Follow Highland's Patrolman and Type 1 Diabetic Mark Yaeger as he solo thru hikes the Appalachian Trail this summer.

Hello everyone! I wanted to update you that my friend Mark Yaeger left TODAY to begin what is sure to become an epic adventure. He will be thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, 2600 miles over 5 1/2 months.

This in and of itself is quite a feat. What makes is all the more exciting is that Mark is overcoming a significant obstacle along the way. Mark has Type 1 Diabetes, and he will be doing this thru-hike solo.

The Appalachian trail, stretching from Georgia to Maine, where Mark will finish at his own front door in Maine.

In Mark's words...

 I’m a 36 year old professional ski patrolman at Aspen Highlands in Colorado. In 2005,  I developed Type 1 diabetes. Along with the known physical complications and constant difficulty in properly managing the disease, it had another effect on me that proved to be even tougher: It diminished, on a fundamental level, my self-confidence and the belief I once had in my ability to persevere and overcome obstacles and challenges. Having grown into young-adulthood healthy and active, I felt as though I was resigned to living within parameters, as I was faced with the reality of daily medication and inconsistent health.

  I've worked hard to improve my health in a demanding lifestyle, and have been slowly rebuilding the confidence to really challenge myself.

  For years, I've had the dream of "thru-hiking" the Appalachian Trail. Having grown up in northern Maine, I wanted to complete the entire trail and finish, literally, at my front door. After 2005, I had all but given up on the idea, but have finally reached a point at which, I feel, I can make it a reality. 

Mark with some of the generously donated Marmott gear.

Mark's story has been picked up by Outside Magazine, and he is being supported with generous donations of gear from Marmott, Black Diamond, Big Agnes, ULA Ultralight Packs, Frio Diabetic Coolers and hundreds of individual donations at his GoFundMe site. Mark is also associate with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and all the funds that he raises off his GoFundMe site which are above and beyond his expenses will go to help find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

You can follow Mark's progress over the next six months right here at Skiing in the Shower, where his Tumblr feed is embedded in the sidebar of this blog. Feel free to leave Mark encouraging notes along the way, or share your own stories of overcoming or living with type 1 Diabetes.

You can also visit Mark's GoFundMe site here: http://www.gofundme.com/markyaegerAT and help donate to his walk and to funding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

Bon Voyage, Mark, here's to a lengthy and amazing adventure, we are excited to follow along with you!

Home from Surgery

Alrighty then! Here we are, back home from surgery. I ended up staying in the hospital a day longer than I expected too, my first two days after surgery were great, felt strong an surprised at how good I felt (and I need to apologize to all the people who had to deal with completely unintelligible texts from me while I was trying to give "no really, I'm doing great' updates".

So I'm back in Aspen, ensconced in Kurt's house, where he's helping me keep my insane need to be outside in check.  Kurt slept on the lazy boy in the hospital room for three nights even though he had a friesnds'  house to stay at, an I have to say  waking up to see his face, fuzzy and through the haze, sleeping right there was an incredible comfort to me.

I couldn't believe he was willing to do it, and do it night after night, and I finally slept, knowing that his care was there, and complete, an good. I felt calm and grateful, and I slept.

Dr. Corenman's team at Vail Valley Hospital was incredible, so gracious, even when they were insanely busy, they wanted to know what they could do to help me, to help Kurt, to make things easier, better, they didnt' rush us or try to get us out the door. They encouraged me to heal and helped me along the way. They cared for both of us in a patient and gracious way that was way above and beyond what I expected.

I was so happy to wake up and realize this was it, it was over. They weren't going to take me back and say "okay lets get started" again, because it was over. We'd done it.

I held it together until we checked in. Then I sat down and the tears came. I just really didn't want to be be crippled and bed ridden.

Kurt was there. Right there. His hand was on my shoulder, he let me do as much as I could on my own two feet, and when it got right up against that part where I could have pushed through, he just gently took the reigns and kept it rolling. He knew without asking what I needed, quiet and gentle, up the stairs, into the gown, into the iv, no extra coddling, no fear, no extra concern, just he was there, and so was I and so was this next thing we were going to do together.

