Twenty years ago, a guy named Bill sat down and made a list. Not a grocery list, not a to-do list... a life list. Ski Tipus, huckleberry ice cream at Big Dipper, throw a dart at a map and drive to it. It reads like a manifesto for living in Montana with your eyes wide open and your calendar permanently full.
Two years later, Bill was breaking spokes on Lolo Pass and inventing the "Waver of the Week" award for cyclists who actually acknowledge other humans. Then came a busted camera, a lost memory card hiding in a torn bag lining, and the realization that sometimes lost things find you exactly when you need them. A year after that, a magical rest stop near Ptarmigan Cirque reminded him that the perfect place is just... being there, even when you're too sick to stay.
March 9th keeps circling back to a single quote from 2012, one that echoed through fat biking days in 2015, the stunning climb to Brooks Lake Lodge in 2016, and a desert slideshow in 2022: "Sometimes you just have to hang your head out the window and enjoy the ride." That line became a thread stitching years together.
More recently, there's been chowder and IPAs on the coast, a moonrise gallery reflecting on all the bent spokes and scenic detours, and a surprisingly practical Montana camping loophole that could save you five bucks a night. From dart-throwing adventure planning to fishing license math, the evolution is real... but the spirit of that original list never left. Every March 9th just adds another line to it.