18 INCHES OF POWDER AT LOST TRAIL

Well our weather has finally turned back to winter and we have had snow.  The mountains got quite a bit and the valley got a rain and snow mix.  We sure needed it after nearly 2 weeks of almost spring like weather it was a welcome sight to see the snow.  For "Powder Thursday" (that is what Thursdays are called at our little resort because it is only open Thursday thru Sunday) there was 18 inches of new snow that had stacked up since the lifts closed on the Sunday before.  Skied with Dale (old Vietnam flying buddy) and a guy from Salmon who skis about like we do.  The out of bound area was really good but it took the ski patrol a little while to get the area clear of avalanches so had to make some runs on the other part of the mountain.  They were good though.  Lots of people showed up because our little resort had the best snow for miles around.

Mike from Salmon making some turns in Moose Creek drainage.

Mike and Dale.

The lines at chair 2 were pretty long until they opened up chair 4.

MEGA LOAD COMES THRU THE BITTERROOT.

Many of you will not have heard of all the large equipment loads that have been moving around the northwest part of the US in the past few years.  We just had a large piece of oil production equipment move through our valley on US highway 93.  It was 380 feet long, which is bigger than a football field and weighed over 450 tons.  It is headed to Canada where it will process oil from the oil fields in Alberta.  We were headed to Missoula when we saw the load sitting at the side of the road in Lolo.  Had to stop and take a couple of pictures.

It looked to me that this truck had 3 driving axles and the 4th one in the front was like a tag-a-lon with no driving capability, just a load bearing axle.   

These pictures kind of puts it in perspective as this logging truck is parked right next to the big rig.

There is a puller and a pusher truck.

The sun hitting the tops of the west side peaks this morning.

UPDATE 20 JANUARY 2013

Been cutting down trees and getting wood cut up for next winter.  And looking at all the trees that need to be taken down, I think I am working on the next three years!  Had quite a few bug killed trees the past two years so need to get them cut down and up.  Also went skiing last Sunday and it was pretty good considering how warm it was.  Went all over the resort looking for powder with Connie, Ike, Brenda, and Dale.  Won't be going skiing for awhile though as we have a big high pressure system over us and blue skies with warm temperatures seem to be here for the foreseeable future.

Now these riders are classy!

Ike and Brenda out in Sacjac.

Dale and Connie getting ready for some wind blown powder.

Not the deep powder we like.

But all in all it was a good day.

We have a very light colored turkey around our place.  Don't know if it a crossbred or just a half albino.  Maybe the folks from Missouri who know a lot about turkeys can enlighten me.

MORE POWDER SKIING

Connie and I skied with an old friend I flew with in Vietnam at the local ski resort the other day and skied with him all day.  He lives in Missoula but we usually get together at least once a winter to ski the powder at Lost Trail.  We skied pretty hard and were all tired by the end of the day.  Well, the end for us is when we go back to the lodge to eat lunch about 2 or 3 pm.  My old body can't do the late afternoon runs.  It works good for first chairs, but not the last ones!

Connie taking a picture with Dale's new smart phone.

Dale on a groomed run with a few inches of powder on top.

Dale and I.

Connie when we were skiing in the trees.

These trees have recently been thinned and it makes a great place to ski.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

A little update on what has been happening around here.  Most of our snow melted down here in the valley and we have even had rain.  Our New Years Day sledding party turned out to be just a picnic but was fun anyway.  A few pictures below.

New Years Eve at Ike and Brenda's place.  Ike, Brenda, Debra, Carl, me, Doug, and Rita.

New Years Day picnic.

Jackson with his niece Hayden.

Hot dogs, chili, soup, hot cocoa, and lots of other things.

College boy Riley with his hot dog.

Connie.

Teresa and her granddaughter Teyton.

Deb and Carl.

Tracy was home from Alaska's north slope for the holidays.

Doug and his mother Margaret.

Andrew with his cocoa.

Tracy, Riley, and Angie.

Hayden.