On Karl’s watch, all is observed.
This morning, a coyote was watched and herded away.
Nothing bad happens on Karl’s watch.
Mountain mystery
Karl’s and my Christmas Day tradition has been a decadent breakfast followed by a long snowshoe run. It continued this year.
Snow is scarce in the valley. We headed around Flathead Lake on the way to Blacktail Mountain Road and higher elevation.
Driving along the lake, a few mountain peaks of the Continental Divide were visible in sun holes in the cloud cover.
We drove up the road through the low inversion layer of foggy clouds and emerged above it all.
It was a world of sunshine, snow ghosts and mountain mystery.
First Day of Spring
Happy First Day of Spring! I know – that doesn’t look like Spring. It was in fact, the last day of Winter…yesterday. Yesterday, was sunny and 40ish and I had errands in Bigfork, so we tacked on some beach time. This “beach” will be gone soon. As the snow pack melts and the powers that be allow the lake level to rise, the area that Karl and I enjoy in the winter will be under water. When the snow melts, it is all rocks, so now is the time to really enjoy it!
A beautiful day!
A gaggle of geese sat in the water across the bay. Suddenly, the volume of honking increased. They rose – circled – started forming the V – an incredible sight and sound!
If you have never read or seen the why of the goose behavior: The Goose Story
Picnic tables, campfire rings and camp sites wait for summer. Late Spring through early Fall, people who work nearby come to this park, bring their lunch and enjoy a quiet and peaceful time by the lake. The camping area is beautiful – sites from tent size to a few that will accomodate the largest RV – but all somewhat private with views of the trees and ferns. Paths from the sites, wind through the woods to the rocky shore of the lake. Even in the height of summer, when all are full, it is a beautiful spot.
Today, the first day of Spring, we start letting go of Winter.
Display misty for me
Yesterday’s look kept the growing frost look but added sunshine and blue sky.
The woods with frost and sun:
Misty mountains and frosted trees on the morning walk:
On the road to the dump:
This one (below), just for me:
Mother Nature displaying misty for me.
From the mountain top
From the valley…
…to the mountain top.
The freezing fog, it usually comes with another phenomonon – an inversion. Warm air up high overruns cold air in the valleys. Under high pressure it creates an inversion – between the warm upper air and the cold valley air lies the stratus.
In the valley, under the status, we have had cold temperatures accompanied by high humidity and so the freezing fog.
Karl’s and my mission today was to see the inversion from the other side. We headed for Blacktail Mountain, home of Blacktail Mountain Ski Area – an “upside-down” mountain in that the day lodge and parking are at the top of the mountain. The ski runs go down into a hanging valley. But the important thing for my purposes was that the lodge and parking area were above the fog deck…in the sunshine! And the temperature at 8:00 a.m. was already 40 compared to 25 at my house.
The road to Blacktail Mountain takes off from MT Highway 93 in Lakeside, MT. The road is 12 miles from Hwy 93 to the top of the mountain. It is 35 mph max and much of it is 15-25 mph hairpin curves. The road has it’s excitement in the winter and that 12 miles takes at least 40 minutes.
As we ascended into the stratus…
Going up I had occasional glimpses of the stratus deck from above as we cleared that, but the driving demanded my full attention. The road is barely 2 lanes, narrowed by the plowing, and sometimes the wish for a much higher guardrail, or any guardrail at all was more prominent in my mind than the view.
But as we cleared the fog layer and came into the sun and the cloudless blue sky at the summit…
These photos do not begin to convey what it really looked and felt like. The high mountain peaks poked through the fog layer looking like islands in an ocean of soft cottony seas.
It was over 50 degrees. The sun was so bright and strong that I was too warm immediately. There were other people there – all of us smiling and laughing and enjoying the sunshine. The ski area is only open Wed-Sunday so I was able to walk out on the summit on this day.
I got Karl out of the Jeep and we walked around the parking area. His tongue was soon hanging out…too hot for a black dog with a heavy coat!
We started back down.
I have always said that this gloom that we sometimes get in winter does not bother me as I’m always out a lot. But, that sun, it was wonderful. And the indescribable beauty from the mountain top made me feel like I had been on a wonderful vacation.
The transition down was beautiful as well as a little sad – From the mountain top to the valley.