Please post

[KeithEA]

According to the counter there is 16 people viewing this forum at this time. Please post and don' just read. Ask questions! Some one here knows the answer. Keith

[GreatDivide14]

Yeah, I'm sick of this place being dead. We get as many posts in a month now as we used to in an hour.

So does anyone know a nice city in Montana for a poor person to live? GreatDivide14's life is now full of online classes leading to a Montana high school teaching license, and even as property prices in Bozeman skyrocket, teacher pay remains pitiful, especially in MT. I want good backpacking nearby, services plentiful (I still like my well-stocked grocery stores), and property costs low enough that I can afford things like food and electricity in my 5x8-foot dirt-floored shack made from discarded metal roofing. Is there anywhere near Kalispell that fits the bill?

[ncmtns47]

I decided to check out whats happened to everyone. Dont know if anyone remembers me. Remember meeting me Keith on Black Balsam with Duckman, Ed K, and a couple others? I still got the pic taken of us all. Believe it or not, I still have some of that awesome coffee Ed gave me. I save it for special purposes. Ive more or less gone to hammock camping. Better on my ol bones for sure. But i still use a tent when Im soaking up the balds. The weather is getting perfect for that now, but dang.. is it dry!

[EdK]

Hey Bill......good to see that you're still out and about. And, you still have some of that coffee?? Good golly! That was a good night that we had up on Black Balsam, seemed like everyone was there. A lot has gone on with my life since then, lost my "balance" for a spell, but all seems to be getting back on track. Still getting up into our big mountains. Also been doing a lot of lake kayaking in the last few years. Anyway....I hope all is well with you and your's and that life is treating you fairly. Ed

[Barn]

I just happened to click on this link that I haven't visited in ages. I was on that trip to Balsaam with the Georgia gang when EdK came visiting. That was the only time I had met Keith and Bill. How are you all doing? Wayne-o is still moderating I think.

[wayne-o]

i remember that day as well ED, where have you been? you okay in that fire area?
i tried to contact you, i'm not sure if the cell i have is still good. i went to olympic natl park in sept, very gorgeous mature rain forest on the hoh river.


the group pic from balsam





Olympic pic




me in front of mt olympus

[JohnK]

is that Duckman I see in that photo?!?

Cheers,
Mr. J

[The Real Duckman]

Originally Posted by JohnK

is that Duckman I see in that photo?!?

Cheers,
Mr. J

Heck no john, thats Barn. This is me..VVV..yesterday with my beautiful wife Melissa. We hiked a 3 nighter in the Kilmer/Slickrock wilderness area. More pics to follow. I live in the WNC mtns now.







Hiked in at midnight..of course.


Next morning..


Still use my old clumky ID MKXL1 singlewall.



Morris and Wayne-o.



Fun city! Backpacker named this trail the 2nd toughest in the country a few yrs ago.


I've been racing mtbs for way too long now..

Just had finished ORAMM 07(off road assault on mt mitchell). 64 miles with 10,800' ascent. Do I look tired? Very.

Playing in Pisgah 2 weeks ago.


I'm also a big roadie now. Just did the 106 mile Nantahala Nightmare last week. Ouch.


Duckster

[JohnK]

Well it is so good to hear from you and am glad you are still around! Married??? The last time we chatted I don't think you were married, am I right. We should plan a gathering come spring ... maybe include Lynn if she is available. Would still like to meet you all.

J

[The Real Duckman]

Hadn't heard from Lynn in years.

Just got married this July. Shes an earth science teacher in robbinsville NC, near the Smokies. Awesome girl, and the love of my life.
She also paddles. She'll prolly kill me for posting these pics..




And rides.



She even races.

[GreatDivide14]

What is this? We all click on this thread to reminisce about the time when the board was busy? Sounds to me like you folks are still getting out, so WHY AM I NOT HEARING ABOUT IT?!? We all still have working legs and internet connections, so like Keith says, please post! I haven't been posting much because I spent my summer trying to accomodate non-backpackers without cars of their own, so I didn't feel like I did anything worthy of a trip report, just dayhikes in places like Arches:



the High Uintas Wilderness:



and obscure places on BLM and USFS land:





Yeah, if you haven't been here in a while and didn't see the picture of my dog who wasn't hiking at the time, I have a digital camera now. So do most of you, apparently, so why are you being stingy with the pictures? When you go to cool places and take pictures, put them here. I wasn't documenting my feeble adventures because I thought it would take up bandwidth that belonged to better stories, like yours. That bandwidth is still just sitting there. Might as well bring up my dog again, since there's nothing else on the forum:

Awww. Hey Duckman, how's Cassie? I haven't heard about Cassie in a while since YOU HAVEN'T SAID ANYTHING. So if you do stuff with your dog, your new wife, your friends, the voices in your head, whatever, share it. Please post...David.

[JohnK]

I forget ... how do I post photos again?

J

[JohnK]

Duckman ...

haven't heard from Lynn either but maybe I'll send her an email.

