I subscribe to the belief that there is adventure waiting everywhere. You just have to challenge yourself to find it.
In November, D. and I went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival that was on its world tour in Great Falls, Montana. They showed 12 short films, and all were moving, but two stood out to me. The first was Gone Tomorrow, the Story of Kentucky Ice Climbing, about adventure climbing frozen waterfalls in Kentucky canyons. “It’s so ephermal,” one climber said. “It’s there today. It’s possibly gone the next day.”
The second was Surfer Dan, about a man who surfs Lake Superior in the winter and why he does it. As the trailer puts it, “In a time when it can feel like you need to fly to the opposite side of the globe to find adventure and challenge, Surfer Dan proves that with dedication, grit and a little creativity you might already have all you need outside you own backdoor.” There is something profoundly beautiful about this film.
“It’s an endless quest. A journey,” says Surfer Dan. Couldn’t agree more.
So, I was thinking of these guys while we were having a week of -25 degree weather, fog, wind gusts about 100 mph and days when melt off and ice made this particular part of Montana almost unbearable.
D. is still grappling with a knee injury but he can walk, so we’ve spent most days walking backroads that crisscross fields to get outside, get some fresh air, clear our heads and connect with nature. And when we had the snow, I cross-country skied in the airstrip. You gotta do, what you gotta do.
Here are a few photos of our winter adventures in our own backyard.
