Hit List 2013

In and among the posts of Nepal you will be seeing updates of life as usual here in beautiful Bozeman, MT. It really feels like summer here and we are getting outside!

Happy family at Lava Lake!

The local outdoor journal Outside Bozeman is sponsoring the Hit List competition for the third year in a row. They have picked 20 outside activities around southwest Montana (this year the distance of activities from Bozeman has a little larger radius than last year). The Bozeman Lanes got an honorable mention last year for completing 14 of the 20 activities together and getting engaged along the way. Well, this year the "love birds" want a little more than a shout-out and we are going for the win!

Climbing at Practice Rock with our mountain hound.

On Sunday afternoon we hiked to Lava Lake in the Gallatin Canyon, just making it back to the car before we were hit by an afternoon rainstorm. Then yesterday under bluebird skies we went with a friend and her pooch to Practice Rock in Hyalite Canyon to rock climb. It was so good to get out on real rock having been in the gym quite a bit this spring. A little early season jitters on the first trad lead of the season melted away to smooth pleasure pulling hard on solid hand-jams and sweeping overhangs. This is going to be a good summer...

March Ice

What's cooler than being cool? ICE COLD! 

 -Outkast

I've been writing a lot about an upcoming trip to Nepal: preparations, fundraising, culture...but what's going on in the rest of my life? Back in March, right at the end of the ice climbing season, I had a flurry of days up in Hyalite Canyon. Great training and team building for Nepal (okay, I had to make it relate somehow).

The first of the two days I have pictures from I went out with a fellow Nepal team leader Jeff and his daughter. We had a stellar afternoon in the sunshine amidst some fresh snow. Jeff is shown above leading the first pitch of a climb called "Hangover."

One of the things I love about ice climbing is the feeling. There is just something about walking around with sharp things on your feet and sharp tools in your hands that makes any outing feel like an epic adventure! Here Jeff and Aime are walking around a rock outcrop on the way back to the truck. If I were able to crop out the tree, it could be a ridge somewhere in the Alaska Range or high in the Himalaya, right? Like I said, epic feeling. 

Another thing about ice climbing that adds to the "epic" feel is the weather you go out in. Sometimes it feels like an all-out blizzard. This picture is kind of deceptive though: it was probably 32 degrees while it was snowing. 

Here are my buddies from the next Friday after climbing with Jeff: (l to r) Chris, Brett, and Josh. Great group of studs just out for a morning jaunt on ice. 

And I love climbing! Swinging tools and working with ropes is an incredible experience. If you ever get the chance to get out and climb, please do so for me! Even for those of you less attracted to the vertical world: get into the fresh air of the mountains. Or at the very least watch some kind of climbing video or documentary.

I'll leave you today with a quote from John Muir:

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

End of Summer Hiking in Glacier

Since this is really the only place that I post pictures (unless specifically requested by friends...) I feel the need to do some "back-posting" now that I have some free time away from school work. 

Eagle Ribs and Mt. Despair
After the weekend of my Lookout to Lookout run, Dad and I drove over to the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park to climb with fellow members of the Glacier Mountaineering Society. The climb, led by our good friend Dell, was to summit both Eagle Ribs and Mt. Despair. Both names led to puns aplenty, let me assure you. 

Fellow climbers in the foreground, Eagle Ribs in the
background on the right. 

We set off early from the Two Medicine parking area, with high hopes of summitting two peaks by the end of the day. About a third of the trip was on maintained trail with the rest following goat trails, not trail, or snow. Our first objective was soon in sight and the summit gained easily. Then we faced a difficult route-finding mission between the two peaks, scrambling among several cliff bands and avoiding steep patches of snow as much as possible. Making our way around the summit block of Eagle Ribs was likely the "crux" of the day and many times we thought we'd have to turn around. Thankfully the feelings of the group was always "try one more approach", "go around the next corner", and "let's see how far we can get".

Scrambling around while route-finding. 

We finally made it through the saddle and onto the snow field our group which had been cause for concern since we had first seen it earlier that morning. The route turned out to be fairly straight forward and the snow not nearly as steep as initially anticipated. We summitted the peak with ease, despairing no more that we would not achieve our two mountain objective.

Summit photo on Despair, our crew no longer despairing
yet still mindful of the long trek back to the vehicles.