And I went back, and he kissed me good bye, and the lights went out. That's the last I remember,

Until thinking, wow, we are done, and my throat doesn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would.

I am so grateful to have gotten this done. Does it hurt? Yup. My neck is sore and the surgery sites are swollen and oogey. But I have my hand back so far. My shoulder doesn't hurt. For the first time since 2008 I don't have a headache.


I'm caring for myself, I'm standing on my feet, but miraculously, when I need someone to do the velcro on the back of my brace, there are his strong hands, holding the back piece in place and pulling the tabs down tight. He takes long enough that I see in his hands and his eyes that he wants it done right, it is important that it heals well.

Today, Tom and Kurt and the boys and I went up Aspen Mountain (we took the gondi, Kurt hiked) and wandered around in the sun. The boys are happy to see me whole, Kurt and Tom visited and my skin drank in the Vitamin D like crazy.

Right now, I feel very blessed, very lucky, and very open. The road to recovery, the other side, has begun. (Right after this nap.)

Ethan hikes the Bowl for the first time!

Ethan and Mom on the Cat heading up the the Bowl hike

Ethan, mom and Jason bringing up the rear.

What a BIG KID! Ethan got an A+ on his book report, which he did on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He also worked really hard all year to get his skiing skills all lined up so that he could hike the bowl before the year was out.

On Wednesday, we had 7" of fresh snow and bluebird skies, it was sunny and warm, so I picked him up from school at lunch and took him off to Highlands!  We grabbed some snacks and headed up the Lodge lift, where we met up with Andrew and Jason, two friends who had agreed to come along to help us out and be there for Ethan's first epic mountain adventure!

We rode in the cat to the drop off point, and Ethan was literally shaking. "I'm nervous." he said.

We talked about the fact that he had hiked twice that distance in the past, that hes been skiing double blacks for the last three months, and that he'd be in between two of us. By the time we got out of the cat, he was supercharged.

As we were hiking, Ethan asked, "Mom, when are we going to ski in a Ski plane?"

Andrew, who had been running ahead to take pictures, greets Ethan at the top!

I said, "Oh, Ethan, you are going to have more adventures on your skis in your lifetime than you can imagine. You are going to hike up mountains, and fly in a pontoon plane, on a glacier plane, in a helicopter, ride in a cat, anything you can think of."

And he answered back, "Then this is the first of many adventures on my skis with you, isn't it, mom?" I swear I was about to fog up my goggles. He gets it! He's psyched to play outside! What more could I want? The kid is happy, healthy, strong, adventurous... hes been a rock star at home, cleaning up, doing his work, helping out with Bodhi and JT (our neighbor kid who is over all the time). He certainly earned his trip up the bowl!

The crew! Andrew, Ethan, mom and Jason

I know he can hike far, but I wasn't sure how he would handle the kind of sketchy super steep sides of the bowl. For the first 100 yards or so you are hiking along a very steep drop off around a rock ledge, and I know lots of adults that get freaked out in that section.

Ethan did SO well! We took a break as soon as we got around the rock, and then we hiked "the Separator" section, the hardest, steepest pitch. He hiked the whole thing without stopping and then took another break on the top.  We hiked the last two sections without stopping, and E was full of energy when we summited.

He looked at Pyramid peak from the top of the Highlands Bowl with absolute wonder, we look at this mountain every morning, its a calming, focusing ritual that we use every day. He was so psyched to see it from a new perspective.

I remember the first time that I skied off the top of Highlands Bowl, I was so nervous. Its a polished dome of a mountain on the top, but Ethan just took off right after Andrew, skied around a bunch of moguls, followed him up on top of the cornice and HUCKED himself off, skiing out of it. I was astounded.

After we got into the trees, the snow got thick and manky. Ethan struggled a bit on his skinny park skis, but stayed after it, and skied the bottom third quite well. We skied G5, which is 40 degrees at its steepest, and 38 degrees sustained. That's quite steep.

The gullies on the way out were awesome, he played all the way down, wore himself out completely, and fell asleep on the Deep Temerity chair on the way out.

