We arrived on a calm, cold, beautiful day. Blue skies went hand in hand with the freshly dumped snow on the jagged peaks of the Wallowa Mtns. This was to be our home for the next month. Our packs were loaded with 75 lbs., consisting mostly of Mary Jane's bulk Backcountry Foods. We had snowboards on our packs, snowshoes on our feet, and shovels in our hands …
– Bill Bonner

FIRST: the snowboard trip we had to get out of our system.

 We arrived on a calm, cold, beautiful day. Blue skies went hand in hand with the freshly dumped snow on the jagged peaks of the Wallowa Mtns. This was to be our home for the next month. Our packs were loaded with 75 lbs., consisting mostly of Mary Jane's bulk Backcountry Foods. We had snowboards on our packs snowshoes on our feet and shovels in our hands. The destination was a three sided hut 6 miles and 3000 vertical feet up the gut of the east fork of the Wallawa River. It took 7 hours of non-stop shoeing through a foot of fresh, wet snow to reach camp, but the view when we got there made it more than worth it.

This trip was to be the first of many that would exemplify our quest for happiness (Two people out of 6 billion on this little planet). Our mission in life, at this moment, is to grab the reins of today and dig in our spurs.

Read Boarding in the Wallawas by Bill Bonner.

“No Boundaries” Bike Tour 2001

Two years ago at the annual Banff Film festival, an extreme sports presentation, imagination started its engine in my head. A cam-corder novice style video documentary played on the screen. Three guys decided to take a trip from San Diego to New York on bicycle. They met fast food cashiers, truckers, Calvin Klein security guards and pro basketball players. All of these people showed a longing in their eyes and talked of big dreams they had and the person they thought they could be. At that moment in the show I saw myself outside of me. I saw a guy unsure of his future. He is in college doing what he thinks is right. He's into lots of activities and has a job but life's stimulation is suffocating. The fire in his powerful heart is dwindling. Let's see? This visual display he is concentrating on oxygenates his coals. Now for some kindling.

Kris leans over to me and says, “You ready to go?”

I knew exactly what he meant.

Since then I got a job as a river guide, took a road trip through California for a month to just get away, got a few odd jobs to buy the gear for the tour and by then it was rafting season again. Guiding made me enough money to get the bike and the components I wanted and pro deals for all the other stuff I had to get. As we looked at our gear the need for a bike trailer quickly became evident. Kris's job as manager at the local bike shop gave him constant exposure to new models on the market. The designs that trailer companies had, however, did not cater to the load we intended packing. So six months ago with the help of our friend Dana we designed and TIG welded a lightweight, aluminum trailer. Conflicting schedules, unordered materials, lack of the right tools and of course, the changing of the season stretched our departure date giving us five months of anticipation and a chance to marinate in the situation.

So the plan for spring of 2001 is “just to see where the road takes us”. Explore, discover, search, endure, imagine and find that one thing, that thing that ignites us. Hiking, rock climbing, snowboarding and, of course, biking will fill our agenda for the next year and about 10,000 miles. And I must give a thousand “thank you's” to Mary Jane for her support and belief in us and the support from Earl and Tina @ Paradise Creek Bicycles. Last but not least, our parents. Your help is immeasurably appreciated.