BPL Montana Winter Rendezvous

Well I'm definitely not in Montana but that's about the time of my spring break so I'll keep it in mind and see if I'm able to come as it gets closer.

Monday bump.

One idea for a route, if we can run a short car shuttle, is to start at the North Fork Blackfoot TH and end at Monture. Going up the North Fork, then the Dry Fork, then Canyon Creek and down Falls Creek is an excellent route. Depending on the group, going over the Dry Fork divide and over Limestone Pass would be even better, but the west side of Limestone has a brief stretch of (mild) mandatory avy terrain.

Dave- I'd definitely be interested in a 2 or 3 day trip. Would prefer a trip sans ice axe/crampons if possible :) I haven't spent any time in the Scapegoat so that would definitely be a nice choice for me.

Mike

Hi Dave,

I just checked flights and its just over 500$ for flights for me (depending on dates) I could come along if someone could help with transport from Bozeman and once its not on the 17th March (St. Patricks Day)

Cheers,

Stephen

The first option I outlined is non-technical, and would be a fine (not too hard, not too easy) 3 day route. Snowshoes would work fine, as would most XC skis. Skiers would need kicker skins at minimum.

Anyone who lives here knows how bloody expensive it is to fly in and out. Depending on who commits we could probably arrange to pick folks up from Bozeman or Missoula (the two most likely airports). My primary intention is selfish, ie to be able to hike with guys like Mike whom I've never met, and thus the vacation-time friendly long weekend format.

I'm little shaky on skis, feel more comfy on shoes but would be willing to give it a go if that's what folks would rather do

if I go I'd be driving through Bozeman, so I could pick up any folks flying in there :)

Just saw this, and I'm definitely interested. My ski skills are still novice, but I love the idea. Shoes are my preference. Then again, I do plan to practice this winter.

Depending on dates I might be able to take off work for a bit too.

Cheers Mike :-)

Once we know dates I can see I can get a few days off work and will come if the flights are not too crazy expensive.

sounds good :) March is usually when cabin fever hits me the hardest, this would be a fun reprieve

I hear you Mike, If I manage to go it will be my 6th Bpl Meetup in a year :-)

^ that sounds like a potential record to me :)

I am wrong Mike, it will be the 8th as have 2 local trips in January and February that Bplease folk are attending.

:-)

Those who are interested, speak out on preferred dates and duration. Early birds get the worm.

This far out my March is very flexible.

How about the weekend of the 21st??

I just looked at flights flying out from and the cheaper ones (about $550 oppose to $900) can get me in to Bozeman at 11.30pm and leave at 8.55pm on the return leg.

I can do either a 2 or 3 night trip.

21st is good for me, pretty flexible though- the later half would probably be better than the first half given a choice

3 day, 2 night would be good for me as I'd have nearly a day drive there (and back)- Miles City to Lincoln is ~ 500 miles/8 hours

Great idea. Unfortunately I will be just beginning the AT in March. Sound like a great trip though. The Scapegoat is a nice area.

I could possibly do the weekend of the 21st (that's a Thursday, Friday is the 22nd). However, it's a bit of a stretch for me since that's the end of our grading quarter. Either the weekend before or the one after would be much better for me.

I would also do much better with a Saturday-Monday hike rather than Friday-Sunday. With my school schedule, getting Fridays off is doable but takes some work.

March 21-24 range is good for me as it now stands. I might be able to drive someone from Bozeman, and flights to Bozeman tend to be less expensive than Missoula or Kalispell.

I can do Friday-Sunday or Saturday-Monday, I would need to stay over whichever night as the flight gets in at 11.30pm

Once we figure out what happening I can book flights.

Dave- if I've mapped the route out correctly, looks like 26-ish miles or so- that should make for a pretty doable 3 day, 2 night trip on shoes or skis, the other route you mention looks to be ~ 35 miles

both look good :)

Mike

Could be a fast or slow 26ish miles depending on conditions. If the former, plenty of cool stuff to check out with spare hours.

Looks like March 23 (saturday) through March 25 (monday) is the developing consensus. This works for me.

I am in Europe for another 10 days but if the flights have not jumped too much in price I am still up for it.

I'm in. Sounds like a good time. Whatever date or duration works for me. Most likely will be on snowshoes. The consolation is that I just purchased a new pair of Northernlite Tundra snowshoes. They're nice, like wearing a feather…a feather I tell ya.

looks like my wife might join up as well- definitely snowshoes; I got beat up bad last week in the Absaroka's on skis-I've got a long way to go to becoming proficient on skis!