I told him that if he carried his own skis all the way to the top, he could keep my bowl strap, and low and behold, he did it, so Ethan is now the proud owner of his own Bowl strap and his own Bowl Pin!

We headed down to the bottom and hit Highlands Pizza to celebrate, where Jason taught him how to play pool. I was SO proud of him! And he was so proud of himself. It was awesome to have friends along to support him, he got high fives all around and was stoked to be the only 9 year old on the top of the bowl! Congratulations, Ethan! I'm so impressed!

West Maroon Pass

So I chased Kurt up to West Maroon Pass the other day. 11 miles round trip, back before lunch. Training is paying off, he didn't get more than a half a mile ahead of me this time, and I was able to jog some portions.

At the very end, going up the shale to the pass proper, which is up around 12,500 feet, I suspect he may have been dawdling and waiting for me while I sucked wind and pumped my slippery tennis shoes up the steps he'd kicked in the last small snowfield. I felt good when I got up there, not beat, so I think that the training is helping, I'm slowly increasing my speed, but I still can't perform in an anaerobic state for very long without caving and wishing I was stronger.

On the way back, the spectacular turquoise of the broken rock nested against the red and purple earth was pretty spectacular to look at, and we checked out the South Bell Couloir, which had two parties climbing in it. We've made tentative plans to boot right up that sucker this weekend, its steep snow, but its in great shape! 

If I thought I was challenged before, I've got another think coming. This climb requires crampons, boots and an ice axe. I found a pair of great soft boots made by Teva at the Mountain Sports Outlet in Glennwood Springs, and now I'm hunting around for flexible crampons and the axe that I can borrow. Hopefully the weather co-operates, and I'll get to stand on top of my first Colorado 14er. Fingers crossed!

Hunter Creek Humble Pie

I was out hiking with Kurt last night, we had decided to hike Hunter Creek to Smuggler Mountain rather than our original plan of heading out to the Conundrum Hot Springs in the full moon, because of the intermittent downpours which had been happening all day.

I'd packed my bag for the hike out to Conundrum, a 17 mile round trip which Kurt was hoping to make in 8 hours, including time to socialize and soak with the hoards of people that were like minded full moon hot springs lemurs.

And so the evening found us, me in my heavy capris and a couple of layers with a big backpack and plenty of water, jogging behind Kurt in his light weight distance running gear, tiny fanny pack, and the smallest water bottle known to man strapped to his hips.

Acoustomed as I am to looking like a total goober, I wasn't that concerned about it. Besides, the weight of the pack and the weight of the water could only be good for training, right?

Well, yes, except for when you are chasing someone who is insanely fit. Here's the thing. Even when Kurt isn't in training, even when he's been "relatively lazy" as he puts it (I'm not sure five days straight of backbreaking trail building work on the back of Aspen Mountain counts as lazy, but whatever...) he's still ridiculously fast, lean and strong.

And while I am slowly, agonizingly slowly, getting faster and leaner, I'm still leagues behind being able to keep up. We jogged all the flat bits, sprinted the bridges, and did plyometric exercises up all the cut steps and boulders along Hunter Creek.

"Fierce conversation, Kate?" he asked.

I nodded, eagerly. This is when I learn!

"Yes, please." I said.

"Its a good thing we didn't go up to Conundrum, it would have taken us 12 hours at least."

What? Are you kidding? Now I don't have any illusions about how fast or in shape I am, I mean, I can go all day for days on end at my regular comfortable pace, but its true, when I put speed on it, I tire quickly. I know this must change. I'm not sure how to make it happen other than just put my head down and suffer through it.

It seems to be in direct opposition to the edict, "Find a pace you can go at without stopping, and don't change that pace no matter the pitch change." My thinking here is just to get stronger, and leaner, and keep pushing faster on the trail.

Anyhow, I knew that I could hike Baldy in four or five hours in Bozeman, that's a 10 mile round trip up very steep terrain. Does that mean I couldn't do 20 miles in 8 hours? Maybe so.


"Here is what I know. When you go uphill, you breathe harder and you slow down a lot." This was not a criticism, this was an observation. Now I, myself had observed something similar, so I guess its time to work even harder at building some base with some speed. I think I might have to start jogging. Oh I had REALLY hoped it wouldn't come to that.


