Snow Pooching

Another day, another excellent poochventure. Today I took Poochie on a short hike up Cottonwood in the snow. The temps were warm (30F) but there was still lots of snow clinging to the trees from Tuesday's dump. Poochie sniffs for critter:

After a short hike, Poochie makes his way down to the gate that marks the first creek crossing coming up:

Almost to the creek, Poochie senses critter:

But they were just some other dogs. Here is Cottonwood Creek at the first bridge crossing:

It was a good time. Cottonwood Road is always a great way to get anywhere, and on the way back I got a nice pic that shows where we live. The heavy clouds above the Bridgers mean maybe tomorrow would be a good day to go snowboarding:


And I think I will.

New Year's Skiing With Otie and Ted

Yay, we finally got a new camera! A Nikon P90 CoolPix with a 25x optical zoom. It will be great for taking pics of critters in the Park, once we figure out how to use all the cool features. On New Year's Eve we decided it would be a great time to get out there and test it out. Poochie's brother Otis was staying with us for the holidays since his owner went off to California to visit her family. So, we decided to take them both up to Hyalite for some cross country skiing!

Here are Marilyn and Poochie on the Lakeshore Trail:

After a while the skinny and hilly trail started to get a little over our cross-country skiing ability, so we struck off across the frozen lake. Here I am skiing with Poochie and Otie:

The dogs had a great time running around on the lake. Otie found an old ice fishing hole by which someone had left one of their catch. He and Poochie proceeded to feast on fresh frozen rainbow trout:

After a while the dogs were getting cold so we returned to the car and had some tasty hot chocolate and then drove back to the house.

The next day, New Years Day 2010, we decided to go for another cross-country ski without the dogs. We went up Spanish Creek into the wilderness, up behind media mogul and VietCong sympathizer Ted Turner's ranch. Along the road to the trailhead there is an old homestead type building, with some of the Spanish Peaks in the background:

Pretty much all of the land in the foreground belongs to Ted and is part of his vast 10K+ acre buffalo ranch. You must stay on the road! Fortunately at the trailhead, the road is no longer plowed and becomes a fine cross-country ski route all the way up to the Spanish Creek Forest Service cabin at the summer trailhead, about 4 miles.

Eff you, Ted, and the commies you rode in with!:

Just kidding. Actually the road is quite a delightful ski route and there's really nothing to be missed by staying on it. Except maybe getting shot. At least El Ted is kind enough to leave the road open to the public to access the National Forest beyond. Maybe that's the commie in him.

We went almost halfway to the Nat'l Forest boundary, almost 2 miles, and then stopped and had some snacks and hot chocolate and practiced taking more pics with the camera. Here is my beautful wife in the Montana winter:

After the snacks we headed back to the car, which was a gentle downhill most of the way so it took half the time it did to get out there. Back near the car there were some drifts along the side of the road allowing for some extreme cross-country skiing!

Extreme for me anyway. I managed to not bust my arse.

At last our excellent day had to come to an end:

But it was a good time and a great start to another great year in Montana, the Last Best Place!