Spring Training

I am finally starting to get out with some regularity.  Hiking and skiing at Brundage, a few shorter runs around McCall and a once-a-week trip to Rapid River, near Riggins, ID.  RR is 40 miles north of McCall, but starts much lower and is quite warm.  I have been focusing my efforts on learning Cannonball Mountain, a 7200' peak perched over the West Fork of Rapid River.  From the Fish Hatchery trailhead, it is a minimum of 6+ miles and over 6000' of vertical gain to the summit.

Near the top of Cannonball Mtn 7200'.  The 7 Devils loom to the West.

Bachelor group of bulls.  They would sprint left to warn a herd of 100+ to flee into the timber.

The slope here is 40 degrees.

Above the Coconut Grove on Cannonball.

I popped up over a ridge to see 50+ elk within 100 yards.  After staring at them for a few minutes, I realized this girl was chowing down just 20 feet away to my right.

A lone cow elk about to drop into the timber below the 7 Devils.

Elk herd in the snow near the trees in the bottom left.

The opening mile of the Cannonball Mtn. Trail.  1200+' per mile.

That is what a 17 mile run should look like.

Skinning and Hiking

Firm snow caused by weeks of sun and high pressure makes a ridge crossing from Brundage to Sergeant's Peak a great afternoon outing.

After seeing this, I went home and made Brandi cut my hair.

Brandi running some morning corduroy at Brundage.

A New Floor!

We have been busy laying a new acacia wood floor for the past several weeks.  We are now 99% done.  The final planks go down as soon as I am done typing this.  

Before you lay a new floor, you must remove the old one.  This would prove to be the crux of the mission.  It took nearly 2 weeks of filthy work before the slate was all gone.  It involved 10 days of crowbars, sledges and chisels, 3 days of jackhammers, and 2 days of angle grinding before the subfloor was clean.  Then, I laid a new layer of 7/16 OSB over the existing subfloor to even it out.

Island in the way of progress?  Car jack it.

Brandi gluing and nailing, gluing and nailing.