Cottonwood "ship"

We were sitting in the den with some friends the other night and one of them noticed this big tree floating down the runoff-swollen river. We ran outside on the deck and snapped a few photos and this video. It looked like a ship floating by.

I made my first-ever backcountry ski trip on the last day of April, 2009 (Thursday). I skied with my friend Cathy Locatelli, who is the daughter of Mario Locatelli, known as the Montana Mountain Goat. Mario has recently published a book, The Mountain Goat Chronicles, that Cathy helped write, about his life, and his passion for climbing and skiing many of the tallest peaks in Montana and around the world. My wife Shelley and I served on the Lost Trail Ski Patrol with Cathy and her sister Angela, about 20 years ago. I had a difficult time keeping up with Cathy, a seasoned backcountry skiier who learned well from her dad about how to climb up and ski down a mountain. We skied the chute above the Grubstake Restaurant on the face of the Bitterroots just west of Hamilton, MT. Looking down at Hamilton and the Bitterroot River, we were skiing about 6 inches of light fluffy powder. Simply amazing!

Spring Runoff 2009

The runoff has officially started. The River is muddy and has come up quite a bit in the last few days.

What is wrong with this sign?

I walk past this sign almost every day. I just noticed something. Read the last line regarding the Cemetery hours.

Spring with Ziggy

Over this past weekend, my big brother Chris and his wife Carol brought their new dog, Ziggy, over to get acquainted with our dog Tara. Ziggy is a 4-month old Cairn Terrier weighing in at about 12 lbs. Tara is our ultra-friendly pit, weighing in at about 55 lbs. The two terriers hit it off splendidly and we had a great weekend in the warm spring sunshine. Ziggy is a much better lap dog than Tara.

Montana Telemark Skiing

I decided to learn to tele ski this winter. I enrolled in a clinic at our local area, Lost Trail Powder Mountain with some friends from Stevensville. It has been great fun and I am starting to be able to link tele turns on the groomed runs. After a 16-inch snow at Lost Trail we attempted to ski some tracked bumps on a steeper run, and I learned just how many ways you can fall on tele skis without serious injury. Here are a few pictures taken at Blacktail Mountain Ski Area, a few hours drive to the north, during a temperature inversion. Driving up to the ski area we popped out of the gloom into bright sunshine and we could look down on the sea of fog with only the highest mountain tops poking out into the sunshine. Flathead Lake is out there under the fog somehwere.

A few weeks ago our Town sponsored a scarecrow contest. There were lots of entries lining the walkway along the Stevi cutoff road right at the entrance to downtown. Our entry for the Bitterroot River Bed and Breakfast titled "Fish For Breakfast" featured a 5-foot long rainbow trout seated and enjoying his breakfast; some trout bait and an over-sized dry fly. Here are some pics of ours and a few other entries.