As a rocky mountain trout guy, born and bred, my first foray into fly fishing in salt waters came through Cloudveil’s Angling product manager Ned Hutchinson. He’d set up a trip through Brian Hodges, local friend and destination fishing maestro. There are a lot of cliques in fishing, probably worse than the snowboarder/skier/telemarker rift that I think has finally been resolved, one love. But in fishing, that rift is still solid, it’s a war of latitude.

In fly fishing, if you’re a trout only angler, the saltwater crowd looks at you like, well, like you’re still riding with the training wheels on. In salt water it’s all about throwing big lines big distances, battling big fish who will take you into your backing big time. Us trout guys horse 16” cuts into the boat all day and if it starts to get breezy, we chill out for awhile and drink a beer in the drift boat and watch the scenery. In salt water, if you don’t look like a flats gangster and think wind isn’t wind until it’s tropical storm strength, you’re in the wrong latitude.
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Well folks, I am proud to say the maiden voyage on the new bike was a complete success. I conquered Jackson’s easiest trail with only a few short uphill walks and one fantastic loss of balance into a prickly bush. But, overall, fantastic first day on singletrack. After all the he said and she said and they said, I was thrilled with my bike purchase. The Specialized Myka FSR Rim, the women’s full suspension model, was perfect for me in all my gaper glory and now I am proud to to say it is completely covered in dirt. I’m headed back tonight for another round…

However, with my first ride under my belt, I am supremely aware of how much I am going to fall in the next few months. So, my carnage preparation plan consists of the following:
1: Yoga- Gumby was stretchy and he never hurt himself, so maybe it will help me
2. Padded long shorts- Less exposed flesh, less blood.
3. Intensive video training-

I’m a gaper. If you live in a mountain town, you know what that means, if you don’t let me enlighten you. Its a person who is attempting a sport, and just learning but just doesn’t have the right gear, techniques or “cool-looking style” down yet. You’ve all seen em’, the tourists carrying their skis wrong, new road bikers in tall socks, etc.
My two new sports: mountain biking and kayaking.

Mountain biking for me has been a long-time goal. I just couldn’t afford a bike when I first moved to town and was waiting tables. Now, it is doable budgetwise, but still a tough sport to get into. You’d think, all you need is a bike, right? Right, but easier said than done. To find the right one, I started asking friends for recommendations. The response was as follows.

Person A: Get a crappy cheap bike, you’ll be falling all over the place at first and you’ll wreck it.
Person B: Get a full suspension bike, lower end, so you have a great frame and bike that will last a long time.
Person C: Get a hardtail, they are lighter, easier to learn on and cheaper.
Person D: I’m not sure who told you to get a hardtail, but they are WRONG, it will ruin your first experiences and make you hate the sport.
Person A: Go to shop A, they are great and know their stuff.
Person B: Dude, just make sure not to go to shop A, they are overpriced and will swindle you.
Person C: Buy one used, its a much better deal.
Person D: Buy a new one, bikes take a beating so don’t buy used.

And on and on and on and on it went…. The solution? I decided to take the decision into my own hands, buy a new bike, but on the lower end, full suspension and just get rolling. Cause talk is cheap, bikes aren’t, but I wasn’t going anywhere without wheels, so Step 1- Buy Bike= Accomplished. Standby for the trails (thats right I said trails, not trials- what’s a good blog without a good pun?) and tribulations of my learning to mountain bike like a champ.
Saturday I begin a whitewater kayak course. My Gaper Life to be continued….

Although the safety of mountain towns is one of the reasons we love living in them, the truth of the matter is that the sports we do, and the risks we take living lives full of powder skiing, downhill biking, whitewater kayaking, climbing and the like, lead to inevitable injuries. ACLs, MCLs, and broken bones at the least, as a member of the outdoor community, we get used to hearing about our friends getting hurt. Hopefully not that often, but it happens to all of us.

A coworker of mine just discovered CareCalendar. CareCalendar is a web based system to organize meals and other help for families during a time of illness or life changing event, such as the birth of a baby, death of a family member, or injury.

Check out it at www.carecalendar.org

Earlier this month, Cloudveil was presented with the 2008 Outstanding Business Award from the Greater Yellowstone Coalition for its tremendous contributions to the Campaign for the Snake Headwaters and efforts to protect the Wyoming Range from oil and gas drilling.

