Chief Plenty Coups

Chief Plenty Coups was a Crow Indian Chief that lived in the late 1800s as the white men were spreading westward across the US. He was, in his early years a great Crow warrior, and later in life, a leader of peace. One of his trips to Washington D.C. he visited Mt. Vernon (George Washington's homestead) and came back to Montana with the inspiration to leave his homestead to the state, as a place where all people could come and fellowship. Today his homestead is one of Montana's State Parks.

One of our youth crews spent the day resodding the Chief's store, and de-skunking the Chief's house. Earlier this year, the park staff trapped six skunks that were living under the Chief's porch. Our job was to dig a trench around the porch, attach wire mesh to the porch and backfill the trench with dirt to keep animals from finding refuge under the house.

Sod Cutters

On top of the Chief's storehouse

Wiley and LuLu

The newest additions to 3385 Granger Ave. S. #5

Wiley and LuLu

Mischevious, Energetic, Adorable, and Plum Tuckered Out

Calli Gets an Unusual Taste of Montana

Calli visits Montana. Not a normal touristy type of visit. As soon as she got here we went to work. Off to visit one of my youth crews in Makoshika State Park, Montana's largest state park. The crew was spending the week working on a folf (disc golf) course. Needless to say, Calli's introduction to the Big Sky state may have been quite different than most.

Night number one in the park, we slept on picnic tables under an awning in case it rained. Rain, it did not, but the mosquitoes snacked all night on our exposed flesh. Night number two was quite perfect. We pitched a tent on top of a bluff, underneath a rainbow. The morning brought streams of sunlight parting the clouds to shine on the valley below.

Calli was a good sport. She hiked, she worked, she did not bathe, she was bitten by bugs, and she brought laughter and fun with her to our crew. Thanks for visiting Montana, Calli! I already miss you.

A Trip to Montana's Badlands

Wednesday through Friday I traveled to Makoshika State Park to check up on one of my youth crews. They were dutifully working on a series of steps and platforms on the side of a washed out hill. Makoshika has an 18 hole folf (disc golf) course that was in need of a few bridges and a staircase to allow the folfers easier access to the holes. All of us learned some basic construction skills during the project week, and by the end product the park managers were quite impressed and grateful for our work.

Billings Youth Crews: The Season Begins

Jon and Brandi's crew spent three days last week in Cody, WY working with the Humane Society of the United States and with Bureau of Land Management on a Wild Horse Range. The crew cleaned up some dump sites, old ranch sites, and placed and GPS located bluebird boxes on the land. It was cold, rainy, and super windy, but the kids loved being in the open range.

Noah and Alison's crew stayed in town last week getting to know each other, performing team initiatives, and doing day projects with local non-profits. In this picture they are performing a team-building activity called the "helium stick".

This week, Jon and Brandi's crew are working at a local state park (Lake Elmo) taking out barbed wire fencing, and resurfacing some trails. Noah and Alison took their crew to Makoshika state park in Glendive, MT to construct an 18 hole disc golf course. I am leaving tomorrow to visit the crew in Makoshika for three days.

Back into the Beartooth Mountains

Froze to Death Plateau (10,000 ft) - Yes, that is me wearing the cowboy hat!

Steep Canyon Wall - on our way up to Froze to Death Plateau

Lake in the Beartooths - elevation 8,500 ft

This was my second big hike in the Beartooths. I experienced altitude sickness again. Splitting headache and nausea. I didn't feel like I wasn't getting enough oxygen, but my body was definitely depleted. Froze to Death Plateau is just 2,000 ft below Montana's highest peak - Granite Peak. This summer I hope to climb Granite once most of the snowfields melt. Hopefully my body will be accustomed to the altitude by then.

Recreating in Montana

Mystic Lake - Deepest lake in the Beartooths

Big Horn Sheep - Yellowstone National Park

Green Thermophiles living in hot, acidic spring water - Yellowstone

Dragon's Mouth - Rolling, steaming, hot ground water, smells like rotten eggs

Another Youth Project

The Youth Crew Leaders from Bozeman and Billings met in Livingston, MT to work with some local high schoolers in rejuvenating a park that was in serious disrepair. We spent two days with the youth, played games, painted, sanded, raked, planted trees and grass, and repaired tables and benches. The finished product was amazing.

Mishaps by way of Bicycle

I've recently been biking to work. Saves money on gasoline, and reduces my impact on the environment by way of emissions and what not, and guarantees me at least 30 minutes of activity each work day. Lots of good reasons to bike to and from work.

There is a problem, however. Bicycles and I have somewhat of a sketchy past. As if it were yesterday, I can recall my first mountain biking experience with my Wal-Mart Huffy. Handlebars spinning around uncontrollably, rocks, steep descension, thorns, and blood. Need I elaborate? And then there was the time in college when I would ride my Trek bicycle everywhere: to the grocery, to class, to the ice cream shop, to the Gas City Zoo. But the Trek and I, though it was my favorite bike, we had some issues too! Two trips over the handlebars in the street, my hands and face acting as brakes in the gravel. On one such ocassion, the president of the university, Jim Barnes, witnessed my fall, stopped his cadillac in the middle of the street, rolled the window down, and inquired as to my condition. Embarassed? Oh, Yes!

So, you see, I've had quite a time with bikes. My last Trek, I gave away before starting the Appalachian Trail. But when I got out here to Montana, I realized it would have been nice to have a bike. As good fortune sometimes pops up, a bicylce was lent to me for my use, whilst I reside in Billings. And I've been happily riding it to and from work for a few weeks now.

I've lost two things while commuting to work on my two wheel transport. One, was my wallet. The other: a pedal.

Wallet: I still haven't figured out how I lost my wallet out of the side pocket of my backpack, but it happened even without my understanding. Thankfully, a lady found it, called the YMCA when she saw my card in there and the YMCA contacted me to tell me to call the lady. All in all, a great day. I lose my wallet without knowing it, I get a call from the YMCA to tell me to call someone who has found my wallet, I pick my wallet up at the lady's house. Very pleased with that scenario.

Pedal: On my way to work. Pedaling fast and furious. On the downstroke of my right foot, pedal flies off of the bike, clattering into the middle of the street. Car almost runs over my runaway pedal. Retrieve the pedal from street but can't get it to screw back into the shaft. Still two miles from work. Ride to work pedaling with one leg. Charlie Horse in the worst way. But made it to work on time! Fix pedal. Two days, it is great. Today. Pedaling home from work. Pedal flies off in the middle of a street. This time it is not funny. One-legged pedal all the way home. Charlie Horse, again! This scenario, I don't much like.

Bikes! Why do I continue to love thee?

Emerald Hills Fire Restoration

Last year a fire swept through part of Yellowstone County, burning up hundreds of miles of forest, some houses, and out buildings. Emerald Hills looks more black than it does green these days. Our crew has been doing fire restoration for a few weeks in this area, re-seeding, doing erosion control, and planting thousands of ponderosa pine tree sapplings.