Regardless, it was great to get out and get some good exercise, its always good to see just how far I have to go in fitness to be as strong as I'd like to be. And as Kurt so aptly reminded me last night as we came down into town in the dark, "The wanting is the easy part, Kate."

And that's why I love my job.

Pardon the wonky photo, my computer struggles with images currently and it was a bear to get this one up here. But I wanted to share this with you!

Yesterday, I had the honor of taking a client to the top of the Highlands Bowl for the first time.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's how it started. My client, lets call him Cy, came to me and told me, "I'm a quit after lunch kind of guy. I like to ski blue groomers, just cruise, and maybe MAYBE some black bumps. We'll see."

We had two days together. The first day, not only did we not quit after lunch, we skied until the mountain closed. Cy has an incredibly open spirit and a willingness that you hope to find in all your clients, and he made some enormous changes to his skiing in that first day.

He went from zig zaggy heel pusher to front seat round turn skier in about two runs. He was game to get in the bumps, and willing to find the coaching cue that worked for him.

I challenged him to ask himself if he could be disciplined enough to focus on making a change for three runs, and then go out and go wild. He was willing. The change came, it stuck, and we had set ourselves up for success the next day.

The next morning, we were at Highlands with big dreams of hopping in Canopy Cruiser, a never ending bump run in the trees right on the edge of the Highlands bowl. These are double black bumps, so I needed to be sure that the changes we had thought we'd made had actually stuck.

We started out with two groomed runs, hopped into Scarlets, a blue bump run, and had to talk again about patience, how patience in your turn should also equate to patience with yourself. Give it more than five bumps to see if all you learned yesterday is going to stick. How about three runs in the bumps with patience and intent?

It worked. Suddenly things were synthesized, smooth, and we were ready. Unfortunately, we were late, so instead of Canopy Cruiser, we skied Deception, Moment of Truth, Waterfall, Stien and Lower Stein, all double black pitches with huge bumps, all the way to the bottom. Flow, rhythm, willingness to go down the hill, it was all there. I was watching him ski this and I thought to myself, he needs to be in the bowl.

And not only does he need to be in the bowl, he needs to ride this wave and be there today. I knew he could ski it. It wasn't even about the skiing. I just wanted to let him experience the incredible sensation of standing on the top of a mountain you've climbed yourself because you have the skill set to ski down it.

This is not something I get to share with every client, the conditions have to be just right, with the client and with the weather, for it to really click.

We went in and had lunch at the Cloud 9 restaurants, and then we headed out. It was about 40 degrees, sunny, bluebird, no wind. We filled our pockets with Toblerone and water, and headed up the Loge Peak lift, under the huge banner that says "experts only!" and skied up to the waiting spot for the Cat that takes you part way up the bowl.

Cy had told me that he has a fear of heights, and he was concerned about how narrow the hike would get as it went up the ridge. He was concerned about his fitness, that he wasn't strong enough to climb the 780 vertical feet, and that if he couldn't make it, he couldn't come back down.

I knew that he could do it. I had no question. He is stronger than he thinks he is. He is a much better skier than he thinks he is. He has a quiet and open heart, and I knew that he could find his way up this trail. So we waited for the Cat, and I could feel his mounting concern, although he wasn't expressing it. Fear of the unknown, how steep was it? Could he make it? How dangerous was this hike? What if he fell off? What if he couldn't ski it? Why was he torturing himself like this???

The cat pulled up and in we climbed, there was no hesitation, no last ditch effort. We were going to hike up the bowl no matter what. The cat churned along, and I was grateful that he'd chosen to stretch himself, I knew he'd be surprised at how much he had inside.

We hopped out at the top and arranged our gear, and headed off up the bootpack. We had to talk about how to walk, how to use your knee as a hinge, and kick it into the step, and push your body up using your glutes and hamstrings, how to focus on the footsteps. We talked about pace and rhythm, how the trick is to find a pace that you can move at that allows you to keep moving, rather than going too fast and stopping all the way up.