“Cloudveil walks the talk,” GYC Executive Director Michael Scott said. “The product line is great, and their company’s values extend to the outdoors. It’s partnerships like ours that are needed in this day and age to help protect this great ecosystem.”

Cloudveil successfully nominated the campaign for a $30,000 grant from the Conservation Alliance, and promoted the campaign on the web, in catalogs, and within product shipments. Furthermore, Cloudveil urged several members of Congress to support the Wild and Scenic Rivers bill (known as the Snake Headwaters Legacy Act), and company founders Brian Cousins and Stephen Sullivan attended town meetings to personally lobby Senator John Barraso to support the act.

“This award is an incredible honor for us.” Stephen Sullivan, Cloudveil Founder/Vice President stated. “The spirit of our brand stems from our commitment to our community. The mission of GYC is vital to our continuing ability and that of our children, to enjoy the wildlife and ecosystems in this region. We will continue to support the GYC and other conservation minded organizations however we can.”

GYC Award nominees are chosen by staff and then voted on by the board of directors. Stephen Sullivan accepted the award at the historic Union Pacific Dining Hall in West Yellowstone on June 7th.

The region of Greater Yellowstone is centered in the two national parks and six national forests, which form the ecosystem’s core, surrounded by private lands in 20 counties that include parts of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition holds steadfast to its mission “to protect and conserve the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and its full range of life, now and for future generations.”

Life is all about goals. Today I already accomplished two: Get up, drink coffee. See, I’m a success. I have recently been realizing though that I have only mastered a few of the skills that I want to learn before I die. The laundry list is long, and I think I should get started.

I read an article a few weeks ago about 43Things.com , a website where you list 43 goals and you work your way through the list with the support of the other members. A great idea, and I considered it, except that my goals are a bit more abstract than today’s top 43things.com goal which was “Greet each day with a good attitude.” I fantastic idea indeed, but not really my style, I’m not a morning person. And 43 is a bit more commitment than I’m used to. How bout we start with 3.

The good news is that in the world today, there is absolutely no excuse for not learning how to do everything you have ever dreamed of mastering. Why? The answer is a little website called YouTube. Maybe you have heard of it? I spent the morning typing in search terms for things I’ve always wanted to do, believe it or not, they were all there. Solving a Rubiks cube, learning to flip off a wall, mastering that two finger taxi whistle, teaching a cat to play the piano, learning the moonwalk, deactivating a nuclear weapon just in the nick of time while still looking hot…etc etc, its all there.

Check out 5min.com, and wonderhowto.com too for short How-To videos. The possibilities are endless. Give it a shot, by 5 o’clock you could check at least a few things off the ole bucket list.

First, opening a beer bottle with a piece of paper. Always wanted to do it, so here goes…

Second, Extreme Tubing- My days in Jackson tubing the local creeks are great and all, but I really want to take my skills to the next level, and I found the perfect guy to teach me. Zoltan.

Finally and most aggressive, Parkour. If you haven’t heard of this insane sport, you might remember if from the first thirty action packed minutes of last year’s James Bond flick, Casino Royale. Sometimes called ‘urban ninjas’, parkour experts jump from building to building, flipping off railings and into cars. Why not give it a shot, I figured. Watch out Jackson locals, I might jump out at you from nowhere when you least expect it. And ‘ninja’ is gonna look great on my resume.

Growing up, camping for me was a tent, some great hiking, a stove, and some gorp. Although I have become a bit of a gear slut as I have grown older and the camping experience has become a bit more cushy thanks to the help of the crazy creek chair, inflatable matresses, and even the backcountry espresso maker, I have never experienced anything like I did last weekend on the Lochsa River just outside of Missoula, MT.

Asked by a friend to join her family on their annual kayak trip, I figured it would be a great four day getaway in the backcountry and a chance to meet up with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while.

Little did I know that not only would the river be raging with class 3 and 4 whitewater, and the amount of people exploding off of rafts, duckies and kayaks at each rapid would require at least four or five safety boaters, but the Lochsa experience included much more than a tent and a stove.

It turns out the new essentials of camping require the following:
1) 12 bottles of various tequilas for tasting
2) Full costumes for nightly theme parties
3) iPod boom boxes and a generator to charge them
4) Pro kayak skills
5) Food to feed 30 at least four times a day
6) A wig collection, polyester pant suits, high heels, and cigars

After this, camping will never be the same in my eyes.