short weekend

weekends always seem too quick. even the long ones. they are mini-vacations, but like all vacations, they are just too short.

the weather was not great this past weekend, but like so many days in the spring in montana, there is always enough good weather to have some fun.

so there we were, sitting at the base of all the roadside climbs at stone hill, when the rain started. we had hoped to go to one of the more off road locations, to allow the dogs and kids to run around a bit, but the weather just did not cooperate. so instead, we hung out and waited. and finally, it stopped, the sun came out enough to dry the rock and we were all able to climb multiple pitches. as per usual, i flailed mightily on a 5-8 face climb. small foot and hand holds are my nemesis. for better or worse, i perform better in large cracks and off widths.

after about 5 hours, we called it a day, as we were camping nearby and hoped the next day would bring more clear weather. so, after a mellow morning, and an hour on our mountain bikes, the weather looked, well, worse. so my wife and i decided to go the other way, back to the flathead, with stop for the dogs to swim and us to walk. there is a day use area on the south side of dickey lake that is really nice. super low key. clean. plenty of space to bbq, play horseshoes, and hangout. very kid friendly.

so now we are already looking forward to the long weekend coming up. we are going to make it a four day weekend,and head to ovando and hope to get some warm sunny weather, drop our lines in the river, ride our bikes somewhere nearby and visit the local institution.