It wasn’t a Battle on Snowshoes, but it did involve tromping in the snowy woods and burning gunpowder. I’d been hoping all winter to have a chance to snowshoe in to our range at Zimmerman Butte. While the Cascade Crest has received a pretty fair snowfall this winter, we just haven’t gotten any sustained build-up lower down. A bum knee means Lady … [Read more...] about Snowshoes, Skis & Gunpowder

Made a lightning raid a little over a week ago into one of the great cities of Frontier Partisan history. Talkin’ about San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio is, of course, the home of the Alamo, which has obvious resonance as a shrine to one of the epic moments in Frontier Partisan history. But there’s more. The trip — a newspaper conference with my … [Read more...] about The San Antonio Raid

Ever since Ian Tyson died, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Romance of the West. Ol’ Eon was a romantic to the core. Oh, he was intimately familiar with the harsh realities of the West — “dumb stuff like chores when it’s 20 below,” and the like — but he was deeply and permanently besotted with the landscape and a passing way of life. Sample … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Rangers, Romance & The Return Of Fauda

 A firstfoot was to bring gifts to the house: an egg, a faggot of wood, a bit of salt — and a bit of whisky, thus insuring that the household would not lack for the necessities during the coming year. (From The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 35, “Hogmanay”) * Good sir, I bring you salt to salt your meat, and I bring you coal to keep your … [Read more...] about Hogmanay!

May your camp be festive, no matter how deep the snows. … [Read more...] about Merry Christmas!

This is so damn cool... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuiEEP7PSS4 Legacy Expeditions, a veteran-owned extreme expedition company, is raising awareness and inspiring action to support the Folds of Honor Foundation through their upcoming global expedition, Triple 7, in January 2023. The seven-day, record-breaking skydiving adventure includes … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Triple 7, Celtic Christmas & Notes For Badass Santa

Biathlon season has arrived. The first series of races is underway in Finland. Martin Ponsiluoma of Sweden took the opening Kontiolahti Men’s 20 km individual with a single miss. Captain Rick Schwertfeger reported this morning that he saw part of the first race: I saw the 2nd half of it. Beautiful snow/track conditions. Looked quite cold. … [Read more...] about The Noble Nordic Sport Returns

May your day be filled with bounty and good fellowship. I am thankful for your presence at this campfire. … [Read more...] about Happy Thanksgiving!

Clan Cornelius executed as perfect a birthday as I ever expect to enjoy this weekend. Yeah, I turned 57 as of November 6. I got a rather stark reminder of this when I upgraded the tracking device phone and the tech feller urged me to sign up for AARP to get all the discounts membership provides. I’ve been ignoring that outfit for some time, but a … [Read more...] about Birthday Smoke & Dreadful Wind And Rain