-[photo} Dierdre and me on the four wheeler hauling firewood for the campfire.

Meg and I found a tiny little nest with itty bitty eggs while gathering marshmellow sticks. She was wandering the woods in a pair of my slippers and a flashlight, while I wielded the Leatherman and glass of wine.

Saturday morning I grabbed leather gloves, threw a shovel into my truck and sloshed a mug of hot tea down with yummy wheat-free cookies from the Nova (yes…breakfast!) Heavy dark clouds loomed large and ominous but actually cooled things off nicely for the work ahead. Five local fellas and I created a brand new trail to the local climbing craig. Zaydee hung around and kept us company. We made quick work of it and loaded the tools back into our trucks just before the rainstorm (which turned into a SNOW storm). Late afternoon I soaked in my sweet claw foot tub while a blanket of white snow hid the bright green forest floor outside.

The following post was written by Jim Earl for the
Montana Climbers Coalition website

"At the early-bird hour of 9:30 AM, six of us met at the parking lot for Allenspur. Our goal-to build a new climber access trail on a recently obtained trail access route- which mgiht become permanent after one year. On the crew were Amber 'dig it' Jean, Dustin 'chainsaw massacre' Gaines, Ted 'trail pro' Wood, Hermes 'pick ax' Lynn, Mark 'spud bar' Wolfenden, and myself, Jim 'lazy ass' Earl."

Friday May 22

Woke to 6 a.m. sunshine and the promising feeling of a summer day when summer days are still fresh and new on the tail of winter and mixed up spring weather. So many possibilities! Cliffs to climb, trails to ride, peaks to summit, grass to roll in, wild flowers to witness, baby animals to “ooh” over, ice cream to eat, and margaritas to drink.
But I had to work….a real job…not studio time or desk/business/marketing time…just plain labor and “pay per hour” kind of work. Lucky for me the work involved my handsome boyfriend and a shipping container full of reclaimed wood in a beautiful part of Montana just a valley or two away….could be interesting anyway. We picked up a skid steer on our way out of town, sipped hot drinks and drove.
The reclaimed wood came from Florida…mushy, moldy, and rotten…most of it anyway. A few painted boards and a rare slightly carved piece caught my eye but none of it belonged to me. We labored while the dogs played in a nearby pond. Late afternoon we cleaned up a bit and had dinner at the sweet old Willowcreek Café. Super sweet. A rusty red old tandem bicycle leaned against the porch post out front. Haunting and compelling, the old bike invited plenty of conjecture. No doubt plenty have sat astride the broad worn out seats…young couples oozing sexuality and hyper-awareness…sweet slow loving old couples…giggling children… drunk cowboys yip’ing and hollering on a good natured dare… maybe even a bright-eyed shining pair of newlyweds? Stanley G West mentioned the bike in his book “Blind Your Ponies” (highly recommended read). We enjoyed a few drinks and home style ribs before driving off into the sunset, up the Jefferson River to pitch a tent and camp in the moonlight and cactus with the dogs.