We merely reversed our tracks out the way we had come, moving much faster through the saddle and around the summit block of Eagle Ribs than we had that morning. The weather held wonderfully and we made it back to our vehicles right as it got dark to be welcomed back to civilization with chips and salsa! Our leader, Dell, was keeping track of vertical and mileage and it was over 7000 feet gained over 20+ miles if I remember correctly; the second weekend in a row of big miles and lots of vert for me.

Descending the largest snowfield on the return from
Despair. Remember this is July 30th, and we're using
crampons and ice axes.

Mad Wolf Circuit
Gordan Edwards book A Climbers Guide to Glacier National Park has several descriptions of traverses, circuits, and peak link-ups that are worthy challenges for the aspiring mountaineer. In the Cut Bank drainage on the East side of Glacier Park, the Mad Wolf circuit summits three peaks within view of the campground starting point: Mad Wolf, Eagle Plume, and Bad Marriage. The climb begins along the Triple Divide pass trail before jumping off and crossing the Cut Bank Creek along an old Park trail that is no longer maintained (it does happen to be on most topo maps of the area however). We left our sandals in a tree to avoid varmints using them for some mid-morning munchies and bucked the brush periodically while following the old trail. We were rewarded as we left the treeline with a sighting of a group of wild horses mentioned in Edwards climbing guide and a small bull moose! The route to the summit of Mad Wolf was a straight forward scramble and beautiful ridge walk. Though the sun was shining it didn't take long for everyone to pull out their jackets due to the strong winds as can be seen in the summit photo below.

Summit photo with climbing crew on Mad Wolf. 

Our climbing crew, then walked the ridge toward Eagle Plume, ascending the class three scramble to the top in short order. It always amazes me how much ground you can cover by keeping a solid pace, putting one foot in front of the other; particularly surprising on a gorgeous day where you can see for miles and miles. Dropping off the back side of Eagle Plume was not the most enjoyable decent I've ever experienced: a shallow layer of scree on rocks isn't conducive to speed or comfort. We followed a sort of climber's/goat trail once reaching the rock field below that led us to the summit of Bad Marriage. We relaxed on the top for a while enjoying the sunshine and the success of the trip thus far.

Third peak of the day! Lounging in the sunshine on
Bad Marriage. 

The crux of this circuit follows the enjoyable views of ridge walking and peak bagging. We traversed along the cliffs and scree fields on the east face of Bad Marriage and made our way to the stream at the bottom of the cirque. Topographic maps indicate a water fall at the edge of the cirque, thus we knew we'd have to negotiate some cliffs to get back to the trail we came in on. We stopped at a picturesque pool between between some of the falls to filter some water for the rest of the trip.

Filtering water near a beautiful water fall, Eagle Plume
in the distance. 

There is really only one way through the cliff band and down to the valley below. If you cross the stream at a narrow point right above the biggest falls, angle up and to the right heading toward what appears to be the only way around the steep cliffs. If I remember correctly we had to skirt some small trees and scramble down some wet rocks and soil. Don't split up your group without being able to contact each other via radio or cell phone. We got separated and one member of our group did a lot more climbing and walking than necessary. It was also very helpful to have a GPS to log the route on the way in: we followed it's direction and hit the trail again fairly easily.

Ever seen a sandal tree?

We found our sandals again, waded across the creek, and stumbled back to the truck tired from the day but feeling elated and fortunate. The trek was beautiful and a challenge worth facing. The Summit Post article on the climb discourages climbers from attempting the whole three peak circuit because the views from Bad Marriage are the same as Eagle Plume and the trip off Bad Marriage was hairy enough for him not to get back to his vehicle until 1:30 in the morning. Thankfully this was not our experience. I feel like the third peak was well worth the extra effort and with the help of maps and a GPS, route finding back to the campground wasn't extremely difficult.

Alpenglow on the completed circuit. 

No. 5 Denali: Two Miles above Sea Level

All smiles while traveling in a mini-blizzard from Camp 2
at 9500 feet. Those goggles are pretty photogenic, no?

Journal Entry No. 5

Location: 11,000 foot Camp, laying in the tent after a big haul from 9500 feet. We went to bed at 9500 feet with high hopes for the next day and awoke in a blizzard. But our RMI friends were moving so we felt like it was okay to move too: the weather was snowy and visibility poor but it wasn't too cold to risk frostbite or worse.