The hike feels sooo much longer than it really is when you don't know how far you are going. And even though it was a beautiful day, and we could see the top, when you aren't used to moving through the mountains, its really hard sometimes to judge how hard it will be to get somewhere or how long it will take.

Cy focused on my feet as they swung and kicked, and we talked about what it felt like to be out there on the ribbon of the top of this mountain, how it was appropriate to feel fear, and that accepting that you feel it and allowing it to be present takes some of its power away.

We did the five sences meditation as we walked, and we found our bliss in the sunshine. Cy was of course much stronger than he thought, and he powered up the bowl with excellent pacing and willingness. The closer we got to the top, the more I could feel him opening. I believe that we are vessels, and my job is to facilitate you filling yourself up. Cy was filling up with every step he took.

We stepped out onto the tiny plateau at the top, and Cy looked around at the 14,000 foot peaks that he was sharing space with, the blue sky, the prayer flags, the camaraderie of the other climbers at the top, and I watched him change right in front of me. I looked at him filling to overflowing with that feeling of oneness with the mountains, of that feeling of utter insignificance when faced with beauty on that scale, of the feeling of solitude, of what it means to be one of the few people who are standing on the top of a mountain peak that day, and I felt gratitude. This is exactly why I love my job. Ordinary person.

One day, he walked up to the top of a mountain because he could. Same ordinary person, now feels extraordinary. Because he is.

We skied down through G3, a very steep and chalky pitch, and the skiing was fun and steep and exciting. But the hike was better. The hike was Cy finding space to become Cy, without limit or apology, without societal rules, or restraints. He used his feet to walk to the top and they became mountain climbing feet. I got to help him do that.

I love my job!

Nothing like a hike to clear your head.

Jonathan Rice, a triathlete I work with on performance and goal setting and I hiked up Kirk hill the other day. This doesn't seem momentus, however, I've been staring longingly at that hill for about a month, and wondering if the snow was still up there on the fire road or not. I haven't got the impetus to go up there and check it out, not wanting to do a short loop, not willing to commit to the fire road without the promise of being able to loop around to Leverich Canyon and make it a good long hike.

Jonathan came over for some coaching, we ate a nice breakfast of waffles and fruit with the boys and their sleepover friend, and then we decided to take a chance, go for a nice hike in the snow, and we shuttled cars to Leverich Canyon and Kirk Hill. The path was relatively dry, the snow was falling for the whole two hours, and we walked, talked, and processed.

It was a great first trip up there, the wildflowers were heavy and bent under the snow, the eagles that are usually circling above the drainage were no where to be found. Once we got up to the top of the loop proper, we didn't see another human until we came back to the cars at Kirk Hill.

Both of us were feeling slightly bent, confused about life choices and slightly cranky and hurt. Its amazing what making a healthy decision, like going for a hike even though its snowing, can do to clear your mind.

The snowflakes were falling slowly, melting when they hit the path, accumulating up to about three inches on the trees on either side. The wind was still, the cloud was enveloping us, there was the stillness of the snow, the muffled silence, but the color of spring as the bright yellow and purple flowers submitted to the weight of the snow. In a word? Bliss.

Fall on Kirk Hill

Fall has come to kirk hill, and i'm faster today. No convincing necessary!

UPDATE: I saw two bears on this run! A BABY baby and a juvenile, came on them suddenly and was only about 20 feet away. Didn't see the mom. Stood SUPER still, they were drinking from the stream, they saw me and ran away up the hill. Stood SUPER still for another ten minutes, didn't see or hear the mom, so I ran on, but turned around at Hodgeman Canyon trail head because I was a titch freaked out, it was getting cold, I didn't want to overdo it (lets see, what else can I come up with?) It was an amazing hike, get up there and look at the colors changing! These pics don't even do it justice!

hello from the top of the first big peak on the bridgers!

Hi. Ethan and Bodhi ! go look outside at the first big peak above the m trail, mom is up there waving at you!

A beautiful hike, and the begining of the mural!

I'm here! Aspen is just as absolutely beautiful as i remember it being. The weather is amazing, its been warm, sunny and bluebird skies since I got here. The first day, we went for a short hike up the Ute Trail to take a look at the valley, and that night we went slacklining in a local park. SO FUN! I'm totally addicted. I really suck at it. We did it for about a half an hour or so, and I could only get about five or six steps down the line. We ran into some kids, so we worked them into our rotation and let them give it a try, they were pretty good at it!