Congratulations on your wedding ... am happy for you. Know how wonderful it is when your partner shares in all the things you enjoy doing as well. So you've moved to NC then?

Will post some photos as soon as I figure out how again.

And oh, I bought a kayak this past fall ... a Prijon seayak.

J

[The Real Duckman]

I've been a kayaking fool all summer. We live 25 minutes from the Nantahala River.Altho, I still s@ck compared to her 3 teen boys or herself. I've been retired since 03. Just hike, mtb, paddle, etc now.

Her son.

Us.

Another son.


Me flailing my way down the Nanty Falls.

Random yakers.

Us at the Rock this August.

Mmmm. Blue Berries.


Cassie and her "momma".

I love racing mtbs(last Aug).

Solo trip last month.


View from Bob Stratton bald(camp).

We have a sea yak too. My step son in the blue boat. Just tagged the other step son for the run leg(Tsali Tri last Sept).

I did the bike leg. We placed 6th.

[KeithEA]

Wow!!!! So good to see so many posts from friends!!! And so many GREAT pictures!!! I still do the "smell the roses" style hiking with my best friend and lover. My wife! She was almost killed in a car accident with a eighteen wheeler in Feb. of 05 but we still get out and enjoy the fresh air and peace of the outdoors. I have gone even more lite weight than ever. We were at our secret site in the Mt. Mitchell area (I can see the lights from Morganton to Asheville at night if clear) trying to get up and out of bed one morning and what with the grunts and groans going on inside of our tent, I told her that two old people getting up sounded just like two young people making love. You have to be over fifty to understand that. Ha. Duck!! You did well in the wife department son. A very prety woman AND she has a boat also! It don't get no better than that. Well. at my age, some of ED;s coffee and some Jack Daniels does come close. Keith

[shaun]

Well i didnt get you..what to post..so u want any spam???sorry 4 that

[layla17]

Great pictures Duckman. Your pics make me feel lazy and unadventurous. Your dog is really cute. I too just recently bought a digital camera. I'll be adding pics as soon as I get out there and get some. I plan on doing some snow camping in the next few weeks, so I'll be sure to post some pics afterwards.

[JohnK]

Hey Keith ... how does one post photos on the new site?

JohnK

[GreatDivide14]

It's standard HTML. Left pointy bracket, "img src=url", right pointy bracket. "url" is, of course, the image URL, which you get by right clicking the image and selecting "copy image address" or whatever your browser says.

To see it in action, just quick reply to any message with pics in it, and the code will be there.

[JohnK]

Testing ...

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by GreatDivide14

It's standard HTML. Left pointy bracket, "img src=url", right pointy bracket. "url" is, of course, the image URL, which you get by right clicking the image and selecting "copy image address" or whatever your browser says.

To see it in action, just quick reply to any message with pics in it, and the code will be there.

But this assumes the image is located on the web somewhere ... how about if images are just on my computer?

Thanks,
JohnK

[GreatDivide14]

Oops, not Quick Reply. Hit the "quote" button and you can see the code.

If you want to put photos from your computer in the forum, you can hit the "Upload Photos" button below. Or you can set up a gallery; photobucket, Google Picasa, and many others are free.

[ND Sol]

Here are pictures from Harney Peak in South Dakota in September, a backpacking trip in November in the Guadalupe Mountains and our newest addition to our family.

[JohnK]

Excellent photos ... is that mtn range in CA? Really cute pup ... a golden retriever?

[ND Sol]

Thanks. The Guadalupe Mts. are in west Texas (yes, we really do have mountains in Texas) next to the New Mexico border and just south of the Carlsbad Caverns area. Yes, the pup is an English Golden Retriever.

[Gam]

Originally Posted by The Real Duckman

Heck no john, thats Barn. This is me..VVV..yesterday with my beautiful wife Melissa. We hiked a 3 nighter in the Kilmer/Slickrock wilderness area. More pics to follow. I live in the WNC mtns now.




Duckster

Now there's a pic that does my heart good, Congrats Duckman. I"m still backpacking, mostly in the West. I've been backpacking in Zion, Escalante, Canyonlands, Moab, Yosemite, Sequohia, King's Canyon, Organ Pipe, Sedona, and back to Joshua Tree in the last few years. I still get up the Rock at least once a year, I have three motorcyles from full dirt to street and I ride and camp a lot, Riding to Utah in May,

[backcountrybung]

OMG, I can't believe this site is still up!!!

What's up everyone? I'm going on my bi-annual backpacking trip next week. 4 days on the Florida Trail with a group from the Florida Trail Association. I'm getting old and Shining Rock just looks too steep from here

[JohnK]

Yeah, yeah, yeah ... I think you've been driving that fast care of yours too much! ;-)

[Hiker Boy]

Well i guess it's time for me to come out of the nether and post. How is everyone doing?

[JohnK]

Doing good, HB ... how the heck are you???

