I’ve been busy with work and other commitments, so Trails + Travels has been hibernating. We’ve been on some great adventures in the past year, though, and I’ll be catching up soon. For now, here’s a gallery of photos of a grizzly bear I watched eating breakfast at Two Dog Flats on the shore of …
Author Archives: Justin
Lake loop through the Rattlesnake Wilderness
After my final long run before a 55K race turned into a trying day, I decided to break my taper with a 29-mile loop through the Rattlesnake Wilderness with a friend. Clear skies and lakes – and a trail mostly free of downed trees – were just what I needed. Like the routes to Stuart and Mineral peaks, the …
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Long run from canyon to canyon in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
What was supposed to be a final long run – up one canyon and down another in the Bitterroot Mountains – before a 55K race turned into a day of navigating cold stream crossings, flattened forest and snow-covered trail last month. While trying at times, the 27 miles between Fred Burr Creek and Mill Creek northwest of Hamilton offered …
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Steep switchbacks to Ward Mountain
Looking for a hike with some elevation and rocky terrain to prepare for an upcoming ultramarathon, I found myself atop 9,108-foot Ward Mountain last month, the ridges of the Bitterroot Range lining up into the distance to the north and south. About 4 hours earlier, Jen, the dogs and I started up the trail where Roaring …
Cooling off in snow-ringed Glen Lake
In early June – on the first 90-degree day of the year – we decided to take the dogs on a short hike to cool off at Glen Lake, in the Bitterroot Mountains west of Victor. The last time I hiked there was before a wildfire burned the area in 2006, and I remember it being fairly …
‘Gem’ of a peak in the Sapphire Range
Searching for a new place to hike with our dogs on Memorial Day, we were led up Palisade Mountain east of Corvallis by an online guide. “A surprising gem in the Sapphires,” the description on the Montana Wilderness Association’s Hike Wild Montana website states. Indeed. I’ve always thought of the forested summits of the Sapphire Mountains …
On – and off – the Lolo Trail
Memorial Day weekend started with a misadventure for me and a couple of friends. After seeing a photo of another friend on the Lolo Trail – a section of the Nez Perce and Lewis and Clark national historic trails – we decided to try to run up to Lolo Pass and back as part of our training …
Back on the run in Hells Canyon
The Hells Canyon Adventure Run in March marked the start of my trail-running season this year and represented a return to form after a winter ankle injury. The three-day weekend over the spring equinox was also the beginning of warm-weather recreation for us and our puppy Gus’ first camping trip. With mostly sunny skies and wildflowers on the hillsides, …
Year on the run, from races to RATBOB to R2R2R
Last year was a fairly big running year for me – not in terms of total distance or race times, but simply in overall experience. As in 2014, I raced at 11 Miles to Paradise between St. Regis and Quinn’s Hot Springs, finishing with a small PR, and at the 52-mile Bighorn Mountain Wild and …
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Snowshoeing up Bear Creek with new puppy Gus
Meet Gus, our newest addition! This Beagle-American Staffordshire cross joined our family as an 11-pound 3 1/2-month-old in late November. One month older and a few pounds heavier, Gus went on his first real adventure showshoeing up Bear Creek in the Bitterroot Mountains on Christmas Day. The outing was a fitting tribute to our old dog Belle, a 12-year-old black Lab-hound …
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TRAILS + TRAVELS 