Yesterday, we went for a big hike up to Cathedral Lake. We were going to go up to the peak, but we got a late start due to watching the tour. Whoops! Anyhow, we hiked up, and GOSH it was a good thing that I've been training, because if I thought I was hiking fast before, I WAS WRONG! It was buggy. Kurt took OFF up the trail, and I was determined to pace him. Yeah. Good luck with that! I was definitely faster than I've ever been before, but it seriously kicked my ass, which was, of course, FANTASTIC!

The lake was beautiful, and we hiked up the opposite side of Electric ridge, off the trail and over these sort of tongues of scree. We hiked up to the grassy saddle, and saw the incredible site of Peral pass on the other side. We hiked up to the highest point, scrambling up this beautiful purple rock with orange lichen all over it, and came very close to an enormous raptor of some sort!

I have great photos of all of this, but I am working off a friend's computer, and can't download my camera onto it. One thing I can't wait to share with you are the photos of our descent, which was an adventure and a half and a major blast.

We hiked down this super steep scree field, and i got to learn how to use both my poles in my uphill hand to stabilize myself on the steep slope, like poling in a gondola. It was a very helpful tip that Kurt learned from the guide he climbed Mt. Rainer with.

We got over to this little sliver of snow that was left on the hill, and decided to glissade down it! It was super steep, and kind of ridiculous, and we were both totally psyched to give it a try. Skiing in our tennis shoes, yes we did! I have photos of our tracks coming down this thing, its insane.

We hiked over a huge boulder field where all the boulders had come crashing down a long time ago, covering the old mining road, and crossed over the stream to meet back up with the true hiking trail. All in all, it was a beautiful, beautiful day, with gorgeous weather, and I got great photos for Doug's mural, which I started today.

Here are some photos of the underpainting! I'll try to keep posting as I work on it! Tomorrow is a possible rock climbing day, and more painting if the underpainting has set up enough.

Wherein Amanda Climbs Her First Mountain

Greetings from the saddle at Sacajawea peak!

This was a mobile post from the top of the Bridger Ridge. As we were about 1/2 way up Sacajawea, the highest peak in the Bridger range, I found out that Amanda has never climbed a mountain before.

!!!!

Are you kidding me??!!! Welcome to Montana, honey, let's go HIKING! Sacajawea is a challenging, steep, scree filled hike, and the trail JUST opened up, and most of it is still covered with snow.

To gain the ridge and try for the summit of this little 9,660' peak, we had to put in a bootpack in our tennies. And she was game. She was hardly even breathing hard.

I was a bit worried about the ride back down the snowfield, but the plan was for her to slide on her pack or jacket and have a good time. I decided to glissade back down on my feet. I got about 1/2 way down and turned around to see how she was doing... and she was glissading down the same way!! She was on her feet, turning her legs under her in an amazing simile of parallel skiing.

I am telling you, this is one tough chick who was born to be in the mountains. She has no idea how strong she is, hiking up Kirk hill to the fire road one day and Sac on another, facing things that would freak most people out (and exposed, sliding scree field, anyone?)and just walking on by.

We had a lovely snack at the top, but due to loosing light decided to truck back down and get outa dodge. We left the actual summit of Sac for later this week, but I'm bringin' my skis!!!

Amanda Glissades Sac, originally uploaded by KateHowe.

Amanda, who has never climbed up a mountain before, goes on her second hike, to the ridge of the Bridger range, and then Glissades down the snow field in her tennis shoes!

This chick is gonna RIP on skis!!

More test driving of various and sundry broken body parts

I thought I'd truck up Kirk Hill and see if my knee could handle hiking up a steep pitch, as it did alright running on the flats for about 2 miles yesterday. I put on my iPod, cranked up this mix that I made for a friend of mine, and powered up the hill. It was a BEAUTIFUL evening, and I felt really good, but I started feeling my knee at the first vista point. I decided to keep going and see if it intensified, I really REALLY wanted to go all the way to the fire road, and then, if it felt good, do the full loop.