[Hiker Boy]

I have been better. I got diagnosed with an auto-immune disease that almost killed me two years ago and am just now trying to get back on my feet. I'm finally back to work and I'm trying to get back in condition to do what I love the most, hike. Most of my camping the past two years has been car camping but I hope to change that this fall. I think I'll use Duckman as my rolemodel on how to recover and bounce back.

[leprechaun2717]

Great Divide, My wife and I are from Montana originally, we now live in Nevada. Unfortunately, several of the nicer areas in Montana, Bozeman, Missoula etc have been flooded with rich people from other states who want to retire there and have driven up housing costs. There are a few towns near Kalispell that are still affordable, Libby comes to mind just off hand. Not a real big town but within a couple hours of places like Missoula and some of the large Idaho cities. You should try a website called bestplaces.com, you can type in the name of a town and it will tell you everything from the average housing cost to what the ratio of teachers to students are at the schools.

[Alice_LJ]

WOW!! COOL! Thanks for that, good info there.

__________________
jewelry store

[JohnK]

HB ... sorry to ehar that you've been ill but am glad you are on the mend. Life sometimes seems to be a series of injuries/illnesses often interupted by life, eh? Was up your way last year on the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island in BC. Very beautiful there!

[The Real Duckman]

Holy cow, look at all these old names. Its so good to hear from you guys. So so good . HB, I'm so glad to hear your on the upswing. Life is so short..

I couldn't be doing better then right now. A great wife and new family(she has 3 teen boys), retired, and playing in the mtns. Life has been kind to me after that 'almost dying' thing. Yes indeed.

Gam, glad to hear your hiking. I only backpack now 4-5 times a year at best. I'm already "there" tho, since I live waaay back in the mtns now(I'm backed up to the AT about 2 miles away via trails). The rest of the time its mostly racing or training on the mtb, and kayaking.

I've actually been managing to get on the podium regulariyl this season, finally. Pics from last Sun at Fontana dam in the Smokies(6 miles from the house as the crow flies).

Minutes after the finish(finished 2nd in sport class). I'm on the right. The winner is on the left.


Melissa racing tough across the finish line on the last climb.


Gam, I've put 5000 miles on this since this May Hard living 21 miles from the Tail of the Dragon. Come up and ride sometime. Wayne is coming up next week or a few days. Morris too! Mail is jduckster A T mindspring DOTCOM


More. On top of the Hang Over at Joyce Kilmer wilderness a month ago.


Behind the house.


Solo trip over to Huckleberry bald in Snow bird mtns last Jan.








Riding the cross bike.


Happy dog. I get all the snow I want now.


HB. Keep at it, my friend. It sure beats the alternative... Lots more trails to hike!

Its been years past now... I turned 50 last Friday.


Duckster

[JohnK]

Duckster ... you are the man and The Reb would be proud of your Mtn biking ways!

[KeithEA]

Great pictures as alway Duck! Keith

[Blue_Lizard]

OK...so we are the new people...Blue Lizard (named after the bar I built on my back deck) and Blue Lizard Lady (so named because she is my wife and loves me!). I went through this post and it seems y'all are friends from way back...if 2007 is way back. It also seems to me that there are lots of people from here in the Southeast. I noticed there are have been some get-togethers in the past but this site has kind of fallen on hard times.

I have enjoyed what I have seen in here and would like to see it make a comeback. As I mentioned in another post, we are just getting started in camping together. Sure is a cheap way to enjoy a week end together! And if there's one thing I know...it's how to do cheap!

We would love to hear from more of you in the Southeast...maybe arrange some week end trips...camping...biking...grilling...a drink or two. Let us know...we are always looking to expand our horizons...

Mike & DJ

[ncmtns57]

thot Id check out the forum... wonder if anyone still has that Black Balsam pic of the group of us? mine disappeared

[Lita]

Well, boys, it's been awhile, eh? :-p
Although I was disappointed that this site had seemed to go by the wayside, and I haven't visited in a long long time, I saw this post and decided to add in. Hi to y'all I've met in person (some of the Georgia boys as well as JohnK) as well as those I've met online at this site. Although summer has been slow moving in to the higher peaks this year, we've been getting in hikes and backpacks. This past weekend did a backpack to get my 24th 14'er, San Luis, and looking forward to doing more.
Best wishes to everyone!
Lita

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by Lita

Well, boys, it's been awhile, eh? :-p
Although I was disappointed that this site had seemed to go by the wayside, and I haven't visited in a long long time, I saw this post and decided to add in. Hi to y'all I've met in person (some of the Georgia boys as well as JohnK) as well as those I've met online at this site. Although summer has been slow moving in to the higher peaks this year, we've been getting in hikes and backpacks. This past weekend did a backpack to get my 24th 14'er, San Luis, and looking forward to doing more.
Best wishes to everyone!
Lita

LITA!!!! How the heck are you ... is so good to see that you are still around and getting out there.