Chopping wood, Montana style (UPDATED with more text and pics).

***note this post has been added to by a person whose identity will remain secret to protect his or her reputation.  Some exaggeration may be present, and some fictional events may be described.

***updated text is in light grey

Today I went wood cutting with Chad and his son.   Chad uses wood to heat the shop during the winter.

Once we left the highway, we headed up into the hills, way up into the hills, a good 15km in to the hills…and up about 1000m in elevation. 

Only trees that are 90% dead can legally be felled, so we had to drive and scout around for a while to find trees that were on the upslope and not too far from the road.

We found a few suitable trees on the way to the area that Chad had in mind.   The views and landscapes were, of course, amazing.  Here's one.

Chad was wielding the chainsaw, Cailen took the rounds (cut logs that haven't yet been split) and did most of the loading of the truck, and I did some loading - as my elbows allowed.

Here's a pic of the crew taking a break.

This mossy stuff was attached to the bark was really interesting.  It got stuck in my pants. It felt like I'd soiled myself.  

You've previously been introduced to Chad's 1971 Ford Ranger, but previously with the Skamper Camper on the back.   Here's the Ranger looking ominous down the road, a little like that movie Duel.  The Ranger has a 360 cubic inch v8 motor, and it means business.

Here's the very top of the tree that was cut down at our second location, a beautiful setting with a stream on the downside of the hill.  The portion of the tree that you can see what cast aside  - the remainder reached a good 20m / 60 feet up the hillside.

After 6 hours the Ranger was fully loaded. The other men were tuckered out (exhausted) but my huge guns were just warming up.

...and yes, the sky IS that blue.

We'd just started the 1 hour drive down the mountain when we heard a noise like a flat tyre.  It turned out that the lugs (wheel nuts) on one of the front wheels had come loose and had damaged the threads.  Chad did his best to get the lugs tight, he wasn't man enough to tighten the lugs.  We drove the mountain slowly at 10mph (16km/h), then could only travel at 30mph (50 km/h) on the highway or the vibration, shaking and wobbling took over.   It really didn't feel good.  Chat didn't tell us until later that another reason that we only drove down at 10 mph is the the brakes on the truck aren't the best...or he may have made that up - he likes a bit of fun.

And with a truck full of burly mountain men, you know what all that vibrating, shaking and wobbling led to...  That would be skinny dipping at the water hole.  

Here's the west side of the water hole.  There are no pictures of us - what happens at the water hole stays at the water hole.  

The manly good times didn't stop there though, Randall (Chad's father in law...who you've previously met) insisted on buying the wood cutting crew Mexican food for dinner, and also buying for Cameron, a Mountain Man's Mountain Man.  Cameron is down from Great Falls (how's that for the name of a town) for the weekend to go riding.   How does one define a Mountain Man's Mountain Man?  He must:

1. -- have a big truck... (think of a ute on steroids)
2. -- ...that's fully kitted out
3. -- ...that he wants to sleep in
4. -- have a bushy bead, without it being out of control
5. -- be good looking in a manly kind of a way
6. -- be built like a bear
7. -- have a calm air-of-confidence about him, a way that commands respect in every situation
8. -- not be bothered about showering, and be happy with a swim in a stream or river every few days to stay clean

The food (including some HOT peppers) and margarita's were awesome.

We're all now the best of friends, a bond that will never be broken.