June 20th—Storm Day...kind of.

We're laying in the tent right now trying to take a nap after a big morning, but I can't sleep, so I'm reflecting. I guess I'm also sitting, not laying, in my Thermarest chair. Awesome investment by the way...

Another big day today. It snowed last night and we woke up to an obliterated trail, about two inches of fresh snow, and poor visibility. Since there wasn't going to be as much of a problem with being too hot, we slept in after seeing the conditions. I think we got up sometime around 5, broke camp, and headed out to our cache from yesterday. We dug it up without problem (pink is a very good color for wands), and continued along behind a large guided group that passed us while we were repacking our sleds.

It was really difficult to see the way to go, especially when we came to a section of trail with no wands. (Even our friend/guide Mike got lost initially until he checked his GPS). Comically we were in the process of passing a different guided group and came to the lead person right as the wands ran out. Dad was following the contour of the slope and veered right in a small radial curve and ended up going about 90 degrees off course. It was made even more dramatic since the lead guide started tending left to avoid a steeper section of trail. Then Dad wanted to follow them and I got really frustrated with the pace and didn't handle it very well. Dad graciously put up with me. He needs to carry the GPS the next time we travel in a whiteout though.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud: I'm standing there while Dad is making a dramatic turn to the right and had no idea! We got back on track and waited for the guided rope teams to pass us and then followed them. As I mentioned above, they were moving very slowly, at a pace that felt uncomfortable for me. I tried to motion to Dad that they were slow and we could move faster, but my I think all my limited sign language was able to express was some impatience. Note to self: sign language, unless agreed upon before the climb has now place in mountaineering. Bad communication and hurt feelings are a very real threat to any expedition.

Did I mention we ate well on the trip? A pancake frying
in my frybake pan. Yum!

Camp at 11,000 feet didn't come without a fight: the last hill into camp proper was a beast of a climb. Tired and hungry we built camp. By the time we melted snow and cooked “breakfast for lunch” around 1:30, morale was at a low. But what could turn it around but pepper-jack cheesed bacon and granola, walnut pancakes, and syrup. My new frybake is awesome!

Dad showing off a pretty amazing looking pancake. Much
needed nourishment after a long hard day up to camp.

When pulled into camp and began to set up, another guided group came through with Vern Tejas in the lead. Vern is crazy: a mountaineering machine, having climbed all of the Seven Summits multiple times, and has claim to the first winter solo ascent of Denali. He also comes into 11k foot camp singing a made up song at the top of his lungs. Let's think about this, I'm having trouble breathing because of the elevation and he is singing. Again, crazy

After our afternoon nap, we're going to have pasta with butter fried, smoked salmon...and pudding for dessert. We're going to have to work on camp a little too for a little evening calisthenics.

Camp at 11k feet looking at the route up Motorcycle
Hill. The weather is still fairly foggy/socked in.

Climbing roped on glacier is an interesting mix of individual and team effort. You choose to travel with partners so as to be safer in the case of a crevasse fall. But being roped 20 meters apart essentially means you are climbing by yourself with no one around to talk to. It's probably good on an expedition like this though: confined to the same tent as someone for several weeks can be trying for an introvert like me. Alone time while climbing and writing are very restful periods. On the other hand, my dad is the best partner I could ask for on this trip. There is no pressure to perform or make hasty decisions. We are also very good friends which allows conversation to go anywhere.

I still can't get over how amazing it was skiing on the glacier yesterday!

I have a note on the border of the page that says, 

"Right now, I have no doubt in my mind that we will make the summit of Denali.”

At this point in our journey, Dad and I have both gone through numerous highs and lows with regards to the success of our expedition. Our recent success of traveling through various weather and snow conditions, bolstered by our new found RMI friends, is allowing us to feel positive again, as though we might be able to pull this thing off. 

View from camp at 11,000 feet. We had some really
beautiful days up there. 

A New Life in Bozeman

Well it's been three weeks since I officially moved down to Bozeman to begin Graduate School this Fall, but I thought I would throw this up nonetheless, if nothing more than a bookmark on my life.

Lil' Champ loaded to the gills with all my stuff. Just enough space to keep from bringing too much  at one time probably.

