The Lock I Conveniently Forgot
Confessions of a Trail Addict
Again. It happened again. The day slipped through my fingers like loose gravel on a switchback, and suddenly it was too late for what I’d call a decent fat bike ride. I had plans, responsible ones, to meet Snuggles at Greenough Park for a hike. Simple. Civilized. The kind of thing well-adjusted people do on winter afternoons.
But then I got on the bike.
There’s this thing that happens. I don’t fully understand it, and I’ve stopped trying to explain it. It’s like some internal compass overrides all rational thought the moment rubber meets trail. I texted Snuggles, made up an excuse about forgetting my lock. A lie, sure, but a necessary one. The bike had already decided we were taking Kim Williams over to US West Direct, and I was just along for the ride.
The hills out there don’t care about your schedule. They just sit there, indifferent and steep, while you question every life choice that led you to this moment of voluntary suffering. I got terrified on US West, as one does. Rode around the muddy sections where the ground was starting to thaw, soft and unpredictable. And somewhere in there, birds were singing. In January. Spring whispering rumors it has no business spreading yet.
I rolled into Greenough Park just as Snuggles pulled up. Perfect timing, as if I’d planned it all along. We hiked. Then beer. Then pizza. The whole thing stacked up into one of those days that shouldn’t have worked but did anyway.
Turns out the day did not get away from me. I just took the long way around to exactly where I needed to land.
On This Day: February 5
February 5 has shown up 10 times since 2005. The entries wander from mountain hikes to work complaints to fat biking... a reliable mix of outdoor ambitions and existential grumbling.
2005: Stark Mountain This Weekend – Today I am planning a hike up Stark Mountain. I plan to start by an access road off of Nine Mile Road. The access road seems to be #5515, but if that isn’t accessible, I will go to where the ridge...
2006: Finger That Out – I confess, I should be skiing right now. Yet, here I am, after a night spent editing photos and setting up Adobe CS for speedier workflow. While browsing Outside Missoula and today’s news over mocha...
2008: Spring Break Day 4 – Hello from my apartment as we get ready for three nights in the Bitterroots. Packing it all up and making plans to drop Marcy off at a friends house. Yesterday we took a day off from adventure, but...
2011: Look inside – I stepped outside for fresh air and could look back into my apartment from the outside. It was a new kind of perspective. A glance into my life from the outside. I could see myself inside. I had a...
2012: In Bozeman for the day – Loneliness, a shadow that often trails behind us on our journeys, can sometimes feel like an uninvited companion on the roads we travel. Bob Dylan, in his profound simplicity, offers a beacon of...
2016: Mundane – Today I am thinking of the 40 hour work week. I am talking about that prison that w are all talked into and some of us are currently trapped in. And then my mind drifts on how I am going to fix that....
2018: The Magic Hours – Leave it to mother nature to make the most out of any situation.
2023: Fat Bike DH – Sunday January 1st, 2023. Fat biking at the Blue Mountain Recreation Area. https://www.strava.com/activities/8322908774
2023: Bass Creek Fat Bike Video
2024: A Montana Week in Absurdity – Howdy, fellow Montanans and wanderlust-stricken friends! Brace yourselves for a tale that weaves campfire yarns with keyboard clicks, mountain treks with pixelated journeys, and enough moose...