken individually or in Time Lapse mode for successive hours or exposures — mean you can capture an almost unlimited range of time-lapse events with the utmost precision. Also new to the Hero4 is its sound-capturing abilities. GoPro fielded feedback from audiophiles and everyday users alike to fine-tune the Hero’s microphone, which now captures far greater fidelity and boasts almost double the dynamic range of ..