10peaksbeforelunch // nate bender

This July I had an encounter with a mama grizzly bear and her two cubs. I want to share that story and some thoughts for staying safe in bear country. This is not an exhaustive guide for bear safety. There are a million resources from nonprofits, the National Park Service, Parks Canada, etc. that go … Continue reading Staying safe in bear country

I had the good fortune here to run the 55-mile trail along Idaho’s Selway river, joining a group of friends as they kayaked the river. My girlfriend at the time and I were hanging out in my kitchen, chatting and making dinner. She mentioned that in a couple days she and a small group of … Continue reading Selway river trail – June 6-7, 2020

The Flathead range seems pretty under-appreciated in the western Montana mountain scene. You just never hear people talking about it. It’s like the nearby Swan range, Missions, and the Bob Marshall wilderness the Flatheads sit within dominate everyone’s imaginations. I think part of the reason too is that the meat of the Flathead range is … Continue reading Flathead range partial traverse – Aug 9-10, 2020

In the words of its creator Dave Chenault (website: Bedrock and Paradox), the BMWO is “an unsupported traverse of a big wild place in the tradition of Bob Marshall and the Alaska Mountain and Wilderness Classic.” Each spring since 2012, a small group of folks gather to traverse the Bob Marshall wilderness by whatever self-powered and … Continue reading Bob Marshall Wilderness Open (BMWO) 2020 – May 25-26, 2020

The stars above shine brighter than seems possible, the Milky Way interrupted only by the silhouette of Granite Peak’s north ridgeline to one side and the Froze-to-Death plateau on the other. I lay shoulder to shoulder on the cramped, rocky platform with my friend and first pacer Sam, shifting occasionally to find the least-uncomfortable position … Continue reading Across this house of sky – a short story on linking the Montana highpoints