Goodbye Old Friends

I happened to be looking out the window when the last of the Cottonwoods on the point started leaning so I grabbed the camera and shot this as they fell.

Another one bites the dust

We lost another large cottonwood last night and as you can see by the picture, the river water is up all around the remaining stand of trees. It looks like we may loose all of them. The pasture to the north is quickly filling with water and the fence where the shoreline used to be is submerged and dangling in the river. Wow.

Cottonwood last Stand

The large cottonwood trees on the point just north of our property are losing the battle against the river. One or two have fallen today and at least one more will go before it is over. The water has just started coming over the bank in the pasture to the north, and the fence line along the river bank here is starting to fall in to the river. Too bad the River is not fishable, 'cause I have been finding Skwala stoneflys all over the place today.

High Water

The high temperature was 86 yesterday and will be close to 90 today and tomorrow. That is about 25 degrees above normal for this time of year. As you will see from the little movie I shot today, the Bitterroot is approaching flood stage.

The Bitterroot Mountains

May 13 and there is still lots of snow waiting to melt. We took this picture from our back porch yesterday. This is looking south across the River to the Bitterroot Range. The cottonwoods along the River are just starting to leaf-out. The temperatures are supposed to reach the low to mid-eighties later this week. With 150% of normal snowpack we are expecting flood stage early next week.

Cinco de Mayo

The temperature is supposed to get up to about 75 today. Feels like summer! I mowed the lawn for the first time this season. The trees are just starting to get their leaves and the Mountains are still holding lots and lots of snow. Here I am in my pontoon boat checking out the beginnings of the spring runoff. We also had a marmot out front this morning, doing some major excavation work. I noticed the dirt flying up out of the ground, then he surfaced and rested in the sun for a while.

Spring Runoff

Spring has sprung on the Bitterroot. The grass is greening up and warmer weather seems to be taking a tenuous foothold. The River flow is increasing as the runoff begins in earnest. We are hopeful that our riverbank will hold this year. This picture was taken in May of 2006 when unseasonably warm weather combined with a 120% of normal snowpack and we lost a substantial chunk of ground to the River.

We have planted 300 willow plants along the waterline in an attempt to hold the bank against the encroaching water. We plan to plant another 300 this year, after the runoff subsides in June. The water is still fairly clear and it is fishing pretty well.