But I am trying TRYING to be conservative, and listen to my body so I don't over train, which I am prone to, especially when I have a performance jump, like I just did (which also often coincides with injury for some reason!)

So I turned around before the fire road and went home. I talked with a friend in need on the way down the hill, connecting again, which was lovely, and am sending good thoughts to them today: Hang in there, this too shall pass!

I'm off to go climbing with Tom at Allenspur today, its our first time climbing together in EIGHT years, we figured it out exactly. Incredible.

Have a beautiful day, go find your BLISS!

Longest Day of Trails

Greetings from Bridger Creek:

Tomorrow is the longest day of the year, or about 17 hours of daylight. We are about to begin the gradual change of seasons back to winter (unbelievable given the amount of snow in the mountains!). Last year local architect and cycling enthusiast Dan Harding created an event called the “Longest Day of Trails”, a promotional bike ride to showcase the amazing local trail system we all enjoy.

Dan and the GAS/Intrinsik cycling team (orange bike jerseys you see everywhere around Bozeman) rode their bikes from dawn to dusk completing seven 25 mile loops of the Main Street to the Mountains trail system during the day, or about 175 miles! The event was so successful it is back this year in a bigger and better way. A map of the route is on-line at http://www.longestdayoftrails.com/. The goal of the event is to raise money and membership for the Gallatin Valley Land Trust and their campaign to build the trails connecting the Bridger Mountains to the Gallatin Range south of town. Much progress has been made, yet much work remains.

On GVLT’s trail plate this year are several legacy trail projects: competing the Snowfill dog park and Hedvig’s Trail, facilitating the purchase of the Burke Park inholding, construction of the Drinking Horse Mountain Trail near the M, working toward a redesign of the Bozeman Creek trailhead parking lot, and installation of a pedestrian bridge at the Regional Park. We will all benefit from GVLT’s hard work, but we need to make sure GVLT has financial resources sufficient to compete these great projects. Tomorrow is a painless way to help out.

Montana Aleworks is the event headquarters and by buying a minimum $35 GVLT membership you will receive a $20 discount at Aleworks and an additional $20 incentive from a local business. Spend $35, get $40 in return; easy math. In addition, local bike artisan Carl Strong is donating a custom made bike frame measured for your body dimensions and built in Bozeman to your specifications. My friend Stewart Mitchell of Mitchell construction is donating the components, to make for a $3200 bike build. Raffle tickets will be available with a drawing at sunset tomorrow. This is a good excuse to pump up your bike tires and ride down to Aleworks to support GVLT on the longest day of trails. You can follow the event all day long on FM 95.1 the Moose radio.

Happy Trails,
Stuart

P.S. Thanks to all of you who came out to help with my National Trails Day fence removal project at the Snowfill/Hedvig’s Trail. We are getting close to completing that project and starting to build the Drinking Horse Mountain Trail. More on that later.

Forwarded message from GVLT:
Gallatin Valley Land Trust and the GAS/Intrinsik cycling team invite the public to participate in the second annual Longest Day of Trails on Friday, June 20th. Headquartered at Montana Ale Works, Longest Day of Trails is a dawn-to-dusk celebration of Bozeman’s extraordinary trail system and a membership drive for GVLT.

Dan Harding and members of the GAS/Intrinsik team will ride a 25-mile loop from sunrise to sunset. Harding and company welcome everyone to join the spin around town – be for a few miles, a single loop, or the entire day. There will even be a loop for kids at 3 pm! As always, there are never any fees to use our trail system.
The best way to learn about Gallatin Valley Land Trust and to support their efforts is to stop by the Longest Day of Trails headquarters at Montana Ale Works from sunrise to sunset on Friday, June 20th. Incentive gifts packages from local businesses will be provided to individuals who make a $35+ donation to GVLT. Additionally, Montana Ale Works will host the post-event party where a custom-built Carl Strong bicycle worth over $3,200 will be raffled (Need not be present to win; tickets one for $5; six for $25).

For more information on the Longest Day of Trails log onto http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif or www.gvlt.org.