It was fairly humbling fitting everything that I owned into the back of my pickup (and on top of it!) and heading off into the unknown of southwestern Montana. Now, it's an exaggeration to say that it is everything that I own. But at least it's everything that I would need for the first part of the semester until I could get home or hook up with my folks to get additional stuff. I mean, I'll need have to get my skis and ice tools before the snow starts falling and the those waterfalls start freezing. My house is close to campus and it takes me less than five minutes to get to class in the morning on my bike. The guys I'm living with in my dirt-bag-gotta-love-it-'cause-its-cheap basement apartment are really cool and easy to have conversations with and hang out with.

Like I said, "Good that I couldn't take too much stuff in my pickup".  My room is pretty small, but cosy and is all I need for late night studying and a good place to sleep. And when decorated...

...it looks great! It's filled out with furniture I pilfered from the garage and found for free on the curb. Back to thrifty college living, eh?

A view of the kitchen where a lot of delicious food is thrown down.  Look at that cute face, too! The dog is Mabel, sort of like my roommate Drew's second girlfriend: she doesn't live here, but she's here a lot and often spends the night...

I'm adjusting to life in Bozeman rather well. I spend most of my time on campus, in class or in the library studying with my compatriots but there's still the occasional bit of free time to get out and explore. Slowly but surely I'm learning my way around town, both on bike and in my truck. I've been out in the hills as well: hunting, climbing, and mountain biking. I've always said I went to Abilene for school instead of MSU because if I was in Bozeman I never would have gone to class. Well, it's not that bad but the "call of the wild" is certainly there everyday. Everything is just so close by! All in all this new life in the place of my birth ain't so bad, in fact it could be tempting to never finish school...

Self-portrait after biking to Mystic Lake on Labor Day evening. 

My roommate Matt and his girlfriend Sacha. We went rock climbing at Practice Rock in Hyalite Canyon a couple of weekends ago. It's bee a while since I've been on rock, and man it feels good!

Sacha is a machine: sending what I believe to be called Practice Crack.

Yosemite National Park and No-Lights Driving

My 11th National Park of the trip. It had been incredible so far and was only getting better.

In my last post pertaining to my Fall 2010 road trip, I informed you that I had my headlight switch had burnt-out. So I raced back to my campsite at Wawona campground, arriving just before nightfall, and set up the back of my truck to spend a lovely night among the trees and fresh air of Yosemite. I made a dinner of tuna-mac, played some guitar, and bundled up against the chill in the mountain air. There was a group that was camped next to me, in a rather large 1-ton, 4-door truck and looked like they planned to sleep in a laughable lean-to style tent on an inflatable mattress in the bed of the truck. It turned out they were a group of Naval Corpsmen on leave and seeing the sights of Yosemite. They invited me over to their campfire and I had a good time hanging with new friends that night.

El Capitan at dusk.

The next morning I rose early and tried to leave camp as soon as it got light enough to drive. I got into the valley and saw some big black tail bucks and climbers hanging out on El Capitan, including professional athletes Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson. I found a place to park, still difficult at 8 in the morning, and headed off to find a place to hike. I clambered up the trail toward upper Yosemite Falls and got some good views of the watery precipice in the morning light. It was a lucky time of year, there had been some fall snow and as that was melting the waterfalls became spectacular. (I'm told that they tend to dry up a bit toward the end of the summer/beginning of the fall.)

My first view into the Valley at dusk, just before my discovery of not having headlights and my scramble back to Wawona Campground. It was a beautiful evening to say the least.

I jogged back down the trail from the Falls with the "clock ticking" knowing that I would need to get to my uncle's house in Windsor before it got dark. Even so, I took a tour of Camp IV, the famous climbers' camp complete with some famous boulders within the compound. I swung by the view of Lower Yosemite Falls on the way to the bookstore to do "the tourist thing" and get some souvenirs for my family.

Half Dome over my left shoulder in the distance.  

While in Yosemite, I had to keep remembering to close my mouth. The landscape truly had jaw-dropping beauty. I appreciated it for its natural wonder, but viewing the valley through the eyes of a climber it was incredible! I was practically drooling... Someday in my future I want to visit Yosemite with a climbing rack and rope in hand and a comrade in arms alongside me. Those granite walls will haunt my dreams until that day.

Upper Yosemite Falls.

The rest of the day went by like a blur, although the landscape of the California foothills was gorgeous in its own right. I don't think I had ever seen an avacado tree before, and there were lots of them. In my mad dash to Santa Rosa I drove through the Bay area, across the bridge from San Francisco to Oakland, and continued north. If time had allowed, I would have loved to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, but alas that's one more icon that I'll have to visit in the future. My pickup and I arrived in Windsor and the countryside where my family live, limping along right at sunset. I literally found their driveway with the light from my emergency flashers! What a relief though, to be welcomed to a strange place by my loving aunt, uncle, and cousins after some stressful driving.

Pretty stoked in front of Lower Yosemite Falls.

Skiing Bearhat Peak

It's been a while since I have made the time to post something. I am still alive and well for any of you who were worried. I'm going to try and do some posts over the course of the next couple of days chronicling the rest of my summer since returning from Denali: it's been pretty fun. After that I hope to begin writing and reflecting on the aforementioned trip to Alaska. A month since we returned safely and I feel like I'm mentally ready to work through remembering all the ups and downs of our adventure.

July 16th of this summer was the first Saturday that the Going-to-the-Sun highway was open all the way to Logan Pass and there was still plenty of snow to be had. I will admit that I was burnt-out on traveling on snow when we flew off the Kahiltna Glacier. But a week of not living out of a tent can do wonders for moral. I also probably have a short memory when it comes to remembering suffering in the outdoors. So, as the weekend rolled around, I couldn't wait to do some low-elevation (less than 11 thousand feet...) ski mountaineering.

Bearhat Peak has been something I've wanted to ski for a long time. A fellow teacher of my dad's had mentioned long ago that he had skied from the summit. On the 4th of July four years ago, we had given it a try, only to have a lack of snow foil our plans. We still summited but left our skis behind at the Hidden Lake overlook. Now armed with 4 more years of climbing and skiing experience, the peak came easy and the descent was super-fun.

Here's a video of our trip. I tried my first voice-over in this one. My sister encouraged me earlier this year to incorporate my writing with making videos, crafting a story in a sense. I hope to get better at combing words with pictures and video to create something more memorable than each could be on their own.


Skiing East Bearhat Peak from Colter Lane on Vimeo.
Not your average hike in the Park. My favorite ski buddy (Dad) and I climb and ski East Bearhat Peak in Glacier National Park. Fresh off of a 3 week trip in Alaska on Denali, we were hankering to summit a peak and get some good skiing in before the ski season was over for the year.

Denali Teaser

For all of you that have been waiting for an update on Denali, here it is. It's not much, but at least it will push the SPOT post out of view, eh?

Dad and I got back to Anchorage on July 6th and Kalispell on the 8th. It was nice to have some time to decompress and adjust back to "normal" life. Thanks to my friends Ben and Katie for being such amazing hosts and ushering us back into civilization with good food, good convo, and loaned bikes!

In summary, we spent a total of three weeks on the Mountain, reaching a high point of 18,200 feet at Denali Pass before being turned around by the weather. I would be misleading you if I said that I'm not disappointed about not gaining the top. However, the skills gained in mountaineering and expedition camping will be invaluable and the time spent with my dad will be something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

As a teaser, here are a couple photos:

Doing Field Work

Whew! The last month has been a crazy conglomeration of skiing, training, Denali practice, work, traveling, and weddings. In this post I wanted to highlight the last couple of days of "field work" to prep for Denali.

The pictures are from three different trips: 1) hauling sleds up the local ski resort, Big Mountain, to work on roped travel and our sled haul system. 2) hiking with heavy packs up and down BM to get some vertical and then practicing our crevasse rescue system. 3) backcountry skiing/traversing in the Jewel Basin covering over 10 miles and 4500 feet in a soft snow shred-fest.

The upside-down sled says it all: our sled system initially was not
working and I was ready to cut them loose and send them down the hill
on their own. Good mental practice to tell you the truth. It was windy
and things were not going right. But Dad has an uncanny ability
to stay positive and smile. Thankfully we figured out a better system
and made it back to the truck with no injuries or emotional trauma!

The next day we were setting up our tent and cutting a foam
floor for added insulation. 

Different tent? When we set up the good ol' North Face, we both
looked at the old fabric (I mean, it was my parents wedding present)
and shuddered at the potential of a ripped tent in -20 degree weather.
We promptly ordered a newer tent, which is going to be sweet. Check out
the Hilleburg Allak online if you want some better info on it.

Once again at Big Mountain "hanging out" on a cornice lip
practicing saving someone (Dad's pack in this case) after a crevasse
fall.  

Dad's turn at a rescue. Our cook tent, a Black Diamond Mega-light,
is in the immediate foreground and the gorgeous Flathead Valley
beyond that.

Standing at the summit of Mt. Aneas in the Jewel Basin, the highest
point of our tour. There is so much snow still in them there hills.
We skied from the summit to the east. See the tracks in the next pic.

Dad pretty pumped up after some flawless skiing.  Summit of
Aneas is behind him. Look directly above Dad and to the right of the
highest point on the ridge to see our tracks. Who said telemarkers
couldn't shred with the best of them?

Dad coming up the ridge to our second high point. Aneas is the prominent peak on left
of the far ridge. Running around on skis in the high country is an absolute blast. 

We feel in great shape for the High One. Shredding snow here in Montana gives us confidence to tackle things in Alaska (as well as gives some confidence to my mom...). Hopefully Denali goes easy on us and we are allowed passage on its flanks. We want our attitudes to be not one of conquerors, but of humble admirers of the mountains, blessed to be among them at all and closer than we've ever been to the Creator of it all.

Rock and Trail

Now I have another venue for which to write and this is your invitation to check it out! A couple of friends of mine and I have recently launched a website called Rock and Trail. The three of us wanted to start a site to chronicle our adventures, helping others learn from our mistakes and our successes, and potentially starting a community of bikers and climbers. This project incorporates our combined desires to be in the outdoors, and pulls on the blogging strength of Eric (Abilene Climbers) and I and the web development of Asa.

Whether you are a mountain biker, backpacker, hiker, scrambler, vertical rock climber, gear junkie, or something in between, this is the site for you!

Weekend Review

Last weekend I got to ski in the backcountry with my dad and a couple of friends and then head down to Missoula for a visit with a high school climbing buddy and my lovely sister. For time's sake I'll just throw up some pictures in the post and narrate from there.

Looking upward to Nyack Mountain. Notice the huge cornice off the summit ridge. It's got to be about 60-80 feet out from the rock. I would like to see some of those fall this spring, albeit from a very safe location.

Eric stoked to get some fresh turns. The mountains behind him are in the southern portion of Glacier National Park. As you can see, we really lucked out on weather: it was clear, warm, and sunny. Unfortunately we forgot any sunscreen during this transitional period from winter to spring skiing. Thankfully I didn't get fried like I thought I was going to.

El Jefe himself, dreaming of big turns in the mountains this spring. Eric, Dad, and I were grinning from ear to ear by the end of the 7000 foot, perfect snow day realizing that the three of us will get to do this 5 days in a row in a couple of weeks at the Fairy Meadows hut in British Colombia.

Dad carving some great tele-turns.

Climbing in Lost Horse Canyon with my friend Ryan (green shirt on the left), his girlfriend Brittany (on the boulder), and a psyched group of climbers connected to the UM. We climbed all day on some really aesthetic boulders strewn among the snow and mud of approaching Spring. For my first climb outside for the year, my hands fared pretty well.

My sister and I. Background is the city of Missoula. We were on a hike on the Reynold's Ridge (?) starting from the Orange Street trailhead overlooking the the city to the south and the Rattlesnake and Clark Fork canons to the east.

Fun photo! Practicing my skills with a self-timer and small tripod. One of my favorite landscapes/natural settings is brown-grassy foothills leading up to blue mountains covered with snow. I wasn't disappointed in the least.

Larkin is pointing to her new house in this photo, just south of the UM campus. We spent some time up on this higher ridge with her pointing out some landmarks and streets of Missoula.

We met Monday morning in a cool coffee and tea shop called Butterfly Herbs where I had a fantastic latte and bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. For lunch after our hike (I for one can say that I was particularly ready for some food), we stopped in at Biga Pizza. Larkin is modeling the delicious Flathead Cherry pizza we ordered: smoked gouda cheese, homemade sausage, and real Flathead cherries all on a superb crust. It makes me want to go home and make some pizza! Top it all off with a great, low-key atmosphere perfect for conversation, and you get one heck of a good place to eat lunch.