hawks and pheasants

I had the pleasure of meeting Terry and his wife Chris Reynolds while we were in Texas at the Big Spring comp. Through some of the initial conversation, I learned that Terry and Chris both shared my facination and admiration for raptors and the practice of falconry. Because I have been devoting most of my time and energy in the development of the new comp harness, I've been living falconry vicariously through their adventures with their Red Tail, Bud.



It's funny. I've been the lucky observer of some of the most sizzeling stoops by Peregrins while training them to hunt pheasants and I always love to watch my birds "roll over" at the beginning of the stoop so that they can get vertical without taking their eyes off their prey.


Bud "on approach"

This is a great series of their Red Tail, Bud, making such a stoop on a "bagged" pheasant. Seeing a hawk make this type of approach gives me hope that one day, we might learn how to make a hang glider do it;-) You never know.








Pheasant for lunch;-)

I had the pleasure of meeting Terry and his wife Chris Reynolds while we were in Texas at the Big Spring comp.

Through some of the initial conversation, I learned that Terry and Chris both shared my facination and admiration for raptors and the practice of falconry. Because I have been devoting most of my time and energy in the development of the new comp harness, I've been living falconry vicariously through their adventures with their Red Tail, Bud.

It's funny. I've been a lucky observer

hand to stone

Sunday was going to be bluebird and it had been quite a while since I had the time and opportunity to climb in the mountains with Gibisch. We hung out the friday before and after some shit talk, hatched a plan to spend a short day in Blodget Canyon to do a quick route in the sun. It was supposed to stay between 20-30 degrees F on Sunday and the canyon forms a venturi that can bite in the winter so we were into doing something that we could move fast on to stay warm.





We met up for coffee late morning (Missoula alpine start;-) and made it to the trail head around 11. The parking lot and trail are on the shady side of the canyon and there was still a dusting from a snow shower the day before. Seemed like we might have cold hands in our future.



Blodget is one of the unique features close to Missoula that draws me to this place. It's lined on one side with South exposed walls and spires of granite. The routes have an "alpine rock" feel, contain sections that sometimes require adventurous route finding, and are high quality in terms of exposure and experience.





I always find high value in hanging out with Chris in the mountains. Even though I was admittedly a little rusty, it felt like old times and it felt great to be on a route in the winter in Montana. Even though the climbing was mellow, we enjoyed every minute of it.



We topped out and scrambled down snow covered ledges until we were able to rappel the rest of the way to the deck. Walking the 45 minutes or so back to the truck in the dusk was satisfying and familiar. Just what I needed to recharge the batteries.

leaving Ecuador

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Guayaquil, looking at a full moon out our window rising over the city and thinking back on what an amazing adventure this trip has been. The diverse contrast of our time here seems like several different trips seamlessly connected. We spent time in the city, over the mountains, driving through the green farm land and on the coast listening to the surf pound and the sea breeze blow. We got to see animals that are so different than I see in Montana. Aunt Eaters mixed in with the occasional Iguana crossing the road. The uniqueness of Ecuador and this part of the world is an experience that I will remember for my lifetime.






One of the things that stands out the most about this trip was the amazing people. Most here seem to live their lives with simplicity in mind, by choice or by necessity. O'Brien and I talked in the car on the way back from the coast today about how in all but very few communities here, there are no grocery stores..... no convenience stores. If a family wants to eat they kill a chicken, cook it's eggs and mash corn from the field into tonight's dinner. I saw smiles in the heart of what appeared to be suffering and people living happy with hardly any material possessions. I also saw people living without basic needs to survive in reasonable health, people that had no opportunity to better their situation in the long term or on a day to day basis. As a person who is privileged in comparison, it was hard to see, smell and listen to. What I feel like is the important perspective to take away from this trip is to never take any ounce of opportunity, any laugh or friend, any of what I consider part of a normal day, for granted. We are so lucky to live the lives that we do.