6.18.10
Going to the Sun...
Another beautiful day in Northwest Montana! We headed into Glacier National Park to hike to Avalanche Lake. We've tried several times to make this hike but it has always been closed due to Grizzly bear activity.

With the trail open and clear of Grizzlies (hopefully...) we packed up a picnic lunch and headed out on the trail. The first portion of the trail includes the World Famous Trail of the Cedars. Working with cedar all day, I was super excited to see these 1000 year old giants of Glacier. I was stunned and awed by the enormity and unspeakable beauty of these majestic kings of the forest.

After passing the Trail of the Cedars we continued our hike to Avalanche Lake. The trail is winding and gentle with very little elevation gain. So we made quick work of the 2.5 miles to the Lake. The lake is an amazing and picturesqe alpine glacial lake with several huge waterfalls spilling hundreds of feet down the sheer faces of the surrounding mountains. A perfect spot for a summer picnic.

Trout were rising to the surface sipping on bugs... but I didn't pack my rod. Something I really regretted. I'll for sure be heading back to fish this lake in the future.

6.12.10
Summer Snow Skiing...
We hiked up to the legendary Jewel Basin Hiking Area this Saturday. It was a glorious sunny day with temperatures in the mid 70's. Perfect day for a long summer hike, right? Wrong...

As we were making the long, steep, winding drive up to the Camp Disappointment trail head we noticed cars decending with skis and snowboards on their roof racks. Weird thing to see in the middle of summer...

Well, the trail begins at an altitude in the mountains that still had a solid 6 feet of snowpack. Great for skiers, total bummer for hikers. Not to be deterred we still strapped on the packs and did a solid 4 mile hike in the snow. Without snowshoes it was a sluggish, punishing hike, for sure. But the stunning beauty of the landscape and sweeping vistas of the Swan Mountains made up for it...


Dan standing well above the signs with trail info...

5.31.10
Goin' back to Cali.
We've been shipping a ton of Stand Up Paddles to California the past few years. SUPers really do an awesome job of sending thank you notes and photos of our paddles in use. Totally cool to see. Its awesome to know that people are appreciating our work.

Below is a recent email and photo from Mike F. in Redondo Beach, California.
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Aloha,

I am sending along an overdue "thank-you" for building such wonderful stand-up paddles.

I have been paddling and surfing with the Whiskey Ocho several times a week for several months now and love it.

I am located in Redondo Beach, CA and purchased the paddle from PCH Surf

I paddle with Kathy P. regularly; she has a Whiskey Jane on order with you now; she told me she spoke with you today and that you were great folks on the phone. 

Because we are on the water here in Redondo Beach daily, your paddle gets a lot of exposure.  In the sea of composite and carbon fiber paddles out here, you can be sure your beautiful wood paddle really stands out.  We hope you are able to secure a local dealer that we can direct folks to as we certainly get a lot of inquiries about your paddle. 

Best of luck to you and thank-you again for crafting such a fine piece of practical art.

Mahalo,

Mike F.

PS:  A couple photos of your paddle in use on the water here are attached.  We also run a web site for local watermen and women; we don't sell anything or offer advertising but it can certainly give you a "flavor" of our location:  http://www.rivierawaveriders.org/

5.11.10
Mother's Day.
We received this nice email and photo from Barrie D. of Tennessee. Perfect timing for a Mother's Day post. Keep on Paddling Mom...

Hello,

I ran across your website and fell in love with your beautiful canoe paddles. I was shopping for a lightweight paddle for my mother. She is 73 years old and a surviver of 2 open heart surgeries. She paddled last weekend for the first time since her surgeries 14 months ago. She has paddled most of her life -mostly in BWCAW and in Tennessee where we now live. She also spent much time in your area on the north shore having been born and raised in Minnesota...

....I bought the Whiskey Jill for her and she loves it. I have attached a photo of her using it on a lake in North Carolina last October. She loves the feel and the lightness. She is still recovering from her heart surgeries and feels that her paddle helps her to be able to contribute more to their time on the water. Thank you so much for such a great product!!!

Thank you, Barri

4.25.10
Arctic Grayling.
A few months ago I was reading the fish census reports for the area and learned that several lakes contained Arctic Grayling. This is a fish species that I have never caught and have always wanted to. Its a relatively rare fish that is not found in Minnesota. When you are fishing for Grayling it means you are somewhere "wild."

So I headed out to Lake Wish-You-Knew with Bob L. to see if we could catch a few using fly rods. We were fly fishing out of a totally cool, super stable Hyde Drift Boat -designed for fly fishing. Definitely an upgrade from the tiny tippy canoes I'm used to fishing out of.

It was gray, cold and windy when we arrived at the landing and for the first several hours we just suffered miserably catching nothing. Most reasonable people would have given up. Then miraculously the sun appeared, the wind stopped and the water was like glass.

As if on cue, a few mayflies appeared on the water and the fish started to rise up to the surface to feed. Then the water began to boil -with fish after hungry fish jumping up to snatch flies on the calm surface. It was a thing of beauty. We matched the flies and for the last hour on the water we had non-stop action.

Dan and Arctic Grayling.


Bob and the Hyde Drift boat

4.09.10
Glacier hike.
With the ski lifts closed its time for us to start finding new places to explore. We are determined not to let having 8 month old infants deter us from having adventures. Today we headed to Glacier National Park for a day of hiking. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day -perfect for a day on the trails. So we purchased our annual parks pass from the park ranger and headed up the world famous Going-to-the-Sun Road. The road receives so much snow fall that it will not be completely cleared for travel until the middle of June. We were only able to drive up the road about 10 miles.

Last month we ordered a pair of baby hiking packs so we could each carry a baby on our hiking expeditions. We selected a really slick model by Kelty that held the babies and also a pretty good amount of gear (food, water maps, etc.) They were worth every penny.

We're new to the area so we grabbed a copy of Hiking Glacier National Park by Falcon Press. It guided us to an incredibly beautiful trail which followed a winding river with bunches of gorgeous cascades and waterfalls.

At the start, we chose a trail spur heading north up the river. After a few hundred yards we encountered fresh grizzly bear tracks on the trail... so we decided that maybe the south trail would be a better choice for us today.

After several hours of hiking, we stopped and picnicked along the river on a smooth, exposed piece ledge rock with amazing views of the cascades and the mountains beyond. It was one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen.

Barb and Little Max along the cascades.

3.29.10
Signs, signs, everywhere signs.
We're definitely not in Minnesota any more. The towering mountains are a constant reminder of this... as are the warning signs we keep encountering on our hikes...

3.12.10
Canoecopia Solo.
With Barbara back in Montana watching the kids, I headed east for the mother of all canoe shows... Canoecopia. Hosted by Rutabaga Paddlesports, it is by far the premier show of the year.

This is my fifth year with a booth at the show but my first without any help. Working the booth and helping all of the customers on my own was a tough assignment. It was jammed packed in our booth much of the time. I did my very best to help everyone out and get them sized for the proper paddle. The Saturday crowd was especially huge and I was totally exhausted at the end.

Like I said, this was my fifth year at the show. One of the coolest things about attending is that I've gotten to know other paddlemakers from different paddle companies. Technically, we are all competitors but you wouldn't know it... Collectively they are all a great group of people. At my first show the guys from Bending Branches and Sawyer were especially nice and encouraging to me... even though we were just newbie greenhorns with a tiny booth. I don't think we even had a sign or logo yet...

This year I spent some time with Dave Chun from Kialoa, who makes really sweet all carbon surf paddles. Its always great to hear his crazy stories. My booth was next to Bending Branches again so I chatted it up with them a bunch. I was also able to share a beer with Dale and Bev from Fox Works Paddles. This was their first year at the show so it was nice to meet them. They were super funny and shared a bunch of stories about their shop and life in New York state.

A few up-start paddle makers also stopped by my booth as well. -Joe from Holtz Paddles and Erik from Erik's Paddles. Sanbourn Canoe also made two long visits to the booth looking for new paddle design ideas for their fledgling paddle biz. They seemed especially interested in our Double Whiskey design and my new laminated yokes and landing nets (see pics below...) maybe they'll be doing something similar soon.

Calm before the storm.


New landing nets and laminated yokes and thwarts.


New Whiskey Swag for the show. Water bottles, coffee mugs, shot